Master Thesis - Asymmetries in mutual intelligibility: An information-theoretic approach

Supervisor: David Sánchez

Jury: Lucas Lacasa, David Sánchez, and Lluís Barceló-Coblijn

We explore the phonetic distance between different languages using relative entropy, a measure of similarity between probability distributions of an intrinsically asymmetric nature. Phonetic probability distributions are generated from Bible translations and the Python library Phonemizer. After validating the transcriptions generated by Phonemizer with two databases (WikiPron and PHOR-in-One), we calculate entropy values for languages from three main Indo- European language families: Romance, Slavic, and Germanic. The entropy values within each family and the resulting asymmetry are analyzed, distinguishing between vowel and consonant phonemes. We observe that, in Slavic languages, the asymmetry in entropy is mainly associated with the presence or absence of vowel phonemes. In Romance languages, the correlation is stronger with vowel phonemes, though it is also relevant for consonants. In Germanic languages, the correlation is predominantly seen in consonant phonemes. Finally, the correlation between the asymmetry of relative entropy and the asymmetry in mutual intelligibility between languages is analyzed, demonstrating that intelligibility is a complex phenomenon dependent on many factors beyond the phonetic.

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