Unifying entrenched tokens and schematized types as routinized commonalities of linguistic experience

2018 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 167-182 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hans-Jörg Schmid
Keyword(s):  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Cognitive Process ◽  
Language Use ◽  
Language Change ◽  
Learning Mechanism ◽  
Cognitive Mechanism ◽  
Language Structure ◽  
Input And Output ◽  
Linguistic Input ◽  
Inherent Component

Abstract Proponents of usage-based models of language acquisition, language structure and language change widely agree that the repetition of specific tokens of words and strings in language use (e.g. give me a break) is conducive to their entrenchment and has a stabilizing and conserving effect, while the repetition of different instantiations of a variable type or pattern (give me a kiss, give me a smile, give me an amen) fosters schematicity and productivity (give me a(n) X). In this paper, I will argue that token-entrenchment and type-schematization are subserved by the same repetition-driven cognitive mechanism. Commonalities observed in linguistic input and output become routinized by repeated activation of patterns of associations. Token-entrenchment and type-schematization do not differ qualitatively but only quantitatively with regard to the variability of what is noticed as being similar. I argue that any form of routinization requires an abstraction over differences between episodes in terms of pronunciation, cotext and context. Therefore, schematization is an inherent component of routinization, but routinization is clearly the more fundamental cognitive process and learning mechanism. I argue that routinized patterns of associations can do the job of constructions in a more flexible, dynamic and parsimonious way and illustrate the potential of this idea with the help of data and insights gleaned from Schonefeld (2015).

scholarly journals FREQUENCY EFFECTS AND SECOND LANGUAGE ACQUISITION

2002 ◽  
Vol 24 (2) ◽  
pp. 249-260 ◽  
Author(s):  
Susan M. Gass ◽  
Alison Mackey
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Processing ◽  
Speech Processing ◽  
Language Use ◽  
Frequency Effects ◽  
Input And Output ◽  
Target Article ◽  
Processing Language

In this response to Ellis's target article on frequency in language processing, language use, and language acquisition, we argue in favor of a role for frequency in several areas of second language acquisition, including interactional input and output and speech processing. We also discuss areas where second language acquisition appears to proceed along its own route and at its own pace regardless of the frequency of the input, as well as areas where input is infrequent but acquisition appears to be unimpeded. Our response is intended to highlight the complexity of the task of deciphering the role and importance of frequency.

The Now-or-Never bottleneck: A fundamental constraint on language

2015 ◽  
Vol 39 ◽  
Author(s):  
Morten H. Christiansen ◽  
Nick Chater
Keyword(s):  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Language Processing ◽  
Language Change ◽  
Language System ◽  
New Material ◽  
Linguistic Input ◽  
Duality Of Patterning ◽  
Available Information ◽  
The Brain

AbstractMemory is fleeting. New material rapidly obliterates previous material. How, then, can the brain deal successfully with the continual deluge of linguistic input? We argue that, to deal with this “Now-or-Never” bottleneck, the brain must compress and recode linguistic input as rapidly as possible. This observation has strong implications for the nature of language processing: (1) the language system must “eagerly” recode and compress linguistic input; (2) as the bottleneck recurs at each new representational level, the language system must build a multilevel linguistic representation; and (3) the language system must deploy all available information predictively to ensure that local linguistic ambiguities are dealt with “Right-First-Time”; once the original input is lost, there is no way for the language system to recover. This is “Chunk-and-Pass” processing. Similarly, language learning must also occur in the here and now, which implies that language acquisition is learning to process, rather than inducing, a grammar. Moreover, this perspective provides a cognitive foundation for grammaticalization and other aspects of language change. Chunk-and-Pass processing also helps explain a variety of core properties of language, including its multilevel representational structure and duality of patterning. This approach promises to create a direct relationship between psycholinguistics and linguistic theory. More generally, we outline a framework within which to integrate often disconnected inquiries into language processing, language acquisition, and language change and evolution.

Competition as a unifying concept for the study of language

2014 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 338-370 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas Berg
Keyword(s):  
Language Processing ◽  
Language Use ◽  
Language Change ◽  
Selection Process ◽  
Structure Variation ◽  
Language Structure ◽  
Core Competition ◽  
Changes Over Time ◽  
Processing Network ◽  
Over Time

With linguistics suffering from increasing fractionalization, it is necessary not to lose sight of the overall picture. It seems uncontroversial that the study of language consists of the following five components: processing, use, structure, variation, and change. While some of the relationships between these concepts have been investigated, a systematic integration of these components into a coherent framework is conspicuously missing. A modest attempt is made here to outline such a framework which makes the interrelationships of the components transparent. In all of these components, competition is found to play a key role. At its core, competition is a psycholinguistic effect which arises in the task of selecting an intended unit from among a number of elements concurrently activated in the processing network. The audible and visible outcome of the selection process is language use. Language structure is the prerequisite for competition in that it provides the set of competitors. When competition is low, consistent (i.e., invariant) language use emerges. When competition is high, language use is variable, i.e., synchronic variation occurs. When competition changes over time, language change takes place. Thus, it is language processing in general and competition in particular that constrains and binds together many phenomena of language use, structure, variation, and change.

Creativity within and outside the linguistic system

2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexander Bergs ◽  
Nikola Anna Kompa
Keyword(s):  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Use ◽  
Language Change ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Cognitive Demands ◽  
Linguistic System ◽  
Linguistic Innovation ◽  
Creative Language

AbstractIn this paper, we distinguish two types of creativity (F-creativity and E-creativity; Sampson 2016) and briefly address the question of language change and linguistic innovation in language acquisition. Cognitively speaking, the two types of creativity may impose different cognitive demands on a speaker. But the most pressing question, from our point of view, is the question whether E-creativity itself is constrained or forces us to ‘transcend’ the (rules of the) system. We will, eventually, argue that what looks like creative language use (metaphor, coercion, etc.) is still governed by rules (or hypermaxims). True E-creativity would then mean to step outside the system.

scholarly journals Effects of Age of Arrival on Acquisition of Formulaic Expressions in the Second Language

2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
pp. p391
Author(s):  
Irina Vaynshteyn ◽  
Diana Van Lancker Sidtis
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Use ◽  
Brain Maturation ◽  
Surprising Result ◽  
Formulaic Language ◽  
Bilingual Speakers ◽  
The Usa ◽  
Linguistic Input ◽  
Better Than

Little is known about age effects on formulaic language acquisition in second language (L2) learners. This research compared use and comprehension of formulaic expressions (FEs) in English and Russian by two groups of Russian bilingual speakers differing in age of arrival (AoA) to the USA. A critical period perspective predicts better performance in the early than the later group in the second language. Contrary to this expectation, the early arriving group did not perform significantly better than the later arriving group on the English formulaic tasks. They did perform better on the English than the Russian formulaic tasks. The later arriving group scored significantly higher than the early group on all formulaic tasks in Russian, and performed significantly better in Russian than English. Both bilingual groups scored higher on comprehension than production for English. The surprising result, that earlier arrival in the second language country did not significantly benefit formulaic language use, remains to be explained. Linguistic input and brain maturation likely both play important roles in formulaic language acquisition.

Universal Grammar, crosslinguistic variation and second language acquisition

2012 ◽  
Vol 45 (3) ◽  
pp. 309-328 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lydia White
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Mental Representation ◽  
Universal Grammar ◽  
Universal Principles ◽  
Language Structure ◽  
Linguistic Input ◽  
Constrained Variation ◽  
Crosslinguistic Variation

According to generative linguistic theory, certain principles underlying language structure are innately given, accounting for how children are able to acquire their mother tongues (L1s) despite a mismatch between the linguistic input and the complex unconscious mental representation of language that children achieve. This innate structure is referred to as Universal Grammar (UG); it includes universal principles, as well as parameters which allow for constrained variation across languages.

On the structure, survival and change of consonant clusters

2019 ◽  
Vol 40 (1) ◽  
pp. 107-127
Author(s):  
Katarzyna Dziubalska-Kołaczyk
Keyword(s):  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Cluster Size ◽  
Language Use ◽  
Language Change ◽  
Consonant Clusters ◽  
Morphological Complexity ◽  
Auditory Distance ◽  
The Cross ◽  
Diachronic Development

Abstract This paper shows how preferability measures can help to explain the cross-linguistic distribution of consonant clusters, their acquisition, as well as aspects of their diachronic development. Phonological preferability is measured in terms of cluster size and Net Auditory Distance, which interact with morphological complexity and frequency. Predictions derived from the preferability of clusters are tested against the evidence of language specific phonotactics, language use, language acquisition, psycholinguistic processing, and language change.

scholarly journals EMPTY CATEGORIES IN TRANSFORMATIONAL RULES

2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 66-83
Author(s):  
Ruly Adha
Keyword(s):  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Use ◽  
Generative Grammar ◽  
Structure Theory ◽  
Empty Category ◽  
Language Structure ◽  
Empty Categories ◽  
Theory Of Language

There are three theories that are always developed in any study of language, namely theory of language structure, theory of language acquisition, and theory of language use. Among those three theories, theory of language structure is regarded as the most important one. It is assumed that if someone knows the structure of language, he/she can develop theories about how language is acquired and used. It makes Chomsky interested in developing the theory of language structure. Chomsky introduced a theory of grammar called Transformational Generative Grammar or Transformational Syntax. Transformational Syntax is a method of sentence fomation which applies some syntactic rules (or also called transformational rules). Transformational rules consist of three types, namely movement transformation, deletion transformation, and substitution transformation. When those transformational rules are applied in a sentence, they will leave empty categories. Empty categories can be in  the form of Complementizer (Comp), Trace, and PRO. This article will elaborate those empty categories; their appearance in the transformational rules; and the characteristics of each empty category.

Language change across a lifetime: A historical micro-perspective

2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (s2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexander Bergs
Keyword(s):  
Communities Of Practice ◽  
Social Factors ◽  
Language Use ◽  
Language Change ◽  
Historical Data ◽  
Data Sets ◽  
The Social ◽  
Challenges And Opportunities ◽  
Linguistic Behavior ◽  
Micro Analysis

Abstract This paper focuses on the micro-analysis of historical data, which allows us to investigate language use across the lifetime of individual speakers. Certain concepts, such as social network analysis or communities of practice, put individual speakers and their social embeddedness and dynamicity at the center of attention. This means that intra-speaker variation can be described and analyzed in quite some detail in certain historical data sets. The paper presents some exemplary empirical analyses of the diachronic linguistic behavior of individual speakers/writers in fifteenth to seventeenth century England. It discusses the social factors that influence this behavior, with an emphasis on the methodological and theoretical challenges and opportunities when investigating intra-speaker variation and change.

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