The Value of Circular Definitions: stats & graphs on structure of human language(physics.aps.org)
physics.aps.org
The Value of Circular Definitions: stats & graphs on structure of human language
http://physics.aps.org/synopsis-for/10.1103/PhysRevX.2.031018
A talk by the authors: http://www.weizmann.ac.il/complex/tlusty/talks/Loops2012.pdf
Some discussions in forums suggest some possible relation with other self-referential constructs in math such as recursive functions, logical paradoxes, Godel incompleteness, etc.