mathematical linguistics

A branch of LINGUISTICS which studies the mathematical properties of LANGUAGE, usually employing concepts of a statistical or algebraic kind. A contribution has also come from INFORMATION theory (e.g. quantification of such notions as REDUNDANCY and FUNCTIONAL load) and from computational analysis (e.g. the use of ALGORITHMS). The main application of mathematical notions has been in the FORMALIZATION of linguistic theory, as developed in relation to GENERATIVE linguistics; but several other areas of language study have been investigated using these methods. Statistical studies of the DISTRIBUTION and frequency of linguistic ITEMS have led to the development of several empirical laws and specific techniques, e.g. in authorship studies and COMPARATIVE language study.