Communication needs to be complex enough to be functional while minimizing learning and
production costs. Recent work suggests that the vocalizations and gestures of some …

An ideography is a general-purpose code made of pictures that do not encode language,
which can be used autonomously–not just as a mnemonic prop–to encode information on a …

Zipf's law of abbreviation predicts that in human languages, words that are used more
frequently will be shorter than words that are used less frequently. This has been attributed …

The Chinese writing system is unique in its implementation of graphemic, phonological,
morphological, and semantic features. We add nuances to its portrait in the target article and …

In this commentary article to'The Puzzle of Ideography'by Morin, we put forth a new cognitive
account of the puzzle of ideography, that complements the standardization account of Morin …

Notations are cognitive systems involving distinctive psychological functions, behaviors, and
material forms. Seen through this lens, two main types—semasiography and visible …

Consider a society comprising n members that are ranked in a decreasing order of their
personal wealths. For this society: Zipf's Law manifests the case in which the members' …

Despite obvious advantages, no generalised ideographic codes have evolved through
cultural evolution to rely on iconicity. Morin suggests that this is because of missing means of …

Morin argues that ideographies are limited because graphic codes lack a capacity for
proliferating standardization. However, natural graphic systems display rich standardization …

The standardization account predicts SMS interactions, allowed by current technology, will
support the use and conventionalisation of ideographs. Relying on psycholinguistic theories …