The notion of 'word' has difficulties in linguistics. But not enough for abandoning it.
The argument from the paper "Fairness in Representation for Multilingual NLP" is not convincing at all. Even if the early findings are correct for transformers , applicability to human language faculty is not yet supported.
On the other hand, it is not even needed. Developmental linguists have noted long ago that babies acquire all natural languages at approximately the same rate (under some 'standard conditions'), despite vast morphological and other differences between languages. Thus, in some sense, all natural human languages are already deemed 'equal' vis-a-vis acquisition complexity.
For language learning later in life, if one's native language is morphologically rich, learning (some types of) morphologically rich languages (as an adult) is a bit easier than learning a language that is very different, etc.
Complexity of words in a language for non-native speakers/learners is actually a big issue and a field of research in EFL (and now in NLP as well).
Finally, word complexity is often defined within the same language (e.g. able-ability, function-dysfunctional), and so a notion of cross-linguistic hegemony or malice is not even applicable here.
MF
________________________________ From: Daniel HENKEL daniel.henkel@univ-paris8.fr Sent: Monday, June 20, 2022 5:36 PM To: Ada Wan adawan919@gmail.com Cc: Christopher Collins Christopher.Collins@ontariotechu.ca; corpora@list.elra.info corpora@list.elra.info Subject: [EXTERNAL] [Corpora-List]Re: Complex Word Identification in French
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WAR IS PEACE FREEDOM IS SLAVERY IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH
You are a flaw in the pattern, Winston. You are a stain that must be wiped out. Did I not tell you just now that we are different from the persecutors of the past? We are not content with negative obedience, nor even with the most abject submission. When finally you surrender to us, it must be of your own free will. We do not destroy the heretic because he resists us: so long as he resists us we never destroy him. We convert him, we capture his inner mind, we reshape him. We burn all evil and all illusion out of him; we bring him over to our side, not in appearance, but genuinely, heart and soul. We make him one of ourselves before we kill him. It is intolerable to us that an erroneous thought should exist anywhere in the world, however secret and powerless it may be.
(G. Orwell, 1984)
On 20/06/2022 23:27, Ada Wan wrote: Yeah... I really don't know what to do with "the resistance", "the ignorance" -- Daniel HENKELhttps://nam10.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Funiv-paris8.academia.edu%2FDanielHENKEL&data=05%7C01%7Cmflor%40ets.org%7C8f132ab3c3e346463d6008da53050aea%7C0ba6e9b760b34fae92f37e6ddd9e9b65%7C0%7C0%7C637913578392113374%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C2000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=RWbwLCwmZDfBcnblPg1sICtlBkmixypzFezw3GAnDv8%3D&reserved=0 Maître de Conférences (Linguistique et Traduction) UFR5 LLCE-LEA • EA1569 TransCrit Université Paris 8 Vincennes-St-Denis
“non si può stendere una tipologia delle traduzioni, ma al massimo una tipologia di diversi modi di tradurre, volta per volta negoziando il fine che ci si propone – e volta per volta scoprendo che i modi di tradurre sono più di quelli che sospettiamo.” U. Eco
________________________________ From: Daniel HENKEL daniel.henkel@univ-paris8.fr Sent: Monday, June 20, 2022 5:36 PM To: Ada Wan adawan919@gmail.com Cc: Christopher Collins Christopher.Collins@ontariotechu.ca; corpora@list.elra.info corpora@list.elra.info Subject: [EXTERNAL] [Corpora-List]Re: Complex Word Identification in French
CAUTION: This email originated from outside of our organization. Do not click links or open attachments unless you recognize the sender and know the content is safe.
WAR IS PEACE FREEDOM IS SLAVERY IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH
You are a flaw in the pattern, Winston. You are a stain that must be wiped out. Did I not tell you just now that we are different from the persecutors of the past? We are not content with negative obedience, nor even with the most abject submission. When finally you surrender to us, it must be of your own free will. We do not destroy the heretic because he resists us: so long as he resists us we never destroy him. We convert him, we capture his inner mind, we reshape him. We burn all evil and all illusion out of him; we bring him over to our side, not in appearance, but genuinely, heart and soul. We make him one of ourselves before we kill him. It is intolerable to us that an erroneous thought should exist anywhere in the world, however secret and powerless it may be.
(G. Orwell, 1984)
On 20/06/2022 23:27, Ada Wan wrote: Yeah... I really don't know what to do with "the resistance", "the ignorance" -- Daniel HENKELhttps://nam10.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Funiv-paris8.academia.edu%2FDanielHENKEL&data=05%7C01%7Cmflor%40ets.org%7C8f132ab3c3e346463d6008da53050aea%7C0ba6e9b760b34fae92f37e6ddd9e9b65%7C0%7C0%7C637913578392113374%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C2000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=RWbwLCwmZDfBcnblPg1sICtlBkmixypzFezw3GAnDv8%3D&reserved=0 Maître de Conférences (Linguistique et Traduction) UFR5 LLCE-LEA • EA1569 TransCrit Université Paris 8 Vincennes-St-Denis
“non si può stendere una tipologia delle traduzioni, ma al massimo una tipologia di diversi modi di tradurre, volta per volta negoziando il fine che ci si propone – e volta per volta scoprendo che i modi di tradurre sono più di quelli che sospettiamo.” U. Eco
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