Order shaped by cognition. Evidence for (and against) the effect of domain-general biases on word and morpheme order

Memory limitations are known to constrain language comprehension and production, and have been argued to account for crosslinguistic word order regularities. However, a systematic assessment of the role of memory limitations in language structure has proven elusive, in part because it is hard to extract precise large-scale quantitative generalizations about language from existing mechanistic models of memory use in sentence processing. We provide an architecture-independent information-theoretic formalization of memory limitations which enables a simple calculation of the memory efficiency of languages. Our notion of memory efficiency is based on the idea of a memory-surprisal trade-off: A certain level of average surprisal per word can only be achieved at the cost of storing some amount of information about the past context. Based on this notion of memory usage, we advance the Efficient Trade-off Hypothesis: The order of elements in natural language is under pressure to enable favorable memory-surprisal trade-offs. We derive that languages enable more efficient trade-offs when they exhibit information locality: When predictive information about an element is concentrated in its recent past. We provide empirical evidence from three test domains in support of the Efficient Trade-off Hypothesis: A reanalysis of a miniature artificial language learning experiment, a large-scale study of word order in corpora of 54 languages, and an analysis of morpheme order in two agglutinative languages. These results suggest that principles of order in natural language can be explained via highly generic cognitively motivated principles and lend support to efficiency-based models of the structure of human language. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

We investigated the effect of morphosyntactic violation type on accuracy and processing time in Broca's aphasics engaged in an on-line error detection task. Five agrammatic Broca's aphasic subjects and 15 age-matched control subjects performed grammaticality judgments on auditorily presented grammatical and ungrammatical sentences. Both judgment accuracy and decision time were measured, so that the data revealed not only whether aphasics detected violations, but when they noticed them. The ungrammatical sentences were created by changing quantifiers and auxiliary verbs in one of two ways: substituting one quantifier or auxiliary for another to create agreement errors, or moving the quantifier or auxiliary "downstream" from its proper site to create word order errors. Also, the position of the violation in the sentence (early versus late) as well as the distance relationships among sentence elements involved in the violation (local versus global) were manipulated. Results suggest that aphasic subjects retain some sensitivity to grammaticality, knowledge that they are able to use "online." Performance was also affected by type of violation. Aphasic subjects were less sensitive to agreement violations than they were to violations created by moving the same elements to an illegal position-and this tended to be reflected in decision times as well as accuracy. These results support two conclusions. First, although the performance of aphasic subjects was degraded relative to control subjects, the findings of overall grammaticality sensitivity and relatively rapid decision times suggest that the locus of grammatical impairment in these patients has more to do with the accessing of linguistic information than with loss of linguistic knowledge. Second, the difference between agreement and movement violations provides further evidence that morphological marking is relatively vulnerable in aphasia, compared with the principles that govern word and morpheme ordering.

This chapter pursues the question whether postsyntactic reordering is a necessary component of UG (as in DM), or (can)not (be) (as in Antisymmetry). A typology of morpheme ordering is developed based on the typology of word order patterns characterized by (Greenberg’s) Universal 20 (U20), modeled by Cinque (Linguistic inquiry 36: 315–332, 2005), and since shown to characterize the typology of word orders in other syntactic domains. Under a syntactic antisymmetry account, morpheme orders are expected to track the syntactic U20 patterns. In syntactic theories without Antisymmetry and with head movement, no such expectations hold, and postsyntactic morpheme reordering must be assumed, If postsyntactic reordering is not available in UG, morpheme orders that have been argued to require postsyntactic reordering in DM should fall within the allowable U20 typology. This chapter looks at a puzzling morpheme order paradigm from Huave, argued by Embick and Noyer (2007), to require postsyntactic local dislocation. It shows that a local dislocation account is ill-motivated, regardless of antisymmetry. This puzzling paradigm turns out to be unremarkable, given the expected U20 syntactic typology. This chapter further develops and tests the antisymmetric U20 account for Huave, and shows that the morpheme alternations can be captured successfully without any need for postsyntactic reordering. It has the advantage of relating specific morpho-syntactic problems to general syntactic configurations, and is shown to extend to capture morpheme order variation within varieties of Huave.

On Universal Trends in Spanish as a Second Language Bill VanPatten Keywords first language transfer/tranferencia de primera lengua, second language acquisition/adquisición de segunda lengua, teacher education/formación docente, universals of acquisition/universales de adquisición In this important and provocative essay, Avizia Yim Long and Kimberly Geeslin suggest that we cannot accept the findings of research on Spanish as an L2 until we have evidence from learners of typologically diverse L1s. That is, "the search for universal trends of acquisition is undermined by an inability to distinguish between challenges that are specific to English-speaking learners and those that apply across learner populations" (205). Long and Geeslin's data from Korean L1 learners of Spanish L2 (in addition to some data from Chinese and Portuguese L1 learners) is a point of departure. Long and Geeslin's position is well taken. Research is always welcome that attempts to verify extant findings. However, several caveats are in order. The first concerns the research on English as L2. The extensive body of literature on English as L2 is informed by research using learners from a variety of typologically different L1s. And yet, while some L1 influences are noted, the universality of various aspects of acquisition is well known. This universality includes such things as developmental sequences, morpheme orders, processing heuristics and constraints (from UG and other sources), among others. What this literature suggests is that powerful underlying forces are at work in acquisition independent of any L1 influence. So, the first question for the present essay is this: why would Spanish L2 be any different? Is there something about Spanish that makes it "special" compared to English such that the L1 should exert an influence against the universals? To be sure, my claim is not that there is no L1 influence in acquisition. Some of the findings reported by Long and Geeslin on Spanish L2 are to be expected and have been shown in the acquisition of English as L2, for example. Assuming that comparing research studies poses no problem where designs are different, data collection is different, and procedures may be different, if we look closely at the research presented by Long and Geeslin, we do not really find any actual dispute regarding the extant research findings on the acquisition of Spanish as L2. As one instance, Long and Geeslin note that the sequence established back in the 1980s for the acquisition of copular verbs (ser/estar) basically holds regardless of the L1; that is, L1 influence does not appear to affect the sequence but rather the rates of use of certain kinds of adjectives. The same is true for the research on null and explicit subjects. Long and Geeslin report, not on the universal aspects of the acquisition of subject pronouns (e.g., operation of the OPC, how pro operates in the grammar, referentiality) that should hold regardless of L1, but, instead, on rates of pronoun suppliance. Again, we would [End Page 211] expect such differences for a variety of reasons. To be sure, Long and Geeslin clearly state that such research "does not derail our existing work, but rather, allows an additional level of detail" (209). I agree and although such detail is interesting and of merit, I return to my original point: what are we trying to find out in L2 acquisition that we don't already know from research on English and other languages, including Spanish? For me, then, taking a visionary perspective on the future of Spanish L2, I would suggest the following questions: • How can the acquisition of Spanish as L2, if at all, be used to inform theories of second language acquisition or test particular hypotheses derived from those theories? And why would we want to do this? • To what extent can the research on Spanish L2 be used in education to inform teachers about the nature of language acquisition? After thirty-plus years in the profession, I find the second question particularly important for the future of Spanish. In my experience, knowledge about both language and language acquisition is woefully underrepresented in teacher preparation and in continuing teacher education. Because of this underrepresentation, we have failed to create true and...

Teaching & Learning Guide for: The Emerging Field of Language Dynamics

Reviewed by: Linguistics: A very short introduction by Peter H. Matthews Ute Römer Linguistics: A very short introduction. By Peter H. Matthews. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2003. Pp. 134. ISBN 0192801481. $9.95. Peter H. Matthews’s book consists of nine chapters, ‘The study of language’, ‘ “Homo loquens” ’, ‘Language in time and space’, ‘Language families’, ‘In praise of diversity’, ‘What is a language?’, ‘How much is systematic?’, ‘Sounds’, and ‘Language and the brain’, which are followed by a short ‘further reading’ section and an index. Ch. 1 defines linguistics as the study and ‘science’ of language, pointing out some central features of this uniquely human phenomenon. The chapter deals with some central linguistic problems, in particular the missing one-to-one relationships between words and sounds and between meanings in different languages. Ch. 2 further explores the topic of the talking species, the ‘homo loquens’, and identifies speech as the central feature of our society, raising questions about the origin and structure of language and about the evolution of our species, such as, Do we learn through experience or are we genetically programmed to a certain extent? Ch. 3 investigates language development and (mainly regional) variation, looking at phonological and lexical-grammatical features and referring, for instance, to William Labov’s early research. Variation is seen as both a product of and a potential for change. More information on language evolution and spread can be found in Ch. 4. It examines how languages relate to each other and how linguists go about reconstructing languages and parallels between them. Ch. 5 goes on to discuss the topic of interlanguage variation and praises diversity at different linguistic levels. The question is not only what features occur in some languages that are missing from others, but also whether and how people with different language backgrounds think and speak about the world in different ways. Ch. 6 gets back to answering the question ‘What is a language?’ and suggests a definition of language as a system that includes contrasting forms and hence rules or regularities that determine choices in the system and evoke certain patterns. The concept of the language system is further discussed in Ch. 7. The chapter aims to determine which phenomena are central to the system and which are rather peripheral. It also makes observations concerning rules and deviations from them in real-life language. Ch. 8 looks at contrasts between sounds and sound systems in different languages, covering both phonetic and phonological aspects, such as the articulation of stops, vowel harmony, or differences in sound transitions. By coming back to the subject of linguistic knowledge and by focusing on human beings as ‘brainy’ creatures, the last chapter of the book (Ch. 9) manages to close a circle. It raises one of the big unresolved issues in linguistics: Where, and especially how, is language controlled and synthesized in the brain? M has performed the very difficult task of compressing a wealth of material and presenting it in a most accessible way. A pocket-size booklet of some 130 pages cannot, of course, replace any of the much more comprehensive 500 + -page introductions to linguistics, but it is a nice complement and a welcome addition to Oxford’s ‘Very short introductions’ series. Ute Römer University of Hanover Copyright © 2005 Linguistic Society of America

A description is given of a ‘back-tracking’ approach that could be used to model neural language development and language evolution. This approach aims to develop a neural model of human language capacity that incorporates important constraints on language structure, language comprehension and performance, and brain structure. The model is then to be used as a target for development or evolution. To this end, the target model would have to be simplified, so that the target model can be derived from the simplified version and learning algorithms (or structural changes). The benefit of this approach is that the development of important constraints such as the combinatorial productivity of human language is ensured. The paper illustrates the importance of including this constraint in models of language development and evolution. It then describes a neural model in which this constraint is satisfied. Finally, the paper describes how such a model could be used to investigate language development and/or evolution.

This article offers a thorough analysis of the variability of verb forms in the history of the language. The types of diasystemic variability that are characteristic of the evolution of the French language are determined. The originality is determined by the fact that for the first time a diasystemic approach is used in the analysis of cases of variability of verb forms in the history of the French language with the definition and description of their functional significance in accordance with one or another type of diasystemic variability. The evolution of the verbal system of the French language is studied in the context of the concept of “diasystem”, the fundamental types of variability in the history of the French language are determined, which act as factors of changes in the system. The subject of the study is the types of diasystemic variability of verb forms and the definition of their role in the evolution of the French verbal system. A classification of the revealed cases of variability of verb forms is made in accordance with the following types of diasystemic variability: diatopic type, diachronic type, diaphasic type. The material for the study was French scripts of the 10th–14th centuries, presented by handwritten versions of various literary works. For their study, L.A. Stanova’s method of analysis is used “horizontally”, comparing different handwritten versions of one literary monument, and “vertically”, comparing different literary works. works within one regional written tradition, scripts. To analyze the research material, the comparative-comparative method, the structural-functional method, and the method of contextual analysis were also used. In the course of studying the types of diasystemic variability, the following was proved: (1) the diatopic type of variability of verb forms makes it possible to determine which phonetic processes affect the graphic design of verb forms in a particular script and determine the appearance of their variants in a particular time period (palatalization of consonants is characteristic of Picard scripts, monophthongization was already recorded in Central French scripts in the 13th century); (2) the diachronic type of variability indicates the changes that took place in the verbal system of the Old and Middle French periods at the level of morphology (displacement of archaic Latin forms of the verb estre by newly formed Romanic forms – the indicative imperfect ert → estoit; at the level of the use of verbal forms of tense and mood in the text – competition of the perfect/imperfect indicative in the descriptive function in the Old French period with the subsequent consolidation of the use of the imperfect in this meaning in the texts); (3) for the diaphasic type of variability, in the course of comparing different handwritten versions of one literary monument, it was found that, when rewriting the text, the scribe could completely alter the temporal/modal context of the work in order to change the general context of the work (on the material of the fablio in the Picard script, the predominant use of verb forms of syubjonctive is noted instead of indicative). The use of the diasystemic approach in the study of the variability of verb forms in the history of the French language makes it possible to systematize and order the identified cases of variability at different levels of the language (phonetic, morphological, at the level of graphics), as well as at the level of use in the text.

ABSTRACTThis review analyses research on the acquisition of Hungarian morphology and syntax. The specific topics covered are morphological analysis, neologisms, acquisition of the first inflections, morpheme order, word order and agreement. Several lines of evidence suggest that the first unit acquired by the child is the word. Because of the structure of Hungarian, both errors in segmentation of the utterance and errors in the segmentation of the word are minimized. Morphological analysis seems to begin at the semantic level and proceed to the morphological level. Data on acquisition of free word order and early inflections are potentially of great interest, although presently inconclusive.

This publication provides an account of past and current research in the interface between linguistics and law. It outlines the range of legal areas in which linguistics plays an increasing role, and describes the tools and approaches used by linguists and lawyers in this field. Through a combination of overview articles, case studies, and theoretical descriptions, the volume addresses areas such as the history and structure of legal languages, multilingualism and language rights, courtroom discourse, forensic identification, intellectual property and linguistics, and legal translation and interpretation. Encyclopedic in scope, it includes articles written by experts from every continent, who are familiar with linguistic issues which arise in diverse legal systems, including both civil and common law jurisdictions, mixed systems such as that of China, and the emerging law of the European Union.

The Acquisition of Chinese Syntax

The discussion of the standardization of Quechua and a single orthography began in colonial times and continues today. This paper presents the current linguistic situation in Ancash as a reflection of the history of language policy in Peru. Within this view, we offer a chronology of the most important stages of the history of the Quechua language from the colonial period to the present day, with emphasis on intercultural bilingual education in Ancash. Particular importance is given to the difference in attitude between the Ministry of Education and the Christian association AWI (financed by the Summer Institute of Linguistics). Both agree that linguistic issues are closely related to issues of ethnic identity. And both want Quechua speakers not to abandon their own language for Spanish. However, the ways they intend to reach this common goal are different.

Reviews 281 However, its very breadth is also a challenge. Whereas virtually all the chapters are devoted to linguistic change in French, three of the twenty-nine are devoted to different, unrelated languages (Henri for Sungwadia, Pivot for Chibcha, Barjric for Serbo-Croatian, and Haselow for English), the latter being the only contribution written in that language. Moreover, the organization of the volume seems artificial, in that fourteen chapters are in part 3.Yet all in all, this volume is a welcome contribution to the study of language change. University of Nevada, Las Vegas Deborah Arteaga Carlier,Anne, Michèle Goyens, et Béatrice Lamiroy, éd. Le français en diachronie: nouveaux objets et méthodes. New York: Peter Lang, 2015. ISBN 978-3-0343-16606 . Pp. vii + 460. This volume of seventeen papers from the 2012 Diachro conference in Leuven, including pieces from invited speakers Buridant and Lodge, presents some of the latest research in the history of the French language. The first section (seven articles) highlights how translation—mainly Classical, Late and Neo-Latin texts into Old and Middle French—can be a tool to better understand linguistic change, language interference (both conscious and subconscious), and diglossia. The next four articles examine more recent changes (eighteenth to nineteenth century) in French, while the final section pulls together pieces on a variety of topics, such as grammaticalization, coordination, the passé simple, and word order. The selection of articles seems aimed at cutting-edge research stemming from a variety of frameworks, but all involve extensive examination of corpora, including online sources such as the Anglo-Norman Online Hub, Base de Français Médiéval, and Frantext. While clearly aimed at the specialist familiar with Latin and Old and Middle French, many articles contain enough translations and/or glosses to make them approachable to advanced undergraduate and graduate students. A few contributions stand out as possible ancillary readings for History of the Language courses. Schøsler’s article compares thirteenth-century French translations of Cicero’s works alongside a sixteenth-century self-translation of Calvin. Examining the use of discontinuous subjects (common in Latin), verbs of movement, and support verb constructions, she shows how the translator is influenced by, or consciously avoids, constructions from the source language. Ducos questions whether Latin was the only source of neologisms in the early stages of French. Scrutinizing twelfth- and thirteenth-century astronomical texts (which are not glossed) and other scientific works, she shows that neologisms were based not only on Latin, but that French equivalents or variants existed for many scientific terms well before Oresme’s fourteenth-century Latin-based neologisms. Lodge takes a sociolinguistic approach to phonetic, morphological, and syntactic variation in eighteenthto nineteenth-century French, examining texts in the Parisian poissard dialect. He illustrates how postindustrial demographic growth helped level this urban vernacular and argues that linguists should take a multidimensional, holistic approach to language change. Klein reconsiders Mercier’s (1801) controversial lexicographical work and gives the reader a newly found appreciation for Mercier’s innovative approach to neologisms in a well-documented appendix. Tourrette explores the history of the spelling conundrum for adjectives in [il]—differentiated civil/civile, vil/vile versus epicene facile, utile. He examines the undermarking and overmarking of gender agreement from the sixteenth century to present, cleverly concluding:“Si nos étudiants commettent des erreurs, c’est finalement parce qu’ils sont trop grammairiens et qu’ils appliquent trop les règles”(308). Finally, in an extremely well-glossed article, Guillot and Carlier present both the morphological and semantic details of how the Latin ternary system of demonstratives evolved into the French binary system, with special emphasis on Late Latin. Overall, this carefully edited work, with many easy-to-follow tables, charts, and graphics, presents the latest, corpus-based research in the evolution of the French language and will be a great resource for historical linguists. Florida International University Peter A. Machonis Guijarro-Fuentes, Pedro, Katrin Schmitz, and Natascha Müller, eds. The Acquisition of French in Multilingual Contexts. Toronto: Multilingual Matters, 2016. ISBN 978-1-78309-452-3. Pp. 268. Against a generative theoretical backdrop, eight studies take up the acquisition of French as a second first...

This study focuses on the description of argument structure and word order in Saudi Sign language (SSL). The nature of the syntactic level of the grammar of SSL is clarified. Since word order is often considered the most important part of grammar, this study details the various options that are available for the major constituents (Subject, Verb, and Object) in SSL independent of any connection to spoken Arabic syntax. In SSL, like in other languages, the nature of the arguments (Subject, Object) and the kind of verb can impact the word order. To investigate word order in SSL, which is based on Chomsky’s (1995) Minimalist Program (MP), data were collected through derivation of data from narratives (semi-naturalistic-corpus) and an experiment (picture-description task). This research involved a sample of 10 deaf signing participants who are all fluent in SSL. All the participants have lived in Saudi Arabia for at least 10 years. Results indicate that the SSL is as any natural language and from the spoken language in Saudi Arabia. The most common word order in declaratives and the basic constituent order in SSL is SVO. As in virtually all sign languages, Wh-elements in SSL occur at the end of the clause. According to research on the interaction between word order and grammatical use of facial expressions and head locations (nonmanual marking), nonmanual markings have pragmatic purposes and may have syntactic functions.

This book is about examination of functional relation between language structure, internal brain regulatory processes and external processes in nature. Book describes the relation of learning, language and cognitive fitness as adaptive biological interrelations of a process called life. Author describes human being's unique advantage of understanding thought process, language and the reality under the shadow of scientific processes. Evolution of language contributes to the search of novelty of thoughts, behaviour, knowledge, problems, solutions, creativity, learning, innovation, trust and belief in the human kind to serve the horizon. Author linked the evolution of human brain with evolution of primitive language which represented primitive information processing and reasoning. Complexity of language is attributed for understanding complexity of nature to reveal its most dynamic aspects enabling the bigger view of perspective. Linkage of Hippocampus and amygdala to segregate and integrate past with future for encoding and archiving the essence of memory, has been described to be correlated and influenced by language. doi : 10.5214/ans.0972.7531.200411