Power languages and density

AbstractThe class of all languages can be seen as a distributive lattice with respect to a preorder defined by letter-to-letter morphisms. Maximal dense intervals in the lattice are investigated. The results are based on a construction that builds a new language, so-called power language, from subsets of a given language. Applications to grammar form theory and graph theory are also presented

A dynamic network Aapproach to the study of syntax

Usage-based linguists and psychologists have produced a large body of empirical results suggesting that linguistic structure is derived from language use. However, while researchers agree that these results characterize grammar as an emergent phenomenon, there is no consensus among usage-based scholars as to how the various results can be explained and integrated into an explicit theory or model. Building on network theory, the current paper outlines a structured network approach to the study of grammar in which the core concepts of syntax are analyzed by a set of relations that specify associations between different aspects of a speaker’s linguistic knowledge. These associations are shaped by domain-general processes that can give rise to new structures and meanings in language acquisition and language change. Combining research from linguistics and psychology, the paper proposes specific network analyses for the following phenomena: argument structure, word classes, constituent structure, constructions and construction families, and grammatical categories such as voice, case and number. The article builds on data and analyses presented in Diessel (2019 ; The Grammar Network. How Linguistic Structure is Shaped by Language Use ) but approaches the topic from a different perspective

Does Lateral Transmission Obscure Inheritance in Hunter-Gatherer Languages?

In recent years, linguists have begun to increasingly rely on quantitative phylogenetic approaches to examine language evolution. Some linguists have questioned the suitability of phylogenetic approaches on the grounds that linguistic evolution is largely reticulate due to extensive lateral transmission, or borrowing, among languages. The problem may be particularly pronounced in hunter-gatherer languages, where the conventional wisdom among many linguists is that lexical borrowing rates are so high that tree building approaches cannot provide meaningful insights into evolutionary processes. However, this claim has never been systematically evaluated, in large part because suitable data were unavailable. In addition, little is known about the subsistence, demographic, ecological, and social factors that might mediate variation in rates of borrowing among languages. Here, we evaluate these claims with a large sample of hunter-gatherer languages from three regions around the world. In this study, a list of 204 basic vocabulary items was collected for 122 hunter-gatherer and small-scale cultivator languages from three ecologically diverse case study areas: northern Australia, northwest Amazonia, and California and the Great Basin. Words were rigorously coded for etymological (inheritance) status, and loan rates were calculated. Loan rate variability was examined with respect to language area, subsistence mode, and population size, density, and mobility; these results were then compared to the sample of 41 primarily agriculturalist languages in [1]. Though loan levels varied both within and among regions, they were generally low in all regions (mean 5.06%, median 2.49%, and SD 7.56), despite substantial demographic, ecological, and social variation. Amazonian levels were uniformly very low, with no language exhibiting more than 4%. Rates were low but more variable in the other two study regions, in part because of several outlier languages where rates of borrowing were especially high. High mobility, prestige asymmetries, and language shift may contribute to the high rates in these outliers. No support was found for claims that hunter-gatherer languages borrow more than agriculturalist languages. These results debunk the myth of high borrowing in hunter-gatherer languages and suggest that the evolution of these languages is governed by the same type of rules as those operating in large-scale agriculturalist speech communities. The results also show that local factors are likely to be more critical than general processes in determining high (or low) loan rates

Helping Secondary EL Students Become More Effective Writers

Mulligan, C. Helping Secondary EL Students Become More Effective Writers (2020) Secondary EL students do not consistently have access to equitable writing instruction. Students should expect that teachers are delivering writing instruction that will enable them to write successfully for academic and professional purposes. This capstone sought to answer the question: How can teachers of EL learners ensure that students utilize their entire linguistic repertoire to access the linguistic structures they need in order to communicate effectively for academic tasks? The following themes emerged in the literature reviewed: academic language and systemic functional linguistics, writing and grammar instruction for ELs, equity and culturally responsive teaching, and translanguaging. According to research, systemic functional linguistics, or SFL, and translanguaging are practices that can help level the playing field for ELs when it comes to writing in the classroom. This research led into the creation of a writing curriculum incorporating both SFL and translanguaging as a way to provide explicit writing instruction as well as a strategy to help students access all of their linguistic knowledge, and not only English, to write about what they know

Concepts and methods for integrating language typology and sociolinguistics

This paper presents the building blocks of a comprehensive framework for the typological study of linguistic adaptation, i.e. how languages change in relation to the socio-historical and environmental contexts in which they are used. We showcase a battery of concepts and methods that are geared towards systematically comparing sociolinguistic environments and linguistic structures through the study of communities in social contact. We show that these concepts and methods can be used to investigate sociolinguistic correlates of linguistic diversity and language change in at least three ways: (1) to unravel causal factors related to language change, (2) to create datasets simultaneously addressing selection of communities, sociolinguistic features, and linguistic features, and (3) to formulate generalizations from empirically-grounded cross-cultural and cross-linguistic comparisons.This paper presents the building blocks of a comprehensive framework for the typological study of linguistic adaptation, i.e. how languages change in relation to the socio-historical and environmental contexts in which they are used. We showcase a battery of concepts and methods that are geared towards systematically comparing sociolinguistic environments and linguistic structures through the study of communities in social contact. We show that these concepts and methods can be used to investigate sociolinguistic correlates of linguistic diversity and language change in at least three ways: (1) to unravel causal factors related to language change, (2) to create datasets simultaneously addressing selection of communities, sociolinguistic features, and linguistic features, and (3) to formulate generalizations from empirically-grounded cross-cultural and cross-linguistic comparisons.Peer reviewe

PASS: Picture Augmentative Synsemic System : A new system for AAC habilitative practices, theoretical background

In this paper we discuss the theoretical linguistic and graphic preconditions of the design of PASS, a glyph system which we designed for use in Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) habilitative practices that has been released under open source licence. We highlight the relevance of graphic design supporting sustainable practices for people with Autism Spectrum Di- sorders (ASD), in a context in which the o er of public healthcare services for rehabilitation is insufficient. We present the context in which the AAC is adopted and how a glyph system can be used by people with ASD to learn a language. is particular group of users can access a language by using the glyph system as an interlanguage or as an alternative language. We analyse the most common glyph systems (ARASAAC, PCS, WLS, Blissymbolics), highlighting their strengths and weaknesses from a graphic and linguistic point of view. We present the theoretical background of the design process for the PASS glyph system

Terminologies, Lexical Hierarchies and other Configurations

The focus of the monograph is on hierarchical systems of lexical items, particularly in scientific terminologies. It includes research outcomes from the dissertation Lexical Hierarchies in the Scientific Terminology, supplemented with a broad introduction to the typology of lexical and semantic relations and to a variety of branching and non-branching hierarchies, proportional series and other types of lexical configurations. It analyses the principles of formation of terminological classificatory hierarchies and identifies sense relations between items at superordinate and subordinate levels, and those at the same level. Specific morphological and onomatological properties of different languages influence consistency of corresponding lexical hierarchies, altghough the conceptual systems are identical

The head-modifier principle and multilingual term extraction

Advances in Language Engineering may be dependent on theoretical principles originating from linguistics since both share a common object of enquiry, natural language structures. We outline an approach to term extraction that rests on theoretical claims about the structure of words. We use the structural properties of compound words to specifically elicit the sets of terms defined by type hierarchies such as hyponymy and meronymy. The theoretical claims revolve around the head-modifier principle which determines the formation of a major class of compounds. Significantly it has been suggested that the principle operates in languages other than English. To demonstrate the extendibility of our approach beyond English, we present a case study of term extraction in Chinese, a language whose written form is the vehicle of communication for over 1.3 billion language users, and therefore has great significance for the development of language engineering technologies

The Grammar of Exchange: A Comparative Study of Reciprocal Constructions Across Languages

Cultures are built on social exchange. Most languages have dedicated grammatical machinery for expressing this. To demonstrate that statistical methods can also be applied to grammatical meaning, we here ask whether the underlying meanings of these grammatical constructions are based on shared common concepts. To explore this, we designed video stimuli of reciprocated actions (e.g., “giving to each other”) and symmetrical states (e.g., “sitting next to each other”), and with the help of a team of linguists collected responses from 20 languages around the world. Statistical analyses revealed that many languages do, in fact, share a common conceptual core for reciprocal meanings but that this is not a universally expressed concept. The recurrent pattern of conceptual packaging found across languages is compatible with the view that there is a shared non-linguistic understanding of reciprocation. But, nevertheless, there are considerable differences between languages in the exact extensional patterns, highlighting that even in the domain of grammar semantics is highly language-specific