Here we study numerically the structure of directed state transition graphs for several types of finite-state devices representing morphology of 16 languages. In all numerical experiments we have found that the distribution of incoming and outcoming links is highly skewed and is modeled well by the power law, not by the Poisson distribution typical for classical random graphs. Studied for three languages, distribution of nodes according to the traffic they experience during corpora processing obeys the power law as well. Traffic and out-degree are the parameters, which affect performance of finite-state devices. We discuss how specific properties of power law, like distribution of these parameters (coexistence of small number of "hubs" with large number of "small events"), can be exploited for efficient computer implementation of finite-state devices used in morphology.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.