Complexity in language and in law

• Geoffrey Sampson ^[1]
  1. [1] University of South Africa

     University of South Africa

     City of Tshwane, Sudáfrica

     
• Localización: Poznan Studies in Contemporary Linguistics, ISSN 1732-0747, ISSN-e 1897-7499, Vol. 50, Nº. 2, 2014 (Ejemplar dedicado a: Special issue on linguistic complexity), págs. 169-177
• Idioma: inglés
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• Resumen

  • Two kinds of objection are made to the claim that some languages are simpler than others. Many linguists have asserted that, as a matter of empirical observation, all languages are roughly equal in complexity, but very little evidence has been cited. A more weighty objection is that the claim is meaningless because the complexity of different languages is incommensurable. It may not be numerically quantifiable; but a comparison with the evolution of legal systems shows that that does not make claims of differential complexity meaningless.