# A Crucial Parameter for Rank-Frequency Relation in Natural Languages

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2402.00271 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2402.00271/

## Key facts

- No citing papers in the map yet (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- Builds on 1 of its 8 references that are in the map.
- First posted on arXiv 1 Feb 2024.

## Builds on (most cited first, 1 of 1)

- [A Two Parameters Equation for Word Rank-Frequency Relation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2205.00638/) (2022)

## Abstract (arXiv)

f propto r-α · (r+γ)-β has been empirically shown more precise than a na"ive power law fpropto r-α to model the rank-frequency (r-f) relation of words in natural languages. This work shows that the only crucial parameter in the formulation is γ, which depicts the resistance to vocabulary growth on a corpus. A method of parameter estimation by searching an optimal γ is proposed, where a ``zeroth word'' is introduced technically for the calculation. The formulation and parameters are further discussed with several case studies.