Simplicity

简单性

A measure proposed by generative linguistic theory which would automatically assign factors to competing linguistic analyses that would determine which of them was the most satisfactory. Simplicity is here defined quantitatively, in terms of the number of constructs (symbol, rules, etc.) used in formulating an analysis; this is also often referred to as an economy measure. Perhaps the most widespread criterion is the number of features required in order to state a phonological generalization, and much thought has been given by generative phonologists to ways in which such generalizations can be more economically stated, using various kinds of notational abbreviation, e,g, alpha notation.

生成语言学理论提出的一种度量标准，能给几种相竞争的语言学分析法自动指派一些因素来确定其中哪一种最令人满意。这里的简单性可从量上定义，视分析阐述中使用的理论构建单位（符号、规则等）的多少；也常称作经济标准。最广为使用的也许是为做出一种音系学的概括所需要的特征数目；生成音系学家对如何更经济地做出这类概念做了许多思考，并采用各种缩写标记法，例如阿尔法标记法。