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Volume 1 Issue 1 -

Issue of Linguistics Vanguard

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Contents
Journal Overview

Publicly Available December 23, 2015

Editorials/From the Editors

Publicly Available January 15, 2015

Phonetics & Phonology

April 21, 2015

Can we use rendaku for phonological argumentation?

Shigeto Kawahara

Page range: 3-14

Abstract

This paper addresses the general issue of the quality of phonological data, using rendaku as a case study. Rendaku is a widely-discussed voicing process that accompanies compound formation in Japanese. The issue of the quality of phonological data has been discussed from time to time from various perspectives throughout the history of phonological research, and we are recently witnessing renewed interest in this topic. This paper takes up rendaku as a case study to address this issue. Rendaku has been used to argue for many theoretical devices, but it is rarely acknowledged in the theoretical literature that rendaku involves extensive lexical irregularity. The specific question addressed in this study is whether it is appropriate to use rendaku for phonological argumentation. The answer that this paper proposes is yes, but the more crucial lesson is that theoretical phonology should evaluate the quality of phonological data more explicitly. The current discussion offers a first step toward establishing general guidelines about what kind of evidence can be used to decide whether a pattern under question is phonological or not.

July 14, 2015

Toward completely automated vowel extraction: Introducing DARLA

Sravana Reddy, James N. Stanford

Page range: 15-28

Abstract

Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR) is reaching further and further into everyday life with Apple’s Siri, Google voice search, automated telephone information systems, dictation devices, closed captioning, and other applications. Along with such advances in speech technology, sociolinguists have been considering new methods for alignment and vowel formant extraction, including techniques like the Penn Aligner (Yuan and Liberman 2008) and the FAVE automated vowel extraction program (Evanini et al. 2009; Rosenfelder et al. 2011). With humans transcribing audio recordings into sentences, these semi-automated methods can produce effective vowel formant measurements (Labov et al. 2013). But as the quality of ASR improves, sociolinguistics may be on the brink of another transformative technology: large-scale, completely automated vowel extraction without any need for human transcription. It would then be possible to quickly extract vowels from virtually limitless hours of recordings, such as YouTube, publicly available audio/video archives, and large-scale personal interviews or streaming video. How far away is this transformative moment? In this article, we introduce a fully automated program called DARLA (short for “Dartmouth Linguistic Automation,” http://darla.dartmouth.edu), which automatically generates transcriptions with ASR and extracts vowels using FAVE. Users simply upload an audio recording of speech, and DARLA produces vowel plots, a table of vowel formants, and probabilities of the phonetic environments for each token. In this paper, we describe DARLA and explore its sociolinguistic applications. We test the system on a dataset of the US Southern Shift and compare the results with semi-automated methods.

October 16, 2015

Induced speech errors as a tool for language description: a case study from Xong “prenasalized consonants”

Karl Reza Sarvestani

Page range: 29-38

Abstract

The task of language description often requires a linguist to make a choice between alternative hypotheses which cannot be satisfactorily decided by data obtained through traditional descriptive methods. This paper proposes induced speech error tasks as a means of extending the evidential base used to address descriptive questions. Much previous research has explored language-general cognitive processes underlying speech errors, but little work has investigated their potential as a tool for improving the description of language-specific phenomena. In part, this is because the collection of natural speech errors requires more time and a more certain knowledge of the structure of the language than descriptive linguists often have available. Induced speech error tasks, however, help overcome these limitations by allowing the rapid collection of speech error evidence which can aid in selection between competing analyses. Practical advice is offered for researchers considering implementing speech errors tasks in their own research. These points are then illustrated by an investigation of the segmental status of “prenasalized consonants” in Xong, an under-documented Hmongic/Miao language spoken in southern China. While traditional descriptive techniques were unable to resolve the question, a simple speech error-inducing task produced results which can be interpreted as support for a cluster analysis.

Publicly Available December 18, 2014

Real-time articulatory biofeedback with electromagnetic articulography

Sam Tilsen, Debarghya Das, Bruce McKee

Page range: 39-55

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Abstract

This paper presents an articulatory biofeedback system and discusses new research methods made possible by this technology. The real-time electromagnetic articulography biofeedback system (RT-EMA) enables speakers to observe a visual representation of the movements of their speech articulators while they are speaking. Investigators can dynamically control the visual display of virtual targets or other objects in vocal tract space, track events involving interactions between virtual objects and articulators, and define custom actions in response to such events. Preliminary findings from experimental studies and games employing biofeedback are reported, with emphasis on the potential applications of articulatory biofeedback for investigating questions of linguistic interest.

Publicly Available January 26, 2015

Allomorphs of French de in coordination: a reproducible study

Kie Zuraw

Page range: 57-68

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Abstract

It is known that French de ‘of’ can take wide scope in coordination – that is, the coordination can optionally be reduced by omitting the second de : de X et/ou (de) Y , meaning roughly ‘of X and/or (of) Y’. De has an allomorph d’ that is used when the following word begins with a vowel. This paper shows, using a large written corpus, that the two allomorphs, de and d’ , do not behave the same when it comes to reduction/wide scope. Two main factors seem to be at play: resistance of the d’ allomorph to taking wide scope, and hiatus avoidance between et/ou (which are both vowel-final) and a following vowel-initial word. The existence of phonological factors that affect reduction rate implies that the grammar and/or processing architecture must retrieve some phonological information about X and Y before the final “decision” about reduction is made– or that the phonology is powerful enough to delete the second de on its own. This paper also aims to make a methodological contribution to reproducibility. The web materials accompanying the paper (scripts, documentation, and intermediate-stage data files, available at TROLLing, the Tromsø Repository of Language and Linguistics, opendata.uit.no/dvn/dv/trolling) allow the reader to reproduce all the steps of the data processing analysis, starting from a publicly available corpus.

Morphology & Syntax

June 25, 2015

Interactional Construction Grammar

Wolfgang Imo

Page range: 69-77

Abstract

The aim of this article is to introduce Interactional Construction Grammar , a new approach within construction grammar that has emerged during the recent years which combines ideas of ‘vanilla construction grammar’ with those of Interactional Linguistics. The article has been commissioned as a short – and therefore necessarily superficial – presentation of Interactional Linguistics, not as an in-depth exposition.

Publicly Available June 10, 2015

Evidence Based on a dynamic source: Database support for a theory of transitive reciprocals

Ken Safir

Page range: 79-88

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Abstract

The novelty of this document is that the empirical support for the predictions it examines, predictions about the distribution and interpretation of transitive reciprocal constructions, will be different each time it is read. The evidence will change because this paper will only provide parameters for a search of the Afranaph Database (ongoing) and two other databases, and as these databases grow and change over time, the search results returned today will be different from the results returned by the same search executed months or years from now. Reversing the normal priorities of linguistic research, the proposal we present about the nature of reciprocal constructions in natural language, which contends that direct object full DPs anaphors do not directly contribute reciprocal meaning (a proposal more broadly and specifically defended by Safir and Selvanathan (in preparation) is secondary (a) to our demonstration of the methodology we employ to support our claims and (b) to the lessons we draw from it about the evaluation of evidence for research in linguistics in the digital age.

Publicly Available February 6, 2015

Three open questions in experimental syntax

Jon Sprouse

Page range: 89-100

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Abstract

This article presents a review of current research in experimental syntax, with a focus on three open questions and the (methodo)logical tools that have been developed to explore them. The three questions are: (1) Are the published data underlying syntactic theories valid?, (2) How can we determine the source of acceptability judgment differences?, and (3) What do gradient judgments tell us about the architecture of the grammar? The hope is that these three questions will illustrate the fundamental connection between experimental syntax and theoretical syntax, provide concrete demonstrations of the value of the tools of experimental syntax (e.g., random sampling, factorial logic, and gradient judgments), and point to new directions for future research.

Publicly Available January 5, 2015

The complexity of inflectional systems

Gregory Stump, Raphael A. Finkel

Page range: 101-117

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Abstract

We regard the complexity of any inflection-class system as the extent to which the similarities among its inflection classes tend to inhibit motivated inferences about the word forms realizing a paradigm’s cells. We propose ten objective measures of this sort of complexity. We apply these measures in comparing the declensional systems of Latin and Sanskrit, which we represent in a standard format that we call a “plat”; we execute these measurements with an online tool that is freely available for readers to use. We show that the ten measures are not equivalent; together, they show that the declensional systems of Latin and Sanskrit are roughly comparable in complexity. We discuss a number of methodological issues raised by this new approach to typological comparison.

Publicly Available January 5, 2015

Investigating “periphery” from a functionalist perspective

Elizabeth Closs Traugott

Page range: 119-130

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Abstract

Several models of pragmatic markers in initial and final position “outside” the clause are presented, many of them suggesting a sharp divide between periphery “outside” the core clause, and periphery “inside” the core. Characteristics of pragmatic markers often considered to be prototypical are discussed, especially syntactic and prosodic detachability. Evidence from prosody and from the historical development of some pragmatic markers, such as general extenders, suggests that “inner” and “outer” periphery are gradient, and that characteristics of pragmatic markers that are cited repeatedly are weak tendencies associated with a restricted set of pragmatic markers and cannot be used as diagnostics. Crucially, syntactic and prosodic detachability are in some cases not characteristic, nor is initial position.

Semantics & Pragmatics

Publicly Available January 5, 2015

Language structure and social agency: Confirming polar questions in conversation

N. J. Enfield, Jack Sidnell

Page range: 131-143

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Abstract

While it has been shown that languages can select quite different formal resources for performing similar pragmatic functions in social interaction, our focus in this paper is the possibility that some types of form-function mapping are essentially universal. Our case study looks at how polar questions are confirmed. For confirming a polar question like ‘Have they gone?’, all languages provide two basic alternatives: an interjection type strategy (something like ‘Yes’) and a repetition type strategy (something like ‘They have gone’). Combinations of these are also possible. Does selection of one of these options have a definable pragmatic function? An analysis of cases from English telephone calls shows that interjection type confirmations are used when the confirmation is relatively straightforward in interactional terms, and where the epistemic terms of the question are accepted by the person who is confirming. By contrast, repetition type confirmations are associated with pragmatic functions where the answerer is in some way resisting the epistemic terms of the question, or dealing with a perturbation of the interactional sequence. We argue that the inherent semiotics of the two strategies explain why they have this distribution; i.e., we do not expect that interjection forms would be standardly used for non-straightforward confirmations, etc. In other words, the form-function mapping observed in English is a non-arbitrary one. Given that this semiotic motivation for choosing one over the other alternative for confirming polar questions should be present in other languages as well, we predict that the mapping observed in English will be observed in other languages as well.

Publicly Available June 1, 2015

What can historical linguistics and experimental pragmatics offer each other?

Eitan Grossman, Ira Noveck

Page range: 145-153

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Abstract

Language change is a central concern for any linguistic theory. For one thing, it is often assumed that language change is explanatory, in that it provides a reasonable answer to what Haspelmath dubbed ‘Greenberg’s Problem’ in 2014: why are languages the way they are? A short version of the Greenbergian answer is: ‘Because they became that way through processes of language change.’ However, this sort of answer throws into focus the fact that language change is not only a potential explanation for language structures. Rather, it is a set of problems that itself calls for explanation. In fact, this could be called ‘Greenberg’s Second Question’: why do languages change the way they do? In this article, we explore some ways in which the field of experimental pragmatics might shed light on the second question, by providing a set of methods that could investigate existing hypotheses about language change by developing falsifiable predictions to be evaluated in experimental settings. Moreover, these hypotheses can provide new research questions and data for experimentalists to work on, beyond the rather restricted set of questions that experimental pragmatics has confronted to date.

Language Documentation & Typology

Publicly Available January 5, 2015

Directionals, episodic structure, and geographic information systems: Area/punctual distinctions in Ahtna travel narration

Andrea L. Berez

Page range: 155-175

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Abstract

Interest in the past decades in the way spatial cognition manifests in language has led to a growing body of literature on the topic. The concurrent development of user-friendly geographic information systems (GIS) software can give linguists new perspectives on spatial language, especially narratives describing geographic landscapes, by allowing the researcher access to those landscapes in a way that was previously only available by visiting the region in person. In this paper, I discuss how the use of GIS reveals that Ahtna speakers use subtle distinctions in the directional system to structure discourse about overland travel into narrative episodes. Ahtna is an Athabascan language spoken in the Copper River area of southcentral Alaska by about 35 native speakers.

January 13, 2015

Hidden complexity – The neglected side of complexity and its implications

Walter Bisang

Page range: 177-187

Abstract

Linguistic complexity is the result of the two motivations of explicitness and economy. Most approaches focus on the explicitness-side of complexity (overt complexity) but there is also an economy-oriented side to it (hidden complexity). The aim of the paper is to introduce hidden complexity and to show how it opens new perspectives on central issues of linguistics. It will discuss the following questions: (i) the implementability of hidden complexity for psycholinguistic experiments, (ii) the evolution of linguistic complexity, (iii) its realisation in creole languages and (iv) its consequences for theories on the architecture of grammar. With this aim, the paper is a programmatic paper with the intention of pointing out ideas for future research.

Publicly Available April 13, 2015

Semantic typology: New approaches to crosslinguistic variation in language and cognition

Randi Moore, Katharine Donelson, Alyson Eggleston, Juergen Bohnemeyer

Page range: 189-200

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Abstract

This article presents an overview of the goals and methods of semantic typology, the study of the distribution of semantic categories across languages. Results from this field inform theoretical accounts of syntax-semantics interface phenomena, as well as the nature of the relationship between language and cognition. This article discusses a variety of quantitative methods that represent recent efforts in semantic typology to (i) discover patterns in the distribution of independent variables and (ii) predict the distribution of dependent variables in relation to identified independent variables. Such methods include Multi-Dimensional Scaling, Hierarchical Cluster Analysis, and Generalized Linear Mixed Effects regression analyses. We identify and discuss notable published examples of these methods used in semantic typology.

Psycholinguistics & Neurolinguistics

Publicly Available January 14, 2015

Discovering prominence and its role in language processing: An individual (differences) approach

Phillip M. Alday, Matthias Schlesewsky, Ina Bornkessel-Schlesewsky

Page range: 201-213

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Abstract

It has been suggested that, during real time language comprehension, the human language processing system attempts to identify the argument primarily responsible for the state of affairs (the “actor”) as quickly and unambiguously as possible. However, previous work on a prominence (e.g. animacy, definiteness, case marking) based heuristic for actor identification has suffered from underspecification of the relationship between different cue hierarchies. Qualitative work has yielded a partial ordering of many features (e.g. MacWhinney et al. 1984), but a precise quantification has remained elusive due to difficulties in exploring the full feature space in a particular language. Feature pairs tend to correlate strongly in individual languages for semantic-pragmatic reasons (e.g., animate arguments tend to be actors and actors tend to be morphosyntactically privileged), and it is thus difficult to create acceptable stimuli for a fully factorial design even for binary features. Moreover, the exponential function grows extremely rapidly and a fully crossed factorial design covering the entire feature space would be prohibitively long for a purely within-subjects design. Here, we demonstrate the feasibility of parameter estimation in a short experiment. We are able to estimate parameters at a single subject level for the parameters animacy, case and number. This opens the door for research into individual differences and population variation. Moreover, the framework we introduce here can be used in the field to measure more “exotic” languages and populations, even with small sample sizes. Finally, pooled single-subject results are used to reduce the number of free parameters in previous work based on the extended Argument Dependency Model (Bornkessel-Schlesewsky and Schlesewsky 2006, 2009, 2013, in press; Alday et al. 2014). Multimedia : OpenSesame experiment and Python support scripts, sample stimuli, R scripts for analysis

Publicly Available April 7, 2015

The Influence of Word Retrieval and Planning on Phonetic Variation: Implications for Exemplar Models

Angela Fink, Matthew Goldrick

Page range: 215-225

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Abstract

Over the past several decades, an increasing number of empirical studies have documented the interaction of information across the traditional linguistic modules of phonetics, phonology, and lexicon. For example, the frequency with which a word occurs influences its phonetic properties of its sounds; high frequency words tend to be reduced relative to low frequency words. Lexicalist Exemplar Models have been successful in accounting for this body of results through a single mechanism, exemplars – memory representations that integrate lexical, phonological, and phonetic information into a single structure. We review recent studies that suggest there are critical limitations to assuming that phonetic variation solely reflects the storage of word labels and sound structure in exemplars. Specifically, these studies show that factors related to the on-line retrieval and planning of lexical items also influence phonetic variation. The implications of these findings for exemplar models are discussed; the relationship of exemplar storage to the broader cognitive system is examined, as well as alternative theoretical frameworks incorporating gradience at all levels of linguistic representation.

Language Acquisition & Language Learning

Publicly Available December 18, 2014

Second language acquisition and linguistics: A bidirectional perspective

Patti Spinner, Susan Gass

Page range: 227-233

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Abstract

We argue for a bidirectional relationship between second language research and linguistic theories. It is our belief that SLA research should look to linguistics for concepts and models that provide a basis upon which to make hypotheses, conduct data analysis, and draw conclusions, and we also believe that linguistic theorists can develop and improve their understanding of linguistic concepts and models by examining the results from SLA studies. In this paper, we present arguments in favor of this approach, with examples from two different types of linguistic universals: the Noun Phrase Accessibility Hierarchy and features such as tense and number. Second language acquisition data have been used to provide evidence for the Noun Phrase Accessibility Hierarchy and provide a way to understand areas in which its predictions are not met. Similarly, second language data provide us with a view of what happens when there is a contrast between features in a speaker’s native language and the language being learned. The data thus may shed light on the universality of features, in addition to how features are represented, parsed, and processed. In both cases, we argue that second language data are valuable when examining certain linguistic questions because they illuminate areas of conflict or mismatch between two linguistic systems.

Sociolinguistics & Anthropological Linguistics

Publicly Available December 18, 2014

An end of egalitarianism? Social evaluations of language difference in New Zealand

Marie-France Duhamel, Miriam Meyerhoff

Page range: 235-248

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Abstract

New Zealand has traditionally prided itself on an ethos of casual egalitarianism – a value system with positive and negative implications. The well-known linguistic homogeneity of the islands and general lack of regional dialect differences (Trudgill, Peter. 2004. New-dialect formation: The inevitability of colonial Englishes . Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press) is consistent with this ethos but also clearly reflects the cultural homogeneity of New Zealand’s more recent settlers. This assessment of linguistic homogeneity requires reappraisal now for two reasons: (1) many New Zealanders claim there are speech markers that identify where a New Zealander comes from, and (2) recent significant changes in the demographics of the country mean that new ethnic varieties are plausibly emerging. The very few pronunciation and lexical stereotypes that are associated with particular regions cannot explain all the claims we hear about (1), and as long-standing shibboleths, they say nothing about awareness of recent demographic changes. Our paper highlights how comments about ethnicity, social class, and rural/urbanness emerge as salient factors in aesthetic evaluations, and may point to specific features that merit detailed and linguistically informed analysis (Niedzielski, Nancy A. & Dennis R. Preston. 2000. Folk linguistics . Berlin and New York, NY: Mouton de Gruyter).

Publicly Available December 18, 2014

Sounding the depths at the confluence of numerosity and language

Caleb Everett

Page range: 249-257

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Abstract

Researchers in a variety of disciplines are currently exploring how number words and other culturally variant symbols for quantities enable and enhance numerical cognition. In this article I survey the ways in which fieldwork among Amazonian languages is helping to elucidate the relationship between numerical cognition and language. I highlight several noteworthy findings in recent work on this topic, address their implications, and also consider the potential of future fieldwork on languages with typologically remarkable number systems.

Publicly Available February 18, 2015

Connecting linguistic variation and non-linguistic behaviour

Andrew Euan MacFarlane, Jennifer Hay

Page range: 259-270

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Abstract

This paper reviews well-established results from sociolinguistics and social psychology, presents recent results at the interface of the two, and argues that – together – the literature predicts unexplored interactions between non-linguistic behavioural patterns and linguistic variation. It is well documented in sociolinguistics that individuals shift their speech patterns in response to their interlocutors and environment, and that this can sometimes be quite subtle and automatic. That is – speech can be affected by environmental primes. We explore the degree to which speech may also act as a prime. Results from the social psychology literature suggest that linguistic choices should have consequences for our non-linguistic behaviours (such as claimed attitudes, or physical movements). Behavioural experiences throughout our lives might also shape and influence our linguistic repertoires. We present a range of literature related to this question, and present some preliminary evidence that speech can indeed act as a behavioural prime.

October 22, 2015

Extending ELAN into variationist sociolinguistics

Naomi Nagy, Miriam Meyerhoff

Page range: 271-281

Abstract

Prior to the implementation of ELAN (tla.mpi.nl/tools/tla-tools/elan, Wittenburg et al. 2006), it was common for sociolinguists to use multiple software applications, and consequently multiple formats, along the route from recording participants to conducting statistical analyses of the data. We present a method which allows for transcription, extracting, coding, preparation for statistical analysis, calculation of some basic frequency statistics, and creation of a concordance all within one program. ELAN is well established as a valuable tool for language documentation. ELAN is frequently used for transcription and multi-tier mark-up illustrating levels of linguistic structure as well as translations and glosses. We hope that this crossover introduction will encourage the efficiency of documentary linguists among sociolinguists and increase the interest in documenting variation among documentarians. After providing an overview of ELAN’s utility, we focus on extracting (or marking) and coding tokens of linguistic variables for quantitative analysis in the variationist sociolinguistic framework. This seamless connection between recording, transcript and coding of dependent and independent variables improves consistency, efficiency, utility, reliability and the accountability of our coding to the original recording. We illustrate a range of benefits and include step-by-step instructions accompanied by downloadable sample files and suppl/Videos.zip to illustrate each step of the process ( suppl/Extending_ELAN_tutorial_files.zip ). We also include instructions on importing existing (legacy) transcripts into ELAN.

August 13, 2015

I think your going to like me: Exploring the role of errors in email messages on assessments of potential housemates

Robin Queen, Julie E. Boland

Page range: 283-293

Abstract

Two experiments explored reader reaction to written errors that were either typographic or grammatical. Errors were embedded in short texts presented as email responses to a housemate ad. In the first experiment, readers evaluated the writer and message on several dimensions (e.g., Was the writer trustworthy? Did the email flow smoothly?). Those dimensions were divided into a “social” scale (e.g. “This student seems similar to me”) and an “academic” scale (e.g. “This email reads well”). Both kinds of error correlated with lower ratings on the academic scale while only grammatical errors correlated with lower ratings on the social scale. In the second experiment, readers were asked to edit the emails. In Experiment 1, paragraphs with either typographical or grammatical errors were both evaluated more negatively than fully correct paragraphs and the cost was mitigated by high levels of electronic communication, such as texting and using Facebook. In Experiment 2, typos were more likely to be corrected than either homophonous grammatical forms or hypercorrected forms. These results suggest that written errors, when they are salient, contribute to the social meaning of text. Furthermore, this contribution is modulated by at least some characteristics of the reader.

Computational & Corpus Linguistics

Publicly Available December 18, 2014

Data “big” and “small” – Examples from the Australian lexical database

Claire Bowern

Page range: 295-303

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Abstract

The twenty-first Century has been billed the era of “big data”, and linguists are participating in this trend. We are seeing an increased reliance on statistical and quantitative arguments in most fields of linguistics, including the oldest parts of the field, such as the study of language change. The increased use of statistical methods changes the types of questions we can ask of our data, as well as how we evaluate the answers. But this all has the prerequisite of certain types of data, coded in certain ways. We cannot make powerful statistical arguments from the qualitative data that historical linguists are used to working with. In this paper I survey a few types of work based on a lexical database of Pama-Nyungan languages, the largest family in Aboriginal Australia. I highlight the flexibility with which large-scale databases can be deployed, especially when combined with traditional methods. “Big” data may require new methods, but the combination of statistical approaches and traditional methods is necessary for us to gain new insight into old problems.

Publicly Available December 18, 2014

The importance of robust corpora in providing more realistic descriptions of variation in English grammar

Mark Davies

Page range: 305-312

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Abstract

This paper provides many concrete examples of how English grammar varies in important ways, as a function of differences between genres, as a function of language change, and as a function of differences between dialects. We also show – in great detail – how several recent corpora – such as COCA (2008), COHA (2011), GloWbE (2013), and the BYU interface to the Google Book n-grams (2012) – allow us to accurately examine this full range of variation, in ways that are not available with smaller corpora. As a result, these new corpora allow us to provide a much more reliable and insightful view into English syntax than was possible even four or five years ago.

Historical Linguistics

Publicly Available January 5, 2015

A minimalist approach to the emergence of ergativity in Austronesian languages

Edith Aldridge

Page range: 313-326

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Abstract

This paper proposes a novel reconstruction of Proto-Austronesian as a language with accusative alignment, in contrast to previous analyses, which have reconstructed PAn with some type of ergative system. The methodology employed in this paper also departs from previous work in basing the proposal on syntactic change rather than on phonological or morphological comparison. In the account of argument licensing in the Minimalist Program, nominative subjects are licensed by a higher functional head T than accusative objects, which value their case with the light verb v . This produces accusative alignment, with the corollary that ergative systems arise only when the unmarked licensing relations are disrupted. Specifically, I propose that this disruption involves the loss of transitive v ’s ability to value accusative case on the object and the concomitant ability of this v to provide inherent licensing for the subject, thereby allowing T to exceptionally value nominative case on the object. The current paper argues that the ergative types of alignment observed in modern Formosan and Philippine languages are the result of consecutive innovations in high-order subgroups of the Austronesian family, being triggered first in irrealis clauses in a daughter of PAn, which I term “Proto-Ergative Austronesian”.

Cognitive Linguistics

Publicly Available January 26, 2015

What makes a metaphor an embodied metaphor?

Daniel Casasanto, Tom Gijssels

Page range: 327-337

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Abstract

What does it mean for metaphors to be “embodied”? Here we describe an influential theory of embodied cognition according to which thoughts are implemented in perceptuo-motor simulations, in the brain’s modality-specific systems. This theory is invoked in nearly every paper on “embodied metaphor,” across linguistics, philosophy, psychology, and cognitive neuroscience. There appears to be overwhelming support for the conclusion that representations of metaphorical “source domains” are embodied in perceptuo-motor simulations. Here we show, however, that when the data are evaluated appropriately there is very little evidence that metaphors are embodied in this sense. The kind of data that offer compelling support for the embodiment of concrete, literal ideas like “grasping the ball” are nearly absent for abstract, metaphorical ideas like “grasping the explanation.” There is now abundant evidence that metaphors structure our thoughts, feelings, and choices in a variety of conceptual domains. But evidence for metaphorical mental representation is not necessarily evidence for embodiment. If any metaphorical source domains are embodied in modality-specific simulations, they may be the exception rather than the rule.

October 16, 2015

Meaning change in a petri dish: constructions, semantic vector spaces, and motion charts

Martin Hilpert, Florent Perek

Page range: 339-350

Abstract

This paper explores how the visualization tool of motion charts can be used for the analysis of meaning change in linguistic constructions. In previous work, linguistic motion charts have been used to represent diachronic frequency trends and changes in the morphosyntactic behavior of linguistic units. The present paper builds on that work, but it shifts the focus to the study of semantic change. How can motion charts be used to visualize semantic change over time? In order to answer this question, we draw on semantic vector space modeling to visualize aspects of linguistic meaning. As an analogy to this approach, the title of this paper alludes to a petri dish in which the growth and development of biological microorganisms can be observed. On the basis of diachronic corpus data, we monitor developments in the semantic ecology of a construction. This allows us to observe processes such as semantic broadening, semantic narrowing, or semantic shift. We illustrate our approach on the basis of a case study that investigates the diachrony of an English construction that we call the ‘many a NOUN’ construction.

About this journal

Objective
Linguistics Vanguard is a new channel for high quality articles and innovative approaches in all major fields of linguistics. This multimodal journal is published solely online and provides an accessible platform supporting both traditional and new kinds of publications. Linguistics Vanguard seeks to publish concise and up-to-date reports on the state of the art in linguistics as well as cutting-edge research papers. With its topical breadth of coverage and anticipated quick rate of production, it is one of the leading platforms for scientific exchange in linguistics. Its broad theoretical range, international scope, and diversity of article formats engage students and scholars alike.

Topics
All topics within linguistics are welcome. The journal especially encourages submissions taking advantage of its new multimodal platform designed to integrate interactive content, including audio and video, images, maps, software code, raw data, and any other media that enhances the traditional written word. The novel platform and concise article format allows for rapid turnaround of submissions. Full peer review assures quality and enables authors to receive appropriate credit for their work. The journal publishes general submissions as well as special collections. Ideas for special collections may be submitted to the editors for consideration (linguistics.vanguard@degruyter.com)

Volume 1 Issue 1 -

Issue of Linguistics Vanguard

Frontmatter

From the Drawing Board

Can we use rendaku for phonological argumentation?

Abstract

Toward completely automated vowel extraction: Introducing DARLA

Abstract

Induced speech errors as a tool for language description: a case study from Xong “prenasalized consonants”

Abstract

Real-time articulatory biofeedback with electromagnetic articulography

Abstract

Allomorphs of French de in coordination: a reproducible study

Abstract

Interactional Construction Grammar

Abstract

Evidence Based on a dynamic source: Database support for a theory of transitive reciprocals

Abstract

Three open questions in experimental syntax

Abstract

The complexity of inflectional systems

Abstract

Investigating “periphery” from a functionalist perspective

Abstract

Language structure and social agency: Confirming polar questions in conversation

Abstract

What can historical linguistics and experimental pragmatics offer each other?

Abstract

Directionals, episodic structure, and geographic information systems: Area/punctual distinctions in Ahtna travel narration

Abstract

Hidden complexity – The neglected side of complexity and its implications

Abstract

Semantic typology: New approaches to crosslinguistic variation in language and cognition

Abstract

Discovering prominence and its role in language processing: An individual (differences) approach

Abstract

The Influence of Word Retrieval and Planning on Phonetic Variation: Implications for Exemplar Models

Abstract

Second language acquisition and linguistics: A bidirectional perspective

Abstract

An end of egalitarianism? Social evaluations of language difference in New Zealand

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Sounding the depths at the confluence of numerosity and language

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Connecting linguistic variation and non-linguistic behaviour

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Extending ELAN into variationist sociolinguistics

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I think your going to like me: Exploring the role of errors in email messages on assessments of potential housemates

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Data “big” and “small” – Examples from the Australian lexical database

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The importance of robust corpora in providing more realistic descriptions of variation in English grammar

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A minimalist approach to the emergence of ergativity in Austronesian languages

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What makes a metaphor an embodied metaphor?

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Meaning change in a petri dish: constructions, semantic vector spaces, and motion charts

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