Psychology Department, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53706, USA.
Behav Brain Sci. 2012 Oct;35(5):305-7. doi: 10.1017/S0140525X12000337. Epub 2012 Aug 29.
Languages and writing systems result from satisfying multiple constraints related to learning, comprehension, production, and their biological bases. Orthographies are not optimal because these constraints often conflict, with further deviations due to accidents of history and geography. Things tend to even out because writing systems and the languages they represent exhibit systematic trade-offs between orthographic depth and morphological complexity.
语言和书写系统是满足学习、理解、表达等多方面约束以及这些约束的生物基础的产物。正字法并不完美，因为这些约束往往相互冲突，再加上历史和地理的偶然因素，就会产生进一步的偏离。由于书写系统及其所代表的语言在正字法深度和形态复杂性之间存在系统性的权衡，所以情况往往会趋于平衡。
