The Information Optimizing Model of Language and Its Verification by Mandarin Phonetic Statistics

There was no written text or sound recording technology during the time language emerged, so no direct data can be used to study the origin and evolution of language. From the viewpoints of information theory and system theory, based on existing material, this paper proposes that language is an optimal encoding system to communicate in the most efficient way. An Information Optimizing Model is proposed based on following rules of language: Efficiency, Cooperation, Distinction, Evolution, and Reliability. Finally, phonetic statistics done for Mandarin Chinese shows that in every un-aspirated/aspirated(UP/AP) consonant contrast, UP has more occurrences than AP because UP is more efficient, and vowels with the highest level of ease of acquisition appear most frequently. This agrees with the Efficiency rule, and supports the language model we propose.