Coercion and language change: A usage-based approach

Abstract

This study explores the roles of frequency and expressions that are not perfectly compatible with existing grammar on the usage-based assumption that linguistic knowledge is grounded in language use. Specifically, this study examines grammatical knowledge regarding semantic compatibility between Korean do-light verb construction ([NP-ul ha-ta] ‘do NP’) and its co-occurring noun phrase (NP), and the resolution of their incompatibility (i.e., coercion). Altogether, 163 Korean native speakers were randomly assigned to four groups, each reading passages with five embedded sentences 10 times belonging to one of the four compatibility categories ([no/mild/strong/impossible] coercion) during five input sessions. When acceptability scores judged after the input sessions were compared to those before the sessions, the coerced sentences were judged more acceptable in general. Specifically, improvement in judgments on all compatibility degrees was the greatest in the group that read the strong coercion sentences, showing that the degree of grammar extension is correlated with the degree of coercion that the speakers have experienced. Moreover, judgments on sentences not exposed in the input sessions also similarly improved in the posttest, implying that speakers generalize the frequent coerced pattern applying it to new instances. The study demonstrates that frequency in relatively ungrammatical expressions in language use is one of the central mechanisms of language change. (Incheon National University)