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5 - Competing Grammars

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 April 2023

Daniel Galbraith
Affiliation:
Stanford University, California
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Summary

In Chapter 5, the competing grammars model of morphosyntactic variation is introduced from both a sociolinguistic and computational perspective. The example of nominative substitution in Faroese is used to demonstrate the advantages of the model, in particular the combination of classic Optimality Theory constraints with a probabilistic activation hypothesis. The Faroese dative-subject verbs discussed in Chapters 2 and 4 occur in both dative–accusative and nominative–accusative case frames. The competing grammars model is outlined as a cogent explanation of the co-existence of both forms in use by a given speaker, sometimes within the same text or short series of utterances. Relevant factors proposed to influence selection of the nominative versus dative variants are discussed, including both grammatical and social/contextual variables. The importance of social meaning in determining case selection is highlighted, which presents a Rational Speech Act model of this morphosyntactic variable. In a section co-authored with Rob Mina, the issue of bimodally distributed judgement data is explored, in particular whether such data are effectively random or represent distinguishable dialects, and how to tell. Finally, neural approaches are discussed as an alternative model of competing grammars.

Type
Chapter
Information
Optimal Linking Grammar
A Theory of Morphosyntax
, pp. 105 - 137
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2023

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  • Competing Grammars
  • Daniel Galbraith, Stanford University, California
  • Book: Optimal Linking Grammar
  • Online publication: 20 April 2023
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009030663.005
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  • Competing Grammars
  • Daniel Galbraith, Stanford University, California
  • Book: Optimal Linking Grammar
  • Online publication: 20 April 2023
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009030663.005
Available formats
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Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • Competing Grammars
  • Daniel Galbraith, Stanford University, California
  • Book: Optimal Linking Grammar
  • Online publication: 20 April 2023
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009030663.005
Available formats
×