Word Order Variation Research Articles

Areal and phylogenetic dimensions of word order variation in Indo-European languages

Abstract Both areal and phylogenetic affiliation have been discussed as driving factors of the distribution of word order in the languages of the world. However, disentangling the interaction of these two factors is challenging. Here we take Indo-European as a test case. Word order in this family is largely homogeneous both within areas and within branches, which makes it difficult to assess which factor was more important in shaping the present-day distribution. To break out of this impasse we turn to corpus data and explicit statistical modeling. Building on a parallel corpus of movie subtitles, we investigate word order on the sentence level under stable pragmatic conditions. We measure the similarity of word order variation between pairs of languages with an information-theoretic distance metric. Using cluster analysis and variation partitioning methods these distance metrics show that phylogenetic distance predicts more variation than geographical distance, but the most important predictor is the shared fraction where phylogeny and area overlap. We conclude that word order has evolved along both dimensions and cannot be reduced to a single one.

Syntactic structures in motion: investigating word order variations in verb-final (Korean) and verb-initial (Tongan) languages.

This study explored sentence processing in two typologically distinct languages: Korean, a verb-final language, and Tongan, a verb-initial language. The first experiment revealed that in Korean, sentences arranged in the scrambled OSV (Object, Subject, Verb) order were processed more slowly than those in the canonical SOV order, highlighting a scrambling effect. It also found that sentences with subject topicalization in the SOV order were processed as swiftly as those in the canonical form, whereas sentences with object topicalization in the OSV order were processed with speeds and accuracy comparable to scrambled sentences. However, since topicalization and scrambling in Korean use the same OSV order, independently distinguishing the effects of topicalization is challenging. In contrast, Tongan allows for a clear separation of word orders for topicalization and scrambling, facilitating an independent evaluation of topicalization effects. The second experiment, employing a maze task, confirmed that Tongan's canonical VSO order was processed more efficiently than the VOS scrambled order, thereby verifying a scrambling effect. The third experiment investigated the effects of both scrambling and topicalization in Tongan, finding that the canonical VSO order was processed most efficiently in terms of speed and accuracy, unlike the VOS scrambled and SVO topicalized orders. Notably, the OVS object-topicalized order was processed as efficiently as the VSO canonical order, while the SVO subject-topicalized order was slower than VSO but faster than VOS. By independently assessing the effects of topicalization apart from scrambling, this study demonstrates that both subject and object topicalization in Tongan facilitate sentence processing, contradicting the predictions based on movement-based anticipation.

How semantics works in Chinese relative clause processing: insights from eye tracking.

Recent years have witnessed much research on semantic analysis and syntactic anatomy in ordinary language processing. However, it is still a matter of considerable debate about when and how the semantic integration of single word meanings works and interacts with syntax during on-line comprehension. This study, in an eye-tracking paradigm, took 38 native speakers of Mandarin Chinese as the participants and took Chinese relative clauses as stimuli to figure out the functions of semantics by investigating the conditioning semantic factors influencing and governing the word order variation of Chinese relative clauses during different processing stages. Accordingly, this study manipulated two syntactic variables, i.e., relative clause type and the position of the numeral-classifier sequence (NCL) in the relative clause, as well as a semantic variable, i.e., the abstractness of the head noun that the relative clause modified. Specifically, the study addressed two questions: (1) when semantics is activated and interacts with syntax and (2) how semantics affects syntax during the time course of Chinese relative clause processing. The results indicated that: (1) Semantics was activated and interacted with syntax during the early and late processing stages of Chinese relative clauses, which challenged the sequential order of syntactic and semantic processes, and supported the claims of the Concurrent Processing Model. (2) The syntactic order of the Chinese relative clause was affected by the semantic information of the head noun that the clause modified. Object-extraction relative clauses (ORCs) had a conjunction preference for the order "an object relative clause preceding the numeral-classifier sequence and the head noun." Instead, the subject-extraction relative clause (SRC) which modified a concrete noun (CN) had a co-occurrence preference for the order "numeral-classifier sequence preceding the subject relative clause and the head noun," while the subject-extraction relative clause which modified an abstract noun (AN) had a co-occurrence preference for the order "subject relative clause preceding the numeral-classifier sequence and the head noun." The findings of this study were evaluated in light of the perspectives of truth value semantics of the syntactic components, the semantic compatibility of numeral-classifier sequence and its modified noun as well as the discourse functions of outer modifier nominals and inner modifier nominals.

Processing Factors Constrain Word-Order Variation in German: The Trouble with Third Constructions

A subset of German control verbs allows for the discontinuous linearization of their infinitival complements, a word-order pattern known as the “third construction” pattern. Compared to alternative word-order options (notably, extraposition), third constructions are very rare in present-day German. Here we ask whether the third construction pattern’s low occurrence frequency can be accounted for by processing factors. We report the results from a self-paced reading task and a production priming task investigating whether third constructions are difficult to comprehend, difficult to produce, or both. Our results show that the third construction pattern’s local structural ambiguity impedes comprehension, and that the pattern is also resistant to priming. We conclude that this word-order pattern is an example of a “latent” construction that is grammatically licensed but strongly dispreferred in language use because easier-to-process word-order variants are available.

Investigating the Syntactic Variation among Non-Native English ESL Learners of Khawaja Fareed University of Engineering and Information Technology

Introduction: This research investigates syntactic variation among non-native ESL learners with Urdu, Punjabi, and Saraiki language backgrounds, utilizing Howard Giles' Communicative Accommodation theory. Methodology: Writing samples from 105 students at Khawaja Fareed University of Engineering and Information Technology were analyzed for syntactic differences across various linguistic elements. Results/Findings: Distinct patterns of syntactic variation emerged among language groups, with Urdu-speaking students showing heightened variation in Prepositions, Pluralization, Modal Verbs, Adjective Placement, and Code Switching. Punjabi-speaking students demonstrated increased variation in Subject-Verb Agreement, Verb Tense, Word Order, Pronunciation, Vocabulary, and Relative Clauses. Saraiki-speaking students displayed more variations in Idiomatic Expressions, Question Formation, Negation, and Conjunction. Implication/Future Direction: The findings underscore the importance of considering mother tongue influence in ESL instruction. These variations are attributed to students' inadequate competence, insufficient training, and limited exposure to the target language. Further research should explore effective strategies to address syntactic variation in ESL classrooms.

O filozofii formalnej Miguela Ángela Asturiasa

This paper analyses the linguistic structure, creative modes of expression and stylistic properties of Miguel Ángel Asturias’s Legends of Guatemala (Leyendas de Guatemala, 1930). Furthermore, it attempts to classify Asturias’s prose fiction, which is often multifaceted, by defining the unique character of its complex linguistic mechanisms that create his debut short-story collection. All texts in Legends contain references not only to events of the Mayan cosmogony, mythological tropes and motifs (that have been developed and put into a new context), but also to their mimetic relationship with the ritual language used in the Popol Vuh. The word order variations and certain combinations of vowels and consonants, as well as the specific syntactic parallelisms and enumerations (stylistic and lexical “props”) imitate formulaic phrases which are important elements in oral style. Pre-Columbian themes – especially those chosen by the Guatemalan writer for the narrative content of his works – are full of visual symbols with rich folk meanings; the melodic sound of Asturias’s narration (and its internal rhythm) seems attuned to the worldview belonging to both particular and universal human communities.

University of Lille and CNRS Research unit ‘Savoirs, Textes, Langage’

In this article, we analyze a learner corpus of English-to-French translation tasks produced by advanced students enrolled in their final year of a professional translation master’s program. Specifically, we investigate their use of so-called non-standard, non-SVO word order structures: clefting, pseudo-clefting, dislocation, extraposition, and inversion. We aim to confirm students’ tendency to overuse SVO word order in their translations in comparison with original French and to provide a finer-grained analysis of their (non-)use of non-standard structures. Complementary analyses on a corpus of machine-translated texts and a corpus of professional translations provide further comparisons. Thanks to an approach where corpus material is used to assist students in the development of their translation skills, all these results are meant to have pedagogical value, by highlighting the specificities of student translations to help them write more authentic texts that take into account language use related to word order. The comparison with machine-translated texts is intended to help students develop post-editing skills. Keywords: translation training, translation quality, word order variation, specialized translation, post-editing

Linearization and unaccusativity: The relative order of dative and nominative arguments with five German verbs of success and failure

The present study maps out the word order distributions in verb-second clauses of five German verbs of success and failure: gelingen ‘to succeed’, glücken ‘to succeed’, missglücken ‘to fail’, misslingen ‘to fail’, and missraten to fail’. Given their status as unaccusatives, they display an asymmetric mapping between case marking and thematic roles. As a consequence, several researchers have argued that they sanction an inversion of the canonical nominative-before-dative word order pattern. Two positions emerge: those scholars who associate these verbs with a dative-before-nominative order and those who claim that they license both a dative-before- nominative order as well as a nominative-before-dative order. A corpus study of 982 tokens principally shows the latter claim to be true in that, in a configuration with double NPs, the Nom-Dat order is attested 200 times (or 40%), and the Dat-Nom order 299 times (or 60%). Remarkably, when both arguments are realised as pronouns, the variation in word order is neutralised almost entirely in favour of the nominative-before-dative order.

A Corpus Analysis of the Effects of Definiteness and Animacy on Word Order Variation

This article deals with the analysis of word order variation regarding subjects, direct objects, and non-direct object phrases called the “Target” in the corpus of languages of northwestern Iran, viz., Armenian, Mukri Kurdish, and Northeastern Kurdish (Indo-European), Jewish Northeastern Neo-Aramaic (Semitic), and Azeri Turkic (Turkic). The objective is to examine the effects of formal and semantic (in)definiteness in combination with animacy on Target word order variation to find out which one can be a triggering factor.

Analyzing word order variation and agreement asymmetry in SVO and VSO structures of Standard Arabic: Towards a unified account

Analyzing word order variation and agreement asymmetry in SVO and VSO structures of Standard Arabic: Towards a unified account

Can adults learn L2 grammar after prolonged exposure under incidental conditions?

While late second language (L2) learning is assumed to be largely explicit, there is evidence that adults are able to acquire grammar under incidental exposure conditions, and that the acquisition of this knowledge may be implicit in nature. Here, we revisit the question of whether adults can learn grammar incidentally and investigate whether word order and morphology are susceptible to incidental learning to the same degree. In experiment 1, adult English monolinguals were exposed to an artificial language (Kepidalo) that had case marking and variable word order: a canonical Subject-Object-Verb order and a non-canonical Object-Subject-Verb. In a five-session online study, participants received vocabulary training while being incidentally exposed to grammar, and completed a series of picture-selection and grammaticality judgment tasks assessing grammatical knowledge. Despite extensive exposure to input, and although performance on vocabulary increased significantly across sessions, learners' grammatical comprehension showed little improvement over time, and this was limited to Subject-Object-Verb sentences only. Furthermore, participants were better at detecting word order than case marking violations in the grammaticality judgment tasks. Experiment 2 further increased the amount of incidental exposure whilst examining native speakers of German, which exhibits higher morphological richness. Testing was followed by a post-test metalinguistic awareness questionnaire. Although greater learning effects were observed, participants continued to have difficulties with case marking. The findings also demonstrated that language outcomes were modulated by learners' level of metalinguistic awareness. Taken together, the results of the two experiments underscore adult learners' difficulty with case marking and point towards the presence of a threshold in incidental L2 grammar learning, which appears to be tightly linked to prior first language experience. In addition, our findings continue to highlight the facilitative role of conscious awareness on L2 outcomes.

Notes on word order variation in Korean

Abstract This article aims to develop an analysis of scrambling or word order variation in Korean from a pragmatic/cognitive perspective. Although extensive research has been carried out on this issue, most extant research attempts to provide analyses of the phenomenon by identifying grammatical features posited for syntactic operations. Unlike the previous research, we demonstrate that word order variation needs to be understood with respect to its communicative function; it is motivated by the speaker’s intention to convey information more effectively. It is emphasized that understanding the association between information structure and word order variation should be an essential task for the analysis of the latter phenomenon. We further discuss five conversational strategies that motivate non-canonical word orders, which include juxtaposition, backmasking, right dislocation, add-on, and floated quantifier strategies.

Children's acquisition of word order variation: A study of subject placement in embedded clauses in Norwegian.

Norwegian embedded clauses give children two options for subject placement: preceding or following negation (S-Neg/Neg-S). In the adult language, S-Neg is the 'default' and highly frequent option, and Neg-S is infrequent in children's input. However, Neg-S may be argued to be the structurally less complex. We investigate whether children are aware of the existence of both subject positions, and if they prefer the more frequent or the less complex position. Through an elicited production task with monolingual Norwegian children (N=33, age 3;1-6;1) we find that children in general overuse the Neg-S option, and we suggest that children have an inherent preference for the less complex position, due to a principle of structural economy. We also find that a group of children display U-shaped development, first using only S-Neg, then only Neg-S and finally S-Neg again, and we relate this to structure building and economy of movement.

Reconstructing variation in Indo-European word order

Abstract Word order is a central issue in the reconstruction of Proto-Indo-European syntax. Categorical approaches have proved to be inadequate because they postulate for the protolanguage a typological consistency which is absent in any of the attested daughter languages. Following recent research, we adopt a gradient approach to word order, which treats word order preferences as a continuous variable. We analyze four word order patterns based on data extracted from treebanks of ancient Indo-European languages. After presenting our results for AdpN/NAdp, GN/NG, AN/NA, and OV/VO, we draw a number of conclusions concerning variation within individual languages, crosslinguistic variation, and variation in diachrony that support the claim that variability should be taken as the normal state across languages, including reconstructed stages. We conclude that a non-discrete approach has the advantage of leading to a reconstruction that better conforms to the situation known from real languages, with variation as a key feature.

Why we need a gradient approach to word order

AbstractThis article argues for a gradient approach to word order, which treats word order preferences, both within and across languages, as a continuous variable. Word order variability should be regarded as a basic assumption, rather than as something exceptional. Although this approach follows naturally from the emergentist usage-based view of language, we argue that it can be beneficial for all frameworks and linguistic domains, including language acquisition, processing, typology, language contact, language evolution and change, and formal approaches. Gradient approaches have been very fruitful in some domains, such as language processing, but their potential is not fully realized yet. This may be due to practical reasons. We discuss the most pressing methodological challenges in corpus-based and experimental research of word order and propose some practical solutions.

Volgordevariatie in groepen met receptief krijgen + voltooid deelwoord in de Nederlands Nederlandse krantentaal1

This article presents the results from a corpus-based investigation of the word order variation observed in verb clusters with ‘receptive’ or ‘semipassive’ krijgen ‘to get’ + a past participle, i.e. between the order in dat hij het boek overhandigd kreeg and the one in dat hij het boek kreeg overhandigd ‘that he was handed (literally: got handed) the book’. In contrast to the same word order variation in clusters with the much more frequent (and much older) auxiliaries hebben ‘to have’, zijn ‘to be’ and worden ‘to be/ become’, which has been the subject of numerous existing studies, including multifactorial corpus-based work by De Sutter (2005, 2007, etc.) and Bloem, Versloot & Weerman (2014, 2017), the variation in krijgen-clusters has never been investigated before, barring a preliminary study by Colleman & Rens (2016). A mixed-effects logistic regression analysis of data culled from a diachronic corpus of Dutch newspaper texts shows (i) that the variation in krijgen-clusters, though it is fairly new, is driven by largely the same language-internal factors as the variation in clusters with hebben etc., and (ii) that, in the course of the 20th century, there has been a significant increase in the relative frequency of the ‘auxiliarised’ krijgen + participle order.

Word-order variation and coherence in German infinitival complementation

This study provides a synthesis of corpus-based and experimental investigations of word-order preferences in German infinitival complementation. We carried out a systematic analysis of present-day German corpora to establish frequency distributions of different word-order options: extraposition, intraposition, and ‘third construction’. We then examined, firstly, whether and to what extent corpus frequencies and processing economy constraints can predict the acceptability of these three word-order variants, and whether subject raising and subject control verbs form clearly distinguishable subclasses of infinitive-embedding verbs in terms of their word-order behaviour. Secondly, our study looks into the issue of coherence by comparing acceptability ratings for monoclausal coherent and biclausal incoherent construals of intraposed infinitives, and by examining whether a biclausal incoherent analysis gives rise to local and/or global processing difficulty. Taken together, our results revealed that (i) whilst the extraposition pattern consistently wins out over all other word-order variants for control verbs, neither frequency nor processing-based approaches to word-order variation can account for the acceptability of low-frequency variants, (ii) there is considerable verb-specific variation regarding word-order preferences both between and within the two sets of raising and control verbs under investigation, and (iii) although monoclausal coherent intraposition is rated above biclausal incoherent intraposition, the latter is not any more difficult to process than the former. Our findings indicate that frequency of occurrence and processing-related constraints interact with idiosyncratic lexical properties of individual verbs in determining German speakers’ structural preferences.

The Acquisition of Principles and Parameters by Children Learning Urdu

The present study attempts to explore the parameters and principles set by children while acquiring Urdu. Learning a language involves the acquisition of lexical as well as syntactic knowledge. The objectives of the study were to find out the parametric setting and wh-parameters used by the children while learning Urdu. Principles and parameters theory of Chomsky advocates that language learning involves learning lexical items and syntactic knowledge which is basic knowledge of putting words together in a sentence. The utterances of a child of 24 months were recorded for four months and analyzed using the theoretical framework of Principles and Parameters presented by Chomsky. The analysis of the data focused on null subjects, word order variation, wh parameter, and head position parameter. The study found that children set the parameters quite early on in life and follow them consistently. The present study did not find any evident deviation or miss-setting of parameters. This research recommends to exploring the gender variation in parametric settings using a large sample.

Strategies for Word Order Variation Repair between English and Tshivenda at a Rural University

Competence in rules for arranging appropriate word order in sentences avoids ambiguity and misinterpretation in communication. Nevertheless, non-native English speakers experience difficulties in word order due to variations between English and Tshivenda. This paper examined strategies for word order variation repair between the two languages. A qualitative research approach was adopted to obtain an in-depth understanding of the use of word order in written essays. An action research method was utilised as it is a critical classroom-based inquiry for identifying and improving the teaching and learning of a particular grammatical aspect. Data were collected from 15 purposefully selected Module 1141 English Communication Skills students at the University of Venda, South Africa. A pilot study was conducted on the use of word order by 10 students who were not part of the study group but shared similar characteristics with them. After utilising discourse critical analysis, it was revealed that learners experienced difficulties regarding declarative, interrogative and negative sentences. However, after employing scaffolding strategies, the students' performance was preternatural because the lowest challenge was misformation, with only 8%, while misordering had 11%. Therefore, scaffolding strategies are recommended in teaching and learning English word order.

Word Order variation in L1 and L2 Italian speakers: the role of Focus and the Unaccusativity Hierarchy

This paper investigates the Italian Word Order variation in the position of subjects (S) with respect to finite predicates (V) in two adult populations: L1-Italian speakers and L1-French L2-Italian speakers. We test how discourse focus (Belletti, 2001) and a decomposed approach to Unaccusativity, i.e., Unaccusativity Hierarchy (Sorace, 2000), determine the SV/VS variation in L1 and L2 populations. The results of a forced-choice preference task show that both factors constrain the Italian word order in L1 and L2 Italian speakers: the VS order was preferred in the narrow focus and with Change of Location unaccusative verbs in both populations, although with different proportions. Overall L2 speakers chose the SV order more consistently than L1 speakers but they did so mainly with the less-core unaccusative verbs of the Unaccusativity Hierarchy. We account for these findings suggesting a return to the original version of the Interface Hypothesis (Sorace, 2005), which predicts that interface phenomena, including those at the syntax-lexicon interface, represent a vulnerable domain in L2 acquisition.