Word Frequency and Lexical Diffusion in Dialect Borrowing and Phonological Change

Dutch Studies ◽  
1980 ◽  
pp. 31-54 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marinel Gerritsen ◽  
Frank Jansen
Keyword(s):  
Word Frequency ◽  
Lexical Diffusion ◽  
Phonological Change

Lexical constraints in phonological acquisition

1999 ◽  
Vol 26 (2) ◽  
pp. 261-294 ◽  
Author(s):  
JUDITH A. GIERUT ◽  
MICHELE L. MORRISETTE ◽  
ANNETTE HUST CHAMPION
Keyword(s):  
Word Frequency ◽  
Language Processing ◽  
Low Frequency ◽  
Dependent Measure ◽  
Sound Change ◽  
Phonological Acquisition ◽  
Lexical Diffusion ◽  
Phonological Change ◽  
Lexical Constraints ◽  
Neighbourhood Structure

Lexical diffusion, as characterized by interword variation in production, was examined in phonological acquisition. The lexical variables of word frequency and neighbourhood density were hypothesized to facilitate sound change to varying degrees. Twelve children with functional phonological delays, aged 3;0 to 7;4, participated in an alternating treatments experiment to promote sound change. Independent variables were crossed to yield all logically possible combinations of high/low frequency and high/low density in treatment; the dependent measure was generalization accuracy in production. Results indicated word frequency was most facilitative in sound change, whereas, dense neighbourhood structure was least facilitative. The salience of frequency and avoidance of high density are discussed relative to the type of phonological change being induced in children's grammars, either phonetic or phonemic, and to the nature of children's representations. Results are further interpreted with reference to interactive models of language processing and optimality theoretic accounts of linguistic structure.

Lexical diffusion in the making: the lengthening of Middle English /a/ during the eighteenth century and across the diasystem of English

2020 ◽  
Vol 24 (3) ◽  
pp. 527-543
Author(s):  
NICOLAS TRAPATEAU
Keyword(s):  
Eighteenth Century ◽  
Southern Hemisphere ◽  
Word Frequency ◽  
Middle English ◽  
Electronic Edition ◽  
Relative Chronology ◽  
Phonological Features ◽  
Lexical Diffusion ◽  
Per Se ◽  
Pronunciation Dictionary

A long /aː/ in pre-fricative and pre-nasal contexts in words such as fast, answer or after is one of the most distinctive phonological features of British RP and, to a certain extent, of Southern Hemisphere varieties of English (Trudgill 2010). The lengthening of /a/ has been particularly gaining ground from the eighteenth century onwards (Beal 1999; Jones 2006). The pronouncing dictionaries published between the eighteenth century and the present day allow us to trace its lexical diffusion (Labov 1994) across the whole lexicon. Drawing on the statistics of the ARCHER corpus, the lexical sets of the ECEP database, the full electronic edition of Walker's dictionary (1791), Wells’ Longman Pronunciation Dictionary (2008) and the Macquarie Dictionary (2015), this article examines the role played by the phonetic environment, word frequency, phonetic analogy and isolated lead words like draught or master in the spread of the lengthening of /a/. The results show that word frequency per se has no clear effect on /a/ lengthening in either pre-fricative or pre-nasal environments in eighteenth-century sources. The article also offers a possible relative chronology of the spread of that phenomenon to each phonetic environment within the bath set.

scholarly journals Exploring the role of token frequency in phonological change: evidence from TH-Fronting in east-central Scotland

2009 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 33-55 ◽  
Author(s):  
LYNN CLARK ◽  
GRAEME TROUSDALE
Keyword(s):  
Word Frequency ◽  
Sound Change ◽  
Exact Nature ◽  
Lexical Frequency ◽  
East Central ◽  
Using Data ◽  
Motivating Factor ◽  
Phonological Change ◽  
The Relationship

Recent research on frequency effects in phonology suggests that word frequency is often a significant motivating factor in the spread of sound change through the lexicon. However, there is conflicting evidence regarding the exact nature of the relationship between phonological change and word frequency. This article investigates the role of lexical frequency in the spread of the well-known sound change TH-Fronting in an under-researched dialect area in east-central Scotland. Using data from a corpus of conversations compiled over a two-year period by the first author, we explore how the process of TH-Fronting is complicated in this community by the existence of certain local variants which are lexically restricted, and we question to what extent the frequency patterns that are apparent in these data are consistent with generalisations made in the wider literature on the relationship between lexical frequency and phonological change.

Glottal replacement of /t/ in two British capitals: Effects of word frequency and morphological compositionality

2013 ◽  
Vol 25 (2) ◽  
pp. 201-223 ◽  
Author(s):  
Erik Schleef
Keyword(s):  
Word Frequency ◽  
Language Change ◽  
External Constraints ◽  
Lexical Diffusion

AbstractThis study examines the internal and external constraints on glottal replacement of /t/ among adolescents in London and Edinburgh. Results show that phonological and stylistic constraints play an important role in determining the realizational variation of /t/, as many similar studies have shown. However, there is also clear evidence that our understanding of this phenomenon has been restricted by the limited set of factors that have been investigated previously, as results show that this feature is also constrained by word frequency and morphophonological factors. These findings raise important questions concerning the role of morphological compositionality in language change and the nature of lexical diffusion.

Word frequency and lexical diffusion (review)

Language ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 85 (2) ◽  
pp. 487-490
Author(s):  
Robert W. Murray
Keyword(s):  
Word Frequency ◽  
Lexical Diffusion
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