Actualization is traditionally seen as the process following syntactic reanalysis whereby an item's new syntactic status manifests itself in new syntactic behavior. The process is gradual in that ...some new uses of the reanalyzed item appear earlier or more readily than others. This article accounts for the order in which new uses appear during actualization. Five corpus-based case studies are presented involving reanalysis and actualization in different functional domains of grammar. These include the reanalysis of all but, far from, and Dutch verre van to adverbial downtoners, and the reanalysis of fun and key from nouns to adjectives. It is shown that actualization proceeds from one environment to another on the basis of similarity relations between environments. The similarity relations may involve broad syntactic generalizations but also superficial similarities to existing patterns, including even an item's uses prior to reanalysis. Because actualization is guided by local and global analogies to existing uses, one determinant of the course of actualization is the locus of reanalysis, as it defines the first uses of an item under change, on which subsequent uses can be modeled. It also follows that the course of actualization is both item-specific and language-specific. The findings presented challenge the concept of reanalysis, which appears less abrupt than usually assumed. Further, it is argued that the findings fit best with usage-based models of language, which attribute a prominent role to similarity-based organization in grammar, and in which an item's use can be subject to multiple, potentially conflicting generalizations.
The relation between functionally similar forms is often described in terms of competition. This leads to the expectation that over time only one form can survive (substitution) or each form must ...find its unique niche in functional space (differentiation). However, competition cannot easily explain what causes functional overlap or how form-function mappings will be reorganized. It is argued here that the changes which competing forms undergo are steered by various analogical forces. As a result of analogy, competing forms often show attraction, becoming functionally more (instead of less) alike. Attraction can maintain and increase functional overlap in language. At the same time, competing forms are analogically anchored to a broader constructional network. Cases of differentiation typically follow from the relations in that network. Evidence is drawn from the literature and from three corpus-based case studies, addressing attraction and differentiation in English aspectual constructions, English secondary predicate constructions, and in a pair of Dutch degree modifiers. Evidence is provided of a phenomenon competition-based accounts could not predict (attraction), and a solution is offered for one they could not very well explain (differentiation). More generally it is shown that the development of competing forms must be understood against their broader grammatical context.
Isomorphism holds that, ideally, a single meaning is expressed by a single form. However, despite long-standing support, the theoretical viability of the isomorphic principle has been called into ...question. There is widespread recognition that the coexistence of (near-) synonymous expressions—variation—is actually very common in language. In this study, we explore a possible path toward reconciling the theoretical notion of isomorphism with the observable fact of variation. To this end, we adopt an analogy to tool use inspired by Zipf (1949). Tools largely monopolize their core functional domains (e.g., for cutting, knives are overwhelmingly preferred over screwdrivers) but compete over more peripheral functions (for puncturing, knives and screwdrivers have more equal chances of selection). In the same way, we hypothesize forms can code a prototypically organized network of senses, whereby they largely monopolize the core but are more likely to come into competition with other forms in the periphery. To test this hypothesis, a case study is conducted on variation in the use of two prepositions: at and with . For each, a semantic core and periphery are established. Using a corpus consisting of parallel translations of the same source text, it is then tested whether translators are more likely to converge on the same preposition to express one of that preposition’s core senses than to express one of its peripheral senses. This is the pattern one would expect if isomorphic pressure is stronger for semantic cores than for peripheries. The results are promising but inconclusive. They confirm that the sense most prone to competition is arguably the most peripheral but also reveal a surprisingly high level of competition for the spatial core use of at .
In the English Secondary Predicate Construction (SPC), a predicative relation between a noun phrase (NP) and a “secondary predicate” (XP) is established by a main verb (He findsVerb herNP ...attractiveXP). While the syntactic nature of this construction has received ample attention from a synchronic perspective, this study aims to shed light on the diachronic developments of the SPC. First, using data from the York-Toronto-Helsinki Corpus of Old English Prose (YCOE) and the Penn corpora, a classification is proposed of the verbs occurring in the SPC. Based on this semantic classification, the development of the SPC is then traced from Old English to Late Modern English in terms of frequency and productivity. It is argued that, while the various classes of SPC-taking verbs often show opposite developments, these lower-level incongruities are resolved at a higher schematic level, as the SPC as a whole underwent a process of internalization. These findings underscore the importance of lower-level developments in the diachronic behavior of schematic constructions and consequently contribute to the literature on constructional change.
The papers in this volume cover a wide range of interrelated syntactic phenomena, from the history of core arguments, to complements and non-finite clauses, elements in the clause periphery, as well ...as elements with potential scope over complete sentences and even larger discourse chunks. In one way or another, however, they all testify to an increasing awareness that even some of the most central phenomena of syntax - and the way they develop over time - are best understood by taking into account their communicative functions and the way they are processed and represented by speakers' cognitive apparatus. In doing so, they show that historical syntax, and historical linguistics in general, is witnessing a convergence between formerly distinct linguistic frameworks and traditions. With this fusion of traditions, the trend is undeniably towards a richer and more broadly informed understanding of syntactic change and the history of English. This volume will be of great interest to scholars of (English) historical syntax and historical linguistics within the cognitive-linguistic as well as the generative tradition.
Because they involve individual-level cognitive processes, psychological explanations of linguistic phenomena are in principle testable against individual behaviour. The present study draws on ...patterns of individual variation in corpus data to test explanations of productivity. Linguistic patterns are predicted to become more productive with higher type frequencies and lower token frequencies. This is because the formation of abstract mental representations is encouraged by varied types but counteracted by automation of high-frequency types. The predictions are tested for English -
and -
-derivation, as used by 698 individual journalists in the
and 171 members of Parliament in the
. Linear regression is used to model individual variation in productivity, in relation to type and token frequency, as well as several other predictor variables. While the expected effects are observed, there is also robust evidence of an interaction effect between type and token frequency, indicating that productivity is highest for patterns with many types and not-too-infrequent tokens. This fits best with a view of entrenchment as both a conservative and creative force in language. Further, some variation remains irreducibly individual and is not explained by currently known predictors of productivity.
Coming to terms with subjectivity Smet, Hendrik De; Verstraete, Jean-Christophe
Cognitive linguistics,
01/2006, Volume:
17, Issue:
3
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
Open access
In this study, we argue that the increasingly popular concept of subjectivity is in need of a more fine-grained analysis, and we make an attempt to set up a typology of distinct sub-categories. We ...first discuss a number of problems that emerge from the literature, such as the conflicting views on the nature of subjectivity, and the general vagueness of the way speaker-involvement is defined in order to detect subjectivity. On the basis of two case studies, we then propose to distinguish between at least three types of subjectivity, one pragmatic type relating to the use of an expression, and two semantic types where speaker-involvement pertains to the meaning of an expression. The distinction between the latter two types is based on syntactic criteria, and semantically relates to whether a particular item functions in the build-up of the content of a message, or in the enactment of the speaker's position with respect to this content.
One way or another, loan words have to be grammatically integrated in the grammar of their recipient language. For verbs, Wohlgemuth (2009) finds that direct insertion, where native inflections are ...added directly onto the borrowed stem, is cross‐linguistically the most frequent accommodation strategy. He concludes from this that the borrowing of loan verbs is not constrained by inflection. Based on a two‐fold corpus study on the integration of English loan verbs in Present‐day Dutch and French loan verbs in Late Middle English, we propose a correction to Wohlgemuth's (2009) argument. Even under direct insertion, loan verbs are subject to constraints, as they enter some usage categories more readily than others. More specifically, we find evidence for loan verbs being avoided in finite forms and in morphologically marked forms. We refer to these joint tendencies as accommodation biases. The specific nature of accommodation biases in loan verbs suggests that loan verbs are underrepresented in those categories where they carry a dense functional load as markers of both lexical and grammatical information.
D'une manière ou d'une autre, les emprunts doivent être intégrés grammaticalement dans la grammaire de leur langue d’arrivée. En ce qui concerne les verbes, Wohlgemuth (2009) observe que l’insertion directe, qui consiste en l’ajout direct des flexions natives au radical emprunté, est généralement la stratégie d'accommodation la plus fréquente. Il en conclut que l'emprunt de verbes d'emprunt n'est pas contraint par la flexion. Sur la base d'une double étude de corpus sur l'intégration des verbes d'emprunt anglais dans le néerlandais contemporain et des verbes d'emprunt français dans le moyen anglais tardif, nous proposons une correction à l'argument de Wohlgemuth (2009). Même dans le cas d’insertion directe, les verbes d'emprunt sont soumis à des contraintes, car ils entrent plus facilement dans certaines catégories d’emploi que dans d'autres. Plus précisément, nous montrons que les verbes d'emprunt sont évités dans les formes finies et dans les formes morphologiquement marquées. Nous appelons ces tendances liées les biais d’adaptation. La nature spécifique des biais d’adaptation dans les verbes d’emprunt suggère que ces verbes sont sous‐représentés dans les catégories où ils portent une charge fonctionnelle dense en tant que marqueurs d'informations lexicales et grammaticales.
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