Principle of least effort and common examples in Kazakh

Abstract

When they are examined from a synchronic standpoint, several linguistic units indicate tremendous differences compared to their early forms. Evidently, the initial forms are longer than the latest ones. The change towards lessening is observed almost in every linguistic level such as phonology, morphology, syntax etc. The shortening tendency of any language unit can be explained with the least effort theory or economy in language. This study briefly introduces the theory and examines some of the Kazakh examples that had undergone mostly phonological and morphological shortening within the principle of least effort. © 2015, Ahmet Yesevi University. All rights reserved.