An Efficient Communication Analysis of Modal Typology

Bibliographic Data

ID22157883
AuthorsNathaniel Imel (0000-0001-5048-1242, New York University), Qingxia Guo (University of Washington), Shane Steinert‐Threlkeld (0000-0001-8906-266X, University of Washington)
Year2026
Volume10
Pages1-28
Publication date2026-01-15
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueOpen MIND (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 2470-2986 • E-ISSN: 2470-2986
PublisherMIT Press (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1162/opmi.a.313
PMID41948070
OpenAlexW7124848584
LanguageEN
References cited55

The meanings expressed by the world’s languages have been argued to support efficient communication. Across diverse semantic domains, crosslinguistic analyses show that natural language vocabularies are jointly optimized for two competing pressures: cognitive simplicity and informative communication. This paper applies an efficiency analysis to modals (e.g., can, ought, might), a central mechanism for talking about situations other than the here-and-now. We define and measure the simplicity and informativeness of a large number of logically possible modal systems, together with a sample of twenty-seven natural language inventories. We also consider a recently-introduced semantic universal for modal expressions in natural language, dubbed the Independence of Force and Flavor (IFF). Our analysis yields three main results: (i) every optimal modal system perfectly satisfies the IFF universal; (ii) as systems contain more IFF modals, they become more efficient; (iii) attested modal systems are more efficient than merely possible systems. These results indicate that general pressures for efficient communication can explain typological variation in the lexicalization of modality

Lexicalization · Modal · Modal verb · Natural language · Simplicity · Language and cultural evolution · Natural Language Processing Techniques · Syntax, Semantics, Linguistic Variation

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