Universal #1330

Legacy number: 1330

 Number  1326
 Original  In every human language, redundancy, measured in phonological terms, hovers near 50%.
 Standardized  In every human language, redundancy, measured in phonological terms, hovers near 50%.
 Keywords  redundancy
 Domain  phonology, morphology, syntax
 Type  unconditional
 Status  achronic
 Quality  absolute
 Basis  unspecified
 Source  Hockett 1963: 24

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Discussion
Notes
The notion is that if redundancy tends to increase much above this figure, communication becomes inefficient, and people speak faster or more sloppily, while decrease much below the figure leads to misunderstanding, and people slow down or articulate more clearly.
Comment
Frans Plank · 3 Aug 2006
The notion is that if redundancy tends to increase much above this figure, communication becomes inefficient, and people speak faster or more sloppily, while decrease much below the figure leads to misunderstanding, and people slow down or articulate more clearly.