If, through this general calculation, linguistic theory ends by constructing several possible methods of procedure, all of which can provide a self-consistent and exhaustive description of any given text and thereby of any language whatsoever, then, among those possible methods of procedure, that one shall be chosen that results in the simplest possible description. If several methods yield equally simple descriptions, that one is to be chosen that leads to the result through the simplest procedure. This principle, which is deduced from our so-called empirical principle, we call the ‘simplicity principle’. [...] That solution is considered the correct one which complies in the highest degree with the simplicity principle.
- Hjelmslev (1961), a pag.18