The Frequency-Brevity Principle

Examples of onto-morphology

A few years ago at a language-related expo, I saw a demo for a vocabulary app. It was for learning Georgian (because purportedly that was the data they had). There was a screenshot of a typical quiz:

What is the meaning of “და” (da)?

The multiple-choice options are:

A. Yes
B. And
C. Auto mechanic

Even the presenter himself was quite amused by Option C.

We have the intuition that a simple sound should correspond to a common word, rather than an advanced concept that became a thing recently.

Imagine in an alternative sci-fi universe where your average speaker is a planet-hopping spacecraft mechanic, perhaps it would be plausible to have such a short word for such a referent.

Perhaps, frequency is inversely correlated with the length of the word.

One of the atrocious crimes in particular is how “unfortunately” is used in English to introduce mildly unpleasant or even neutral news rather than indicating a causal case of misfortune — in German it’s reduced to two syllables. Latin morphology does that to you, like ‘portent’ is much rarer than ‘important’.

In English there are quite a few of these adverbs that people might like to use more frequently, e.g. “probably”, and it slides towards “prolly”.

Then, behold this curiosity!

“oj” (Swedish)
* expressing reaction of surprise, the experience of something as unexpected and often but not always as unfortunate…

Not too surprising, an interjection that’s rather onomatopoeic… The Icelandic semantic may be a bit more visceral:

"oj" (Icelandic)
* an exclamation of disgust; ew, yuck, ugh

But, then:

"oj" (Jakaltek, a Mayan language in Central America)
* coyote

Now, a single diphthong (or vowel closed with an approximant coda) becomes highly specific in designating a zoological entity. But this isn’t too wild, there must be plenty of single syllable names for animals out there.

Then, we arrive at Czech (possibly once known as “Böhmisch”)…

oj m inan
* pole (the one which connects a vehicle with a cargo)

Based on a plain reading, it refers to the pivot pin that hinges between a motorised vehicle and its trailer… (Getting closer to the specificity of “auto-mechanic”, perhaps?)

But wait, there is more, don’t forget the declensions: