A corpus study of 100+ years of usage of the verb GRAB in American English contributes to the understanding of the way bleaching takes place. The meaning of GRAB as ‘take or seize suddenly or eagerly’ is firmly established in usage from 1910 through 1980, but in the 1990’s many instances of a bleached sense of ‘take or get easily or casually’ begin to occur. The proposed hypothesis that bleaching results from hyperbolic uses is supported by the finding that bleaching occurs within three common contexts: narrative sequences of GRAB followed by another verb; contexts expanding on grab a bite (to eat) ; and GRAB plus human object, which changes from a sense of ‘take custody of’ to simply ‘capture the attention of’. In addition, the interactional context of requests and offers (often of food and drink) hastens the bleaching of GRAB while also contributing the resulting interpretation of GRAB as ‘get or take easily or casually’. The same conversational actions constitute the contexts in which GRAB is established in the ditransitive construction, as well as the contexts in which it takes on the social meaning of getting or taking in a quick, easy and casual manner.

Studies of word predictability in context show that words in English tend to be shorter if they are predictable from the next word, and to a lesser extent, if they are predictable from the previous word. Some studies distinguish function and content words, but otherwise have not considered grammatical factors, treating all two-word sequences as comparable. Because function words are highly frequent, words occurring with them have low predictability. Highest predictability occurs within bigrams with two content words. Using the Buckeye corpus, we show that content word bigrams from different constructions vary widely in predictability, with adjective–noun and noun–noun sequences (content words within a noun phrase) having the highest scores. It is known that in adjective–noun sequences, the vowel of the adjective is shorter than in other positions. We study noun–noun sequences within the noun phrase and show that the first noun is shorter than in other contexts. It follows that the shorter duration of the first word when it is predictable from the second in many cases is due to the noun phrase construction and not necessarily the regulation of duration corresponding to predictable versus unpredictable information. We conclude that predictability studies must consider the constructions words occur in.

Chapter 26 A Usage-based Approach to Clinical Phonology Anna V. Sosa, Anna V. SosaSearch for more papers by this authorJoan L. Bybee, Joan L. BybeeSearch for more papers by this author Anna V. Sosa, Anna V. SosaSearch for more papers by this authorJoan L. Bybee, Joan L. BybeeSearch for more papers by this author Book Editor(s):Martin J. Ball, Martin J. BallSearch for more papers by this authorNicole Müller, Nicole MüllerSearch for more papers by this authorElizabeth Spencer, Elizabeth SpencerSearch for more papers by this author First published: 08 January 2024 https://doi.org/10.1002/9781119875949.ch26 AboutPDFPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShareShare a linkShare onEmailFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditWechat Abstract In the last two decades many studies of language acquisition have been framed in what has come to be called "usage‐based theory" (Dąbrowska & Lieven, 2005; Tomasello, 2005). The main premise of this approach is that experience with language in both children and adults shapes the cognitive representations and processes that make production and perception possible. Rather than proposing innate structures or processes, this theory proposes that with an array of mostly domain‐general abilities operating on linguistic input, phonological and morphological units as well as constructions can emerge from the categorization of that input (Beckner et al., 2009; Bybee, 2001, 2006, 2010; Larsen‐Freeman, 1997). References Ambridge , B. ( 2018 ). Against stored abstractions: A radical exemplar model of language acquisition . https://doi.org/10.31234/osf.io/gy3ah 10.31234/osf.io/gy3ah Google Scholar Ball , M. J. ( 2003 ). Clinical applications of a cognitive phonology . Logopedics Phoniatrics Vocology , 28 ( 2 ), 63 – 69 . https://doi.org/10.1080/14015430310011763 10.1080/14015430310011763 PubMedGoogle Scholar Barðdal , J. ( 2008 ). 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Lindblom and Maddieson (1988) observe that “basic” consonants occur in all consonant inventories, but that larger inventories additionally include “elaborated” consonants, which depart from neutral phonation modes, places, and manners of articulation. The hypothesis that larger inventories arise from the smaller ones via sound change is tested here using a database of phonetic processes cataloged from a sample of 81 genealogically diverse languages. The database contains processes that create a large majority of the proposed articulatory elaborations, strongly supporting this hypothesis. We further examine the question of whether the basic consonants are also created by sound change. Our somewhat surprising finding is that certain basic consonants (/p t k b d g m n ŋ s l/) are very rarely created anew, raising questions about how they come to be common in consonant inventories and how they survive processes of sound change and lexical replacement over long periods of time.

We advocate for a diachronic typological approach to phonology, arguing that explanation for phonological structure must appeal to dynamic processes. We outline basic assumptions and explanatory mechanisms of this framework and demonstrate its utility by applying it to aspects of consonant phoneme inventory structure. Examining sound change paths through which palatal(ized) and ejective consonants emerge, we show that initial conditions in a language influence the likelihood of a sound change occurring, and that sound change trajectories may differ in their lifespans and the ease with which they are entered into. Regarding more general theoretical issues, we find that focusing on the dynamic processes that create inventories is more likely to produce accurate predictions about the patterns observed than structural generalizations such as feature economy. We conclude that further elucidating the details of sound change will lead to a fuller and more explanatory phonological typology.

This article studies the function of Copular Predicate Constructions in everyday English conversation. We compare predicate adjective constructions (PA) and constructions with a predicate nominal containing an adjective (PAN). We ask whether the attributive function of the adjective or the presence of a noun in the PAN leads to a difference in function in the two constructions. We propose that in most cases the adjective determines the function of the construction, leading to many parallels in usage between the PA and PAN constructions. A comparison with predicate nominal constructions (PN), in contrast, shows that not including an adjective in the constructions leads to a different set of meanings and implications. The conversational usage of these constructions provides evidence for a partial correspondence of form to function: Copular Predicate Constructions often constitute a complete turn in conversation, and if not a full turn, form their own prosodic units. Other properties of these constructions-the definiteness of the NP and the presence or absence of a N-correspond to different interactional work. A comparison of all three constructions shows that the adjective plays a determining interactional role, despite differences in syntactic configuration.

The main arguments of the chapter are that frequency or predictability effects are most appropriately applied within constructions, and that prefab status can lead to phonetic effects independently of frequency. The analysis uses tokens of adjective-noun sequences taken from conversational corpora. Study 1 applies diagnostics for conventionalization to establish prefab vs. free combination status in 239 bigrams. As expected from previous research, the criterion of non-compositional meaning gives clear results, while the criterion of fixedness runs into difficulties, especially as clusters of related prefabs are revealed. Study 2 examines the effect of prefab status vs. the effect of bigram frequency on the duration of the vowel in the adjective. Both prefab status and high bigram frequency lead to a shorter vowel, though the effect is not statistically significant.

From a usage-based perspective, reduction results from automatization of stored gesture sequences corresponding to words and phrases, which accompanies reuse. In this paper, we discuss the mechanisms of and constraints on automatization, and examine its consequences for vocalic gestures in prosodically weak positions in a typologically and genetically diverse language sample. We show that vowels shorten, devoice, unround, and centralize (with some raising). These kinds of reductions are late-acquired speech patterns which represent highly skilled behavior that results from extensive practice. Reduction is also intricately conditioned by the discourse context. We argue that the leaders of reductive change are adults, who know when and how to reduce in ways sanctioned by the speech community, and have the social cachet to influence other speakers. Reductive change is not due to imperfections in intergenerational transmission. Rather, it is the outcome of lifelong optimization of goal-directed movement patterns constrained by feedback from interlocutors.

abstractUsing ten English adjectives, this study tests the hypothesis that the vowels in adjectives in predicative constructions are longer than those in attributive constructions in spoken conversation. The analyses considered a number of factors: occurrence before a pause, lexical adjective, vowel identity, probability given surrounding words, and others. Two sets of statistical techniques were used: a Mixed-effects model and the Random Forest Analysis based on Conditional Inference Trees (CIT). Both analyses showed strong effects of predicative vs. attributive constructions and individual lexical adjectives on vowel duration in the predicted direction, as well as effects of many of the phonological variables tested. The results showed that the longer duration in the predicative construction is not due to lengthening before a pause, though it is related to whether the adjective is internal or final in the predicative construction. Nor is the effect attributable solely to the probability of the occurrence of the adjective; rather construction type has to be taken into account. The two statistical techniques complement each other, with the Mixed-effects model showing very general trends over all the data, and the Random Forest / CIT analysis showing factors that affect only subsets of the data.

Given the common intuition that consonant lenition occurs more often than fortition, we formulate this as a hypothesis, defining these sound change types in terms of decrease or increase in oral constriction. We then test the hypothesis on allophonic processes in a diverse sample of 81 languages. With the hypothesis confirmed, we examine the input and output of such sound changes in terms of manner and place of articulation and find that while decrease in oral constriction (weakening) affects most consonant types, increase in oral constriction (strengthening) is largely restricted to palatal and labial glides. We conclude that strengthening does not appear to be the simple inverse of weakening. In conclusion we suggest some possible avenues for explaining how glide strengthening may result from articulatory production pressures and speculate that strengthening and weakening can be encompassed under a single theory of sound change resulting from the automatization of production.

How and why do languages change? This new introduction offers a guide to the types of change at all levels of linguistic structure, as well as the mechanisms behind each type. Based on data from a variety of methods and a huge array of language families, it examines general patterns of change, bringing together recent findings on sound change, analogical change, grammaticalization, the creation and change of constructions, as well as lexical change. Emphasizing crosslinguistic patterns and going well beyond traditional methods in historical linguistics, this book sees change as grounded in cognitive processes and usage factors that are rarely mentioned in other textbooks. Complete with questions for discussion, suggested readings and a useful glossary of terms, this book helps students to gain a general understanding of language as an ever-changing system.

How and why do languages change? This new introduction offers a guide to the types of change at all levels of linguistic structure, as well as the mechanisms behind each type. Based on data from a variety of methods and a huge array of language families, it examines general patterns of change, bringing together recent findings on sound change, analogical change, grammaticalization, the creation and change of constructions, as well as lexical change. Emphasizing crosslinguistic patterns and going well beyond traditional methods in historical linguistics, this book sees change as grounded in cognitive processes and usage factors that are rarely mentioned in other textbooks. Complete with questions for discussion, suggested readings and a useful glossary of terms, this book helps students to gain a general understanding of language as an ever-changing system.

The question of whether or not grammatical factors can condition or block sound change has been discussed from many perspectives for more than a century without resolution (Melchert, 1975). Here we consider studies of sound change in progress which show that words or phrases that are used frequently in the phonetic environment for change undergo the change before those whose use is less frequent in these contexts. Because words of different categories and with different structures also have different distributions, they may occur preferentially in certain phonetic environments. Thus, some apparent cases of influence by grammatical and lexical factors can be explained by phonetic factors if we expand our notion of phonetic environment to include frequency within the environment for change, which includes the segmental environment as well as factors that affect the degree of prominence a word receives in context.

abstract‘Special reduction’ refers to instances of extreme phonetic reduction which is restricted to particular words or phrases, usually grammaticalizing constructions (going to> [gə̃ɾ̃ə̃]), greetings (hifromhow are you), discourse markers (Spanisho sea>sa), or other sequences that are often used together. On the basis of data from English, Brazilian Portuguese, and Colombian Spanish, we argue that special reduction is based on the general phonetic tendencies in the language, but that these tendencies are carried to an extreme where word sequences are used with high frequency and become chunked, allowing formerly stressed syllables to lose stress and reduce. The data also show that special reduction takes place gradually over time, and reflects general patterns of change seen in the history of the language. In fact, in some examples, special reduction presages more general sound changes that occur later. We argue that the gradual phonetic changes that accumulate for particular words or phrases, eventually changing them dramatically, requires an exemplar model for the phonological representation of words and phrases, which is updated continually as sequences are used and affected by reductive phonetic processes.

AbstractUsage-based theory takes language to be an embodied and social human behaviour and seeks explanations in that context. This theoretical perspective incorporates the basic insight that usage has an effect on linguistic structure. This chapter discusses the following: background of usage-based theory; domain-general processes; exemplars, networks, and constructions; the role of repetition; language acquisition and adult-based change; and language as a complex adaptive system.

Recent research on language change in a broad cross-linguistic perspective shows that patterns of change are very similar even in languages that are unrelated both genetically and areally. This chapter analyzes closely two types of paths of change: those evident in sound change, and those resulting in grammaticalization. It draws several parallels with the study of non-linear dynamic systems. Attractor states A cross-linguistic view of phonological inventories of segments shows a non-random distribution of segment types across the languages of the world. Just as attractors may take various forms in physical systems, there are several ways in which attractors may be applicable to language. The chapter discusses the attractor states in language, which may be further visualized by observing certain parallels with evolutionary biology. It also discusses language change in terms of attractor trajectories that is, diachronic paths that recur in language after language.