Given the centrality of partial predictability to linguistic experience, it plays a strikingly minor role in theoretical linguistics. For many, partial predictability is to be set aside: the job of linguistic theory is to explain the infinite generative capacity of language and the semantic compositionality that accompanies it. For others, partial predictability is evidence that such an approach is missing the point. But surprisingly little attention is devoted to understanding how partial predictability actually works. We argue that linguistic theory should recognize partial predictability as a central design feature of human language, and propose a strategy for doing so.

中文翻译：

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是时候建立语言部分可预测性的完整理论了


鉴于部分可预测性对语言经验的核心作用，它在理论语言学中扮演着极其次要的角色。对于许多人来说，部分可预测性应该被搁置：语言理论的工作是解释语言的无限生成能力以及随之而来的语义组合性。对于其他人来说，部分可预测性证明这种方法没有抓住重点。但令人惊讶的是，很少有人关注理解部分可预测性实际上是如何运作的。我们认为，语言理论应该认识到部分可预测性是人类语言的核心设计特征，并提出了这样做的策略。