Variation in the 1sg.indef: More than you wanted to know

Abstract

The first person singular indefinite or non-definite of Hungarian verbs that end in -ik shows variation between the regular -k suffix and the -m suffix, used otherwise in the definite. This variation is systematic and subject to metalinguistic awareness. Our study relies on previous quantitative work, a frequency dictionary compiled from the new Hungarian Webcorpus, as well as a forced-choice elicitation experiment to assess the role of word frequency, word length, derivational endings, and across-form similarity in shaping this variation. We find that first person singular indefinite variation is largely defined by natural categories: verbs that look similar will also show a similar preference to -k/-m. This pattern is attested in the webcorpus as well as in participant responses in the elicitation task.