English and Chinese languages as weighted complex networks

Long Sheng and Chunguang Li

Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, 2009, vol. 388, issue 12, 2561-2570

Abstract: In this paper, we analyze statistical properties of English and Chinese written human language within the framework of weighted complex networks. The two language networks are based on an English novel and a Chinese biography, respectively, and both of the networks are constructed in the same way. By comparing the intensity and density of connections between the two networks, we find that high weight connections in Chinese language networks prevail more than those in English language networks. Furthermore, some of the topological and weighted quantities are compared. The results display some differences in the structural organizations between the two language networks. These observations indicate that the two languages may have different linguistic mechanisms and different combinatorial natures.

Keywords: Weighted complex networks; Written human language; Zipf’s law; Power–law distribution (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2009
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:phsmap:v:388:y:2009:i:12:p:2561-2570

DOI: 10.1016/j.physa.2009.02.043

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