The Harmonic Structure of Information Contours

TL;DR

This paper investigates periodic patterns in information distribution within texts, proposing that linguistic structures may be influenced by an implicit pressure towards regular oscillations in information rate across multiple frequencies.

Contribution

It introduces a novel harmonic regression method with time scaling to detect periodicity in information contours across multiple languages, revealing consistent oscillatory patterns linked to discourse structure.

Findings

Evidence of periodic information rate patterns in multiple languages

Dominant frequencies align with discourse structure

Framework for analyzing structural pressures in language

Abstract

The uniform information density (UID) hypothesis proposes that speakers aim to distribute information evenly throughout a text, balancing production effort and listener comprehension difficulty. However, language typically does not maintain a strictly uniform information rate; instead, it fluctuates around a global average. These fluctuations are often explained by factors such as syntactic constraints, stylistic choices, or audience design. In this work, we explore an alternative perspective: that these fluctuations may be influenced by an implicit linguistic pressure towards periodicity, where the information rate oscillates at regular intervals, potentially across multiple frequencies simultaneously. We apply harmonic regression and introduce a novel extension called time scaling to detect and test for such periodicity in information contours. Analyzing texts in English, Spanish, German, Dutch, Basque, and Brazilian Portuguese, we find consistent evidence of periodic patterns in information rate. Many dominant frequencies align with discourse structure, suggesting these oscillations reflect meaningful linguistic organization. Beyond highlighting the connection between information rate and discourse structure, our approach offers a general framework for uncovering structural pressures at various levels of linguistic granularity.