Language evolution seminar

Speaker: Marc Meisezahl (The University of Edinburgh)

Title: Learning verb second (in the lab)

Abstract: Verb second (V2) is a word order pattern attested only in a small number of languages. In this type of construction, the finite verb strictly follows the first constituent regardless of its grammatical function or category. Considered diachronically, V2 has been stable in some languages while others have lost it (Holmberg 2015). In the light of findings showing the impact of learning biases on typological patterns (Culbertson, Smolensky & Legendre 2012), the question is raised why not all languages have lost V2. More specifically, what properties of the language are relevant for the retention and hence the acquisition of V2. A potentially important factor is the frequency of the different types of preverbal elements. In this talk, I present the results of an artificial language learning experiment in which participants were exposed to a V2 language with different types of constituents that are equally likely to appear preverbally. The goal of this experiment is twofold: First and more basically, it is assessed whether V2 can be learned in an experimental setting. Secondly, the experiment establishes a baseline for future experiments with non-uniform distributions of preverbal elements. Furthermore, I will present ideas for a corpus study in which the frequencies of different types of preverbal constituents are determined. These results may be used for follow-up experiments on the role of preverbal constituents.

Contact

Seminars are organised by the Centre for Language Evolution

Henry Conklin

Centre for Language Evolution