{"title":"Modelling loanword success – a sociolinguistic quantitative study of Māori loanwords in New Zealand English","authors":"Andreea S. Calude, Steven Miller, M. Pagel","doi":"10.1515/cllt-2017-0010","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/cllt-2017-0010","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract Loanword use has dominated the literature on language contact and its salient nature continues to draw interest from linguists and non-linguists. Traditionally, loanwords were investigated by means of raw frequencies, which are at best uninformative and at worst misleading. Following a new wave of studies which look at loans from a quantitatively more informed standpoint, modelling “success” by taking into account frequency of the counterparts available in the language adopting the loanwords, we propose a similar model of loan-use and demonstrate its benefits in a case study of loanwords from Māori into (New Zealand) English. Our model contributes to previous work in this area by combining both the success measure mentioned above with a rich range of linguistic characteristics of the loanwords (such as loan length and word class), as well as a similarly detailed group of sociolinguistic characteristics of the speakers using them (gender, age and ethnicity of both, speakers and addresses). Our model is unique in bringing together of all these factors at the same time. The findings presented here illustrate the benefit of a quantitatively balanced approach to modelling loanword use. Furthermore, they illustrate the complex interaction between linguistic and sociolinguistic factors in such language contact scenarios.","PeriodicalId":45605,"journal":{"name":"Corpus Linguistics and Linguistic Theory","volume":"16 1","pages":"29 - 66"},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2020-04-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1515/cllt-2017-0010","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41991210","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Frontmatter","authors":"","doi":"10.1515/cllt-2020-frontmatter1","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/cllt-2020-frontmatter1","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":45605,"journal":{"name":"Corpus Linguistics and Linguistic Theory","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2020-04-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1515/cllt-2020-frontmatter1","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45911158","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Frontmatter","authors":"","doi":"10.1515/cllt-2020-frontmatter2","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/cllt-2020-frontmatter2","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":45605,"journal":{"name":"Corpus Linguistics and Linguistic Theory","volume":"1 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2020-04-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1515/cllt-2020-frontmatter2","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44212864","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Light verb variations and varieties of Mandarin Chinese: Comparable corpus driven approaches to grammatical variations","authors":"Hongzhi Xu, M. Jiang, Jingxia Lin, Chu-Ren Huang","doi":"10.1515/cllt-2019-0049","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/cllt-2019-0049","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract This article presents a classification and clustering based study to account for the differences among five Chinese light verbs (congshi, gao, jiayi, jinxing, and zuo) as well as their variations in Mainland China Mandarin (ML) and Taiwan Mandarin (TW). Based on 13 linguistic features, both competition and co-development of these light verbs are studied in terms of their distinct and shared collocates. The proposed method discovers significant new grammatical differences in addition to confirming previously reported ones. Most significant discoveries include selectional restrictions differentiating deverbal nominals and event nouns, and degrees of transitivity of VO compounds. We also find that most variations between Mainland China Mandarin and Taiwan Mandarin are in fact differences in tendencies or preferences in contexts of usage of shared grammatical rules.","PeriodicalId":45605,"journal":{"name":"Corpus Linguistics and Linguistic Theory","volume":"18 1","pages":"145 - 173"},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2020-03-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1515/cllt-2019-0049","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"66858392","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Syntactico-semantic realizations of pronouns in the English transitive construction: A corpus-based analysis","authors":"Haerim Hwang","doi":"10.1515/cllt-2019-0061","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/cllt-2019-0061","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract Pronouns serve as early linguistic cues for the acquisition of the English transitive construction (TC), but previous research has been limited to first language (L1) settings. This study focuses on TC input in the English as a foreign language (EFL) context, investigating syntactico-semantic differences in realizations of TC arguments, particularly pronouns, between L1 parental input and Korean EFL input. To this end, four corpora were created by collecting spoken data from L1-English parents talking to their children, L1-Korean EFL teachers, L1-English EFL teachers, and auditory EFL textbooks. From these corpora, transitive clauses were extracted so that their arguments could be categorized. Mixed-effects negative binomial regression analyses and hierarchical cluster analyses (preceded by principal component analyses) showed that in the realization of TC arguments, Korean EFL input differs syntactically and semantically from L1-English parental input, both for the subjects and objects of TCs. The syntactic difference was particularly pronounced for objects, where fewer pronouns were observed in the EFL input than in the L1-English parental input. Semantically, co-occurrence regularities between transitive verbs and arguments were identified only in the L1-English input and not in the EFL input. Pedagogical implications of the findings are also discussed.","PeriodicalId":45605,"journal":{"name":"Corpus Linguistics and Linguistic Theory","volume":"18 1","pages":"115 - 143"},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2020-03-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1515/cllt-2019-0061","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41382450","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"A corpus-based analysis of meaning variations in German tag questions Evidence from spoken and written conversational corpora","authors":"Yulia Clausen, Tatjana Scheffler","doi":"10.1515/cllt-2019-0060","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/cllt-2019-0060","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract This paper addresses semantic/pragmatic variability of tag questions in German and makes three main contributions. First, we document the prevalence and variety of question tags in German across three different types of conversational corpora. Second, by annotating question tags according to their syntactic and semantic context, discourse function, and pragmatic effect, we demonstrate the existing overlap and differences between the individual tag variants. Finally, we distinguish several groups of question tags by identifying the factors that influence the speakers’ choices of tags in the conversational context, such as clause type, function, speaker/hearer knowledge, as well as conversation type and medium. These factors provide the limits of variability by constraining certain question tags in German against occurring in specific contexts or with individual functions.","PeriodicalId":45605,"journal":{"name":"Corpus Linguistics and Linguistic Theory","volume":"18 1","pages":"1 - 31"},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2020-02-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1515/cllt-2019-0060","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42822164","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Reconceptualizing register in a continuous situational space","authors":"D. Biber, Jesse Egbert, D. Keller","doi":"10.1515/cllt-2018-0086","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/cllt-2018-0086","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract Corpus-based methods for the quantitative linguistic description of registers are well established. In contrast, situational analyses of registers have been based on qualitative descriptions of categorical situational characteristics. In the present study, we address this inconsistency by describing the variation among texts and registers in a continuous (quantitative) situational space. We describe “registers” as categorical constructs – culturally recognized categories of texts – but propose that they should be described in continuous terms. Such descriptions allow quantitative comparisons of registers, as well as analysis of the extent to which a register is well-delimited in terms of its situational characteristics. Applying this analytical framework, we also explore a deeper issue: the possibility that some texts are not instantiations of any culturally-recognized register category. Both issues are tackled through analysis of a corpus of web documents. We first identify quantitative situational dimensions of variation, employing the methods of multi-dimensional (MD) analysis. We then describe how the situational characteristics of texts and registers can be analyzed in a continuous MD space. And finally, we propose analysis of situational text types – categories that are statistically well-defined in their situational characteristics – as an approach to describing all texts, including texts that do not belong to a culturally recognized register category.","PeriodicalId":45605,"journal":{"name":"Corpus Linguistics and Linguistic Theory","volume":"16 1","pages":"581 - 616"},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2020-02-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1515/cllt-2018-0086","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41709273","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The alternative negative constructions in spoken and written Korean: Logistic regression analysis","authors":"Beom-mo Kang","doi":"10.1515/cllt-2016-0021","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/cllt-2016-0021","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract Adopting quantitative corpus-based methods, this paper focuses on the alternative negative constructions in Korean, [an V] and [V anhda]. Logistic regression analyses for a mixed-effects model were carried out on data drawn from the Sejong Korean Corpus. Certain features of the verb or adjective in negative constructions significantly affect the use of the two negative constructions. A relevant factor is register/medium (spoken or written), among other significant interactions of factors. Furthermore, the fact that frequency is consistent with other relevant factors, together with certain diachronic facts of Korean, supports the claim that frequency of use plays an important role in linguistic changes. Another finding is that, notwithstanding noticeable differences between spoken and written language, the factors influencing the use of the two negative constructions in Korean are largely similar in the spoken and written registers.","PeriodicalId":45605,"journal":{"name":"Corpus Linguistics and Linguistic Theory","volume":"15 1","pages":"419 - 442"},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2019-10-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1515/cllt-2016-0021","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46783539","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Prototype-driven alternations: The case of German weak nouns","authors":"R. Schäfer","doi":"10.1515/cllt-2015-0051","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/cllt-2015-0051","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract Over the past years, multifactorial corpus-based explorations of alternations in grammar have become an accepted major tool in cognitively oriented corpus linguistics. For example, prototype theory as a theory of similarity-based and inherently probabilistic linguistic categorization has received support from studies showing that alternating constructions and items often occur with probabilities influenced by prototypical formal, semantic or contextual factors. In this paper, I analyze a low-frequency alternation effect in German noun inflection in terms of prototype theory, based on strong hypotheses from the existing literature that I integrate into an established theoretical framework of usage-based probabilistic morphology, which allows us to account for similarity effects even in seemingly regular areas of the grammar. Specifically, the so-called weak masculine nouns in German, which follow an unusual pattern of case marking and often have characteristic lexical properties, sporadically occur in forms of the dominant strong masculine nouns. Using data from the nine-billion-token DECOW12A web corpus of contemporary German, I demonstrate that the probability of the alternation is influenced by the presence or absence of semantic, phonotactic, and paradigmatic features. Token frequency is also shown to have an effect on the alternation, in line with common assumptions about the relation between frequency and entrenchment. I use a version of prototype theory with weighted features and polycentric categories, but I also discuss the question of whether such corpus data can be taken as strong evidence for or against specific models of cognitive representation (prototypes vs. exemplars).","PeriodicalId":45605,"journal":{"name":"Corpus Linguistics and Linguistic Theory","volume":"15 1","pages":"383 - 417"},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2019-10-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1515/cllt-2015-0051","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48125671","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Against statistical significance testing in corpus linguistics","authors":"Alexander Koplenig","doi":"10.1515/cllt-2016-0036","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/cllt-2016-0036","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract In the first volume of Corpus Linguistics and Linguistic Theory, Gries (2005. Null-hypothesis significance testing of word frequencies: A follow-up on Kilgarriff. Corpus Linguistics and Linguistic Theory 1(2). doi:10.1515/cllt.2005.1.2.277. http://www.degruyter.com/view/j/cllt.2005.1.issue-2/cllt.2005.1.2.277/cllt.2005.1.2.277.xml: 285) asked whether corpus linguists should abandon null-hypothesis significance testing. In this paper, I want to revive this discussion by defending the argument that the assumptions that allow inferences about a given population – in this case about the studied languages – based on results observed in a sample – in this case a collection of naturally occurring language data – are not fulfilled. As a consequence, corpus linguists should indeed abandon null-hypothesis significance testing.","PeriodicalId":45605,"journal":{"name":"Corpus Linguistics and Linguistic Theory","volume":"15 1","pages":"321 - 346"},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2019-10-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1515/cllt-2016-0036","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41582550","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}