The Average Word Length Dynamics as an Indicator of Cultural Changes in Society
Journal Title: Social Evolution & History - Year 2015, Vol 14, Issue 2
Abstract
In this article we analyze the dynamics of average length of the Russian and English words belonging to the Google Books dia-chronic text corpus and dated back to the last two centuries. It is found that an average word length slightly increased in the nineteenth century, and then it grew rapidly over most of the twentieth century and started decreasing from the end of the twentieth to the beginning of the twenty-first century. Words which contributed most to the increase or decrease of word average length are identified, with content words and function words being analyzed separately. Long content words contribute most to the average length of words. These words reflect the main tendencies of societal development and, thus, are frequently used. The changing frequency of personal pronouns also contributes significantly to changes in average word length.
Authors and Affiliations
Vladimir V. Bochkarev, Anna V. Shevlyakova, Valery D. Solovyev
Keywords
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