A Dynamic Network Approach to the Study of Syntax.

Holger Diessel

doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2020.604853

Abstract

Usage-based linguists and psychologists have produced a large body of empirical results suggesting that linguistic structure is derived from language use. However, while researchers agree that these results characterize grammar as an emergent phenomenon, there is no consensus among usage-based scholars as to how the various results can be explained and integrated into an explicit theory or model. Building on network theory, the current paper outlines a structured network approach to the study of grammar in which the core concepts of syntax are analyzed by a set of relations that specify associations between different aspects of a speaker’s linguistic knowledge. These associations are shaped by domain-general processes that can give rise to new structures and meanings in language acquisition and language change. Combining research from linguistics and psychology, the paper proposes specific network analyses for the following phenomena: argument structure, word classes, constituent structure, constructions and construction families, and grammatical categories such as voice, case and number. The article builds on data and analyses presented in Diessel (2019; The Grammar Network. How Linguistic Structure is Shaped by Language Use) but approaches the topic from a different perspective.

Highlights

A Dynamic Network Approach to the Study of SyntaxSpecialty section: This article was submitted to Language Sciences, a section of the journal Frontiers in Psychology
In the usage-based approach, language is seen as a dynamic system that is shaped by domaingeneral processes, such as conceptualization, analogy and attention, which are not specific to language and used in other cognitive domains, e.g., in visual perception or memory (Bates and MacWhinney, 1989; Bybee, 2010; Ibbotson, 2020; see Diessel, 2017)
Usage-based linguists agree that grammatical categories are emergent and transient, in practice, they often use them as predefined concepts, similar to the way grammatical categories are used in the “toolkit” approach (Jackendoff, 2002, p. 75). Challenging this practice, the current paper argues that grammatical categories, such as noun, noun phrase and case, are best analyzed in the framework of a structured network model in which all grammatical concepts are defined by particular types of links or relations that specify associations between different aspects of a speaker’s linguistic knowledge

Summary

A Dynamic Network Approach to the Study of Syntax

Specialty section: This article was submitted to Language Sciences, a section of the journal Frontiers in Psychology. The current paper outlines a structured network approach to the study of grammar in which the core concepts of syntax are analyzed by a set of relations that specify associations between different aspects of a speaker’s linguistic knowledge. These associations are shaped by domain-general processes that can give rise to new structures and meanings in language acquisition and language change.

INTRODUCTION

Findings

CONCLUSION