Exposure and emergence in usage-based grammar: computational experiments in 35 languages

Type of content
Journal Article
Thesis discipline
Degree name
Publisher
Walter de Gruyter GmbH
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Language
en
Date
2022
Authors
Dunn, Jonathan
Abstract

This paper uses computational experiments to explore the role of exposure in the emergence of construction grammars. While usage-based grammars are hypothesized to depend on a learner’s exposure to actual language use, the mechanisms of such exposure have only been studied in a few constructions in isolation. This paper experiments with (i) the growth rate of the constructicon, (ii) the convergence rate of grammars exposed to independent registers, and (iii) the rate at which constructions are forgotten when they have not been recently observed. These experiments show that the lexicon grows more quickly than the grammar and that the growth rate of the grammar is not dependent on the growth rate of the lexicon. At the same time, register-specific grammars converge onto more similar constructions as the amount of exposure increases. This means that the influence of specific registers becomes less important as exposure increases. Finally, the rate at which constructions are forgotten when they have not been recently observed mirrors the growth rate of the constructicon. This paper thus presents a computational model of usage-based grammar that includes both the emergence and the unentrenchment of constructions.

Description
Citation
Dunn J Exposure and emergence in usage-based grammar: computational experiments in 35 languages. Cognitive Linguistics. 0(0).
Keywords
construction grammar, constructions, usage-based, exposure, emergence
Ngā upoko tukutuku/Māori subject headings
ANZSRC fields of research
Fields of Research::47 - Language, communication and culture::4704 - Linguistics::470403 - Computational linguistics
Fields of Research::52 - Psychology::5204 - Cognitive and computational psychology
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