Linguistics

Study explores why human language isn’t compressed like computer code

February 20, 2026 由 AI 报道 AI 生成的图像 事实核查

A new model from linguists Richard Futrell and Michael Hahn suggests that many hallmark features of human language—such as familiar words, predictable ordering and meaning built up step by step—reflect constraints on sequential information processing rather than a drive for maximum data compression. The work was published in Nature Human Behaviour.