Finding structure in logographic writing with library learning

TL;DR

This paper introduces a computational framework using library learning and program synthesis to uncover and analyze the structural principles of Chinese logographic writing, highlighting evolution towards efficiency.

Contribution

It presents a novel library learning-based method to discover linguistic structures in Chinese characters and explores their evolution under efficiency pressures.

Findings

Discovered known linguistic structures in Chinese writing

Revealed evolution towards simplification for efficiency

Demonstrated the utility of library learning in linguistic analysis

Abstract

One hallmark of human language is its combinatoriality -- reusing a relatively small inventory of building blocks to create a far larger inventory of increasingly complex structures. In this paper, we explore the idea that combinatoriality in language reflects a human inductive bias toward representational efficiency in symbol systems. We develop a computational framework for discovering structure in a writing system. Built on top of state-of-the-art library learning and program synthesis techniques, our computational framework discovers known linguistic structures in the Chinese writing system and reveals how the system evolves towards simplification under pressures for representational efficiency. We demonstrate how a library learning approach, utilizing learned abstractions and compression, may help reveal the fundamental computational principles that underlie the creation of combinatorial structures in human cognition, and offer broader insights into the evolution of efficient communication systems.