4,473 research outputs found
Rules, frequency, and predictability in morphological generalization: behavioral and computational evidence from the German plural system
Morphological generalization, or the task of mapping an unknown word (such as a novel noun Raun) to an inflected form (such as the plural Rauns), has historically proven a contested topic within computational linguistics and cognitive science, e.g. within the past tense debate (Rumelhart and McClelland, 1986; Pinker and Prince, 1988; Seidenberg and Plaut, 2014). Marcus et al. (1995) identified German plural inflection as a key challenge domain to evaluate two competing accounts of morphological generalization: a rule generation view focused on linguistic features of input words, and a type frequency view focused on the distribution of output inflected forms, thought to reflect more domain-general cognitive processes. More recent behavioral and computational research developments support a new view based on predictability, which integrates both input and output distributions. My research uses these methodological innovations to revisit a core dispute of the past tense debate: how do German speakers generalize plural inflection, and can computational learners generalize similarly?
This dissertation evaluates the rule generation, type frequency, and predictability accounts of morphological generalization in a series of behavioral and computational experiments with the stimuli developed by Marcus et al.. I assess predictions for three aspects of German plural generalization: distribution of infrequent plural classes, influence of grammatical gender, and within-item variability. Overall, I find that speaker behavior is best characterized as frequency-matching to a phonologically-conditioned lexical distribution. This result does not support the rule generation view, and qualifies the predictability view: speakers use some, but not all available information to reduce uncertainty in morphological generalization. Neural and symbolic model predictions are typically overconfident relative to speakers; simple Bayesian models show somewhat higher speaker-like variability and accuracy. All computational models are outperformed by a static phonologically-conditioned lexical baseline, suggesting these models have not learned the selective feature preferences that inform speaker generalization
Language contact between Italian and English: a case study on nouns ending in the suffix -ing
The article deals with how English deverbal nouns with the suffix -ing have been imported into Italian. The focus is on the semantic characteristics of these borrowed nouns in Italian and, in particular, on the question of whether they have been borrowed not as simple sign-concept pairings but with argument and event structure. In previous research, it has been claimed that argument and event structure need to be licensed by some overt functional element. Hence, borrowed deverbal nouns should have argument structure and event structure only if they have an overt affix, in other words, only if the forms are not borrowed holistically as unsegmented words but retain internal morphological structure, implying that morphological borrowing of the affix has occurred. When a foreign affix combines with native bases of the recipient language, this is often considered an important criterion for morphological borrowing, which is clearly not the case for the suffix -ing in Italian. Here, it will be shown that contrary to expectation, numerous occurrences with argument and event structure may be found in a large Italian web corpus for a sample of English deverbal nouns ending in -ing, borrowed into (certain registers) of Italian
A critical analysis of the strategies of terminology creation in the context of a multilingual Namibia: the case of ruManyo
This study examines the strategies used to develop terms in the language ruManyo. The study focuses on existing strategies used by language practitioners to construct analogous key-concept terms in ruManyo for application in various fields. The sample was taken through purposive sampling, and the investigation was carried out in Namibia's Kavango East region, in domains such as education, radio, agriculture, law, hospital, bank, and church. The data for this report was collected using a case study, which included document analysis, participant observations and interviews with ruManyo language practitioners. The findings of the study indicate that ruManyo language practitioners lack the skills and information needed to build appropriate terminology solutions for specific domains. Furthermore, it appears that linguistic competence is not guiding word-generation efforts in certain disciplines. The study re-evaluated the evolution of multilingual word-generation techniques, and discovered that specific domains necessitate specific tactics, based on the context in which terms are employed. Based on the findings of this study, the recommendation is to design unambiguous wordinvention strategies for specific domains that are consistent with the terminology development guidelines for indigenous African languages. Due to the deficiencies in African indigenous language terminologies highlighted in this study, the researcher proposes the creation of a manual for ruManyo, detailing each method for application in different domains
Learning probabilistic patterns: influence of homophony, L1 and frequency
In this thesis, I investigate whether learnersâ avoidance of alternation and neutralization, as well as learnersâ exposure to their native language (L1), affect how they learn new morpho-phonological patterns. While the effect of individual factors on morpho-phonological learning has been widely studied, whether these factors have a collective effect on learning and interact with the frequency of variants in the input has been understudied. To explore whether there are any interactive effects of these factors, I modify the type of alternations, learnersâ native languages, and relative frequency of variants across several repetitions of an experiment. I exposed adult English speakers to an artificial language in which plural forms were probabilistically marked by one of two prefixes. One of the prefixes triggered either a non- neutralizing or neutralizing alternation that could create homophony. I found that English speakers generally matched the relative input frequency to their output. However, learners avoided the construction that resulted in a phonological alternation, but only when it was infrequent. This finding suggests that though there is a tendency to avoid alternations, it depends on how frequent the relative variants are in the input. Moreover, English speakers were poorer at learning the neutralizing alternation than the non-neutralizing alternation, showing their bias against neutralization that can create homophony. Additionally, I replicated the same experiments with Korean speakers because there is abundant exposure to neutralization in their L1. I found that Korean speakers were successful at learning both neutralizing and non-neutralizing alternations, suggesting that having abundant exposure to neutralization can make new neutralization easier to learn. Finally, I argue for a model which implements the avoidance effect as a discounting of observations that trigger homophony in the training data, rather than requiring a special constraint penalizing neutralization in the grammar. This Discount model correctly predicts the different
learning results between English and Korean speakers and provides a straightforward explanation for learnersâ bias against neutralization and homophony. This approach places the locus of the bias in the learning process rather than in the grammar
Paraguayan GuaranĂ reduplication: a novel prosodic analysis
In contexts of reduplication in Paraguayan GuaranĂ [gug, TupĂ-GuaranĂ, Paraguay], two syllables are copied.The position of the reduplicant is variable, but morphophonologically conditioned. With data from apparentbase-reduplicant mismatches, I evaluate three possible analyses of reduplication. Contrary to previousaccounts of reduplication in TupĂ-GuaranĂ (Everett & Seki, 1985; Rose, 2005; Hamidzadeh, 2013), I arguethat the reduplicant in Paraguayan GuaranĂ is best analyzed as an infix: specifically, a suffix to the stressedvowel. Reduplication in Paraguayan GuaranĂ is sensitive to stress assignment, which is determined by theprosodic structure, and the reduplicant is a disyllabic suffix to a stressed vowel. The vowel to which thereduplicant attaches may lie within any prosodic word: therefore, both attested and unattested types ofvariability in reduplicant position fall out from this account. I additionally propose that synchronic variationis evidence of an ongoing reanalysis of the position of the reduplicant in Paraguayan GuaranĂ from a suffix tothe stressed vowel towards a suffix to the prosodic word, in line with free suffix order in the language
The Prefix Ta-: From Kambera to Indonesian
This research explores the borrowing of prefix ta- from bahasa Kambera (BK) to bahasa Indonesia (BI). This study is exceptional since the borrowing is from the non-dominant (as donor) language to the dominant language (as recipient) which has never existed before (there is no data of words borrowed from BK to BI). Besides, most borrowing from local languages in Indonesia to BI are in forms of words, not affixes. This descriptive qualitative study finds that, as its function in BK, the prefix ta- also has the same role in BI. It is used to derive the agentless intransitive achievement verbs with no agent. The prefix ta- is attached directly to the roots. The roots mostly are transitive and intransitive verbs, as well as adjectives and the derived forms after ta- is attached are mostly intransitive verbs and limited adjective (used as modifier in noun phrase). The prefix ta- is borrowed through direct borrowing which rely on the knowledge of the speakers. The borrowing occurred in the past when native speaker of Kambera were insisted on using bahasa Indonesia as the formal language. The practical use of the prefix ta- could be the most prominent reason of why this phenomenon happened.
The Realisation of syntactic principles in non-standard Afrikaans: the correspondence of Jan Jonker Afrikaner (1820-1889)
This study compares the syntax of nineteenth-century Orange River Afrikaans with Dutch and synchronic Afrikaans varieties, with particular attention to Griqua Afrikaans. It provides an account of the differences that are found between the earliest attestations of an extraterritorial variety of the Dutch language on southern African soil (the so-called Cape Dutch Vernacular) with the present-day outcome. The data collected for this study originate chiefly from an hitherto undisclosed corpus of letters kept in the Namibian State Archives by the so-called Oorlam-Nama, people of mixed descent who lived on the periphery of the nineteenth- century Cape colonial society. This thesis argues that nineteenth-century Orange River Afrikaans is a representative continuation of the earliest developments in the linguistic contact situation that existed at the Cape. The thesis advances that literacy and social class are important factors in the assessment of the written record from the Dutch colony at the Cape. The thesis centers around the letters by one author, Jan Jonker Afrikaner, written over a period of nearly twenty years in the second half of the nineteenth century. This legacy is a unique contribution to the diachronic data concerning the development of Afrikaans. From the data it is shown that this author had the command over different registers, fluctuating between a near perfect metropolitan Dutch and a Hollands that is classified as basilectal Afrikaans. The comparison of the data is set in a framework inspired by the concepts put forward in Generative Grammar. This has precipitated an exciting linguistic comparison of contemporary Afrikaans grammar with the diachronic material. This dissertation challenges the idea that the Khoesan Languages were of no or little influence in the development of Afrikaans. The linguistic analysis of the nineteenth-century data reveal that the developments which took place cannot be attributed to one single origin. It is demonstrated that the innovations and change that can be identified run parallel to regular patterns that are found in other languages generally classified as creole languages. It is argued that the syntax of the Khoesan languages is a major reinforcing factor in the development of the syntactic idiosyncrasies that are identified as un-Germanic characteristics of Afrikaans. Limited to nonstandard varieties of Afrikaans, in the concluding sections the question is raised how these findings are to be addressed in the larger context of language change
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