# The Language of Generalization

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/1608.02926 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/1608.02926/

## Key facts

- Cited by 2 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- First posted on arXiv 9 Aug 2016.

## Built on by (most cited first, 2 of 2)

- [Cognitive Foundations for Reasoning and Their Manifestation in LLMs](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2511.16660/) (2025)
- [I2D2: Inductive Knowledge Distillation with NeuroLogic and Self-Imitation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2212.09246/) (2022)

## Abstract (arXiv)

Language provides simple ways of communicating generalizable knowledge to each other (e.g., "Birds fly", "John hikes", "Fire makes smoke"). Though found in every language and emerging early in development, the language of generalization is philosophically puzzling and has resisted precise formalization. Here, we propose the first formal account of generalizations conveyed with language that makes quantitative predictions about human understanding. We test our model in three diverse domains: generalizations about categories (generic language), events (habitual language), and causes (causal language). The model explains the gradience in human endorsement through the interplay between a simple truth-conditional semantic theory and diverse beliefs about properties, formalized in a probabilistic model of language understanding. This work opens the door to understanding precisely how abstract knowledge is learned from language.