What makes the past perfect and the future progressive? Experiential coordinates for a learnable, context-based model of tense and aspect

IF 1.8 1区文学 0 LANGUAGE & LINGUISTICS

Cognitive Linguistics Pub Date : 2022-01-31 DOI:10.1515/cog-2021-0006

Laurence Romain, Adnane Ez-zizi, P. Milin, Dagmar Divjak

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引用次数: 4

Abstract

Abstract We examined how language supports the expression of temporality within sentence boundaries in English, which has a rich inventory of grammatical means to express temporality. Using a computational model that mimics how humans learn from exposure we explored what the use of different tense and aspect (TA) combinations reveals about the interaction between our experience of time and the cognitive demands that talking about time puts on the language user. Our model was trained on n-grams extracted from the BNC to select the TA combination that fits the context best. It revealed the existence of two different sub-systems within the set of TA combinations, a “simplex” one that is supported lexically and is easy to learn, and a “complex” one that is supported contextually and is hard to learn. The finding that some TA combinations are essentially lexical in nature necessitates a rethink of tense and aspect as grammatical categories that form the axes of the temporal system. We argue that the system of temporal reference may be more fruitfully thought of as the result of learning a system that is steeped in experience and organised along a number of functional principles.

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是什么让过去完成时和将来进行时成为现实?可学习的、基于上下文的时态和时态模型的经验坐标

摘要我们研究了语言如何支持英语中句子边界内的时间性表达，英语中有丰富的语法手段来表达时间性。使用一个模拟人类如何从暴露中学习的计算模型，我们探索了不同时态和方位（TA）组合的使用揭示了我们对时间的体验与谈论时间对语言用户的认知需求之间的互动。我们的模型是在从BNC中提取的n-gram上进行训练的，以选择最适合上下文的TA组合。它揭示了TA组合中存在两个不同的子系统，一个是词汇支持且易于学习的“简单”子系统，另一个是上下文支持且难以学习的“复杂”子系统。一些TA组合本质上是词汇性的，这一发现需要重新思考时态和体相作为构成时间系统轴心的语法类别。我们认为，时间参照系统可能会被更有效地认为是学习一个充满经验并按照许多功能原则组织的系统的结果。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Cognitive Linguistics Multiple-

CiteScore

3.30

自引率

17.60%

发文量

期刊介绍： Cognitive Linguistics presents a forum for linguistic research of all kinds on the interaction between language and cognition. The journal focuses on language as an instrument for organizing, processing and conveying information. Cognitive Linguistics is a peer-reviewed journal of international scope and seeks to publish only works that represent a significant advancement to the theory or methods of cognitive linguistics, or that present an unknown or understudied phenomenon. Topics the structural characteristics of natural language categorization (such as prototypicality, cognitive models, metaphor, and imagery); the functional principles of linguistic organization, as illustrated by iconicity; the conceptual interface between syntax and semantics; the experiential background of language-in-use, including the cultural background; the relationship between language and thought, including matters of universality and language specificity.