Word Frequency and Context of Use in the Lexical Diffusion of Phonetically Conditioned Sound Change

2007 ◽  
pp. 235-264 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joan Bybee
Keyword(s):  
Word Frequency ◽  
Sound Change ◽  
Lexical Diffusion ◽  
Context Of Use

Word frequency and context of use in the lexical diffusion of phonetically conditioned sound change

2002 ◽  
Vol 14 (3) ◽  
pp. 261-290 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joan Bybee
Keyword(s):  
Word Frequency ◽  
American English ◽  
Sound Change ◽  
Rate Of Change ◽  
Exemplar Model ◽  
Frequency Effects ◽  
Lexical Variation ◽  
Phonetic Detail ◽  
Lexical Diffusion ◽  
Context Of Use

The literature on frequency effects in lexical diffusion shows that even phonetically gradual changes that in some cases are destined to be lexically regular show lexical diffusion while they are in progress. Change that is both phonetically and lexically gradual presents a serious challenge to theories with phonemic underlying forms. An alternate exemplar model that can account for lexical variation in phonetic detail is outlined here. This model predicts that the frequency with which words are used in the contexts for change will affect how readily the word undergoes a change in progress. This prediction is tested on data from /t, d/ deletion in American English. Finally, the effect of bound morphemes on the diffusion of a sound change is examined. The data suggest that instances of a bound morpheme can affect the rate of change for that morpheme overall.

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.

Lexical diffusion as a factor of phonetic change: The case of Modern French nasal vowels

2001 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 209-252 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anita Berit Hansen
Keyword(s):  
Sound Change ◽  
Gradual Change ◽  
Nasal Vowels ◽  
Lexical Diffusion

The present study explores the notion of lexical diffusion in relation to an ongoing change in Modern French nasal vowels. Data are interviews with 42 Parisians, recorded in 1972–74 and 1989–93. We start with the notion that sound change ought to be regular, according to the classification of Labov (1994): that is, being a phonetically gradual change, it should be lexically abrupt. The first part of our analysis, which includes more than 10,000 nasal vowel tokens, seems to indicate an influence of factors compatible with the hypothesis of regular sound change (i.e., stress and phonetic surroundings). A closer look at the vowel /[vowel symbol]/, however, reveals an independent lexical and grammatical conditioning, one not entirely explicable in terms of stress or phonetics. As other studies have shown (Krishnamurti, 1998; Yaeger-Dror, 1996), gradual phonetic change might show lexical irregularities, a fact which calls for a revision of Labov's classification.

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.

Regularity of sound change through lexical diffusion: A study of s > h > in Gondi dialects

1998 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 193-220 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bh. Krishnamurti
Keyword(s):  
Diffusion Model ◽  
Central India ◽  
Sound Change ◽  
The West ◽  
Quantitative Studies ◽  
Normal Expectation ◽  
Lexical Diffusion ◽  
A Chain ◽  
Theoretical Proposal ◽  
Dravidian Language

ABSTRACTGondi is a Dravidian language spoken by 2.2 million speakers (Census of India 1981) in the mountains and forests of four adjacent states in central India. Gondi is a chain of several dialects, some of which, at distant points, are perhaps not mutually intelligible. A major dialect division is provided by a two-step sound change: s- > h- in the west, north, and northwest and h- > - in the south and southeast. The present article studies this two-step sound change, which is still in progress, and establishes two facts. First, contrary to the normal expectation that this sound change would be phonetically gradual and lexically abrupt (Neogram-marian type), there is evidence that it has been lexically gradual and perhaps also phonetically gradual (lexical diffusion). Second, phonetic gradualness and regularity in implementation of sound change are properties not incompatible with the mechanism of lexical diffusion. Labov's observation that s > h > has not been reported as a lexically diffused change in many quantitative studies of Portuguese and Spanish (1981) finds a clear exception in Gondi. Under the lexical diffusion model, the regularity of a sound change is defined as the final outcome in a three-stage change of the relevant lexicon: unchanged (u), variant (u ˜ c), and changed (c). If the entire eligible lexicon passed from u to c through u ˜ c, the change would become regular. If all u ˜ c became c and for some reason no item under u became u ˜ c, the sound change would die prematurely, since the variant stage which provided the rule for the innovation would be absent. Since a regular sound change can result from either the Neogrammarian model or the lexical diffusion model, Labov's (1994:542–543) theoretical proposal of complementarity between the kinds of changes resulting from the two mechanisms calls for more studies of sound change in progress to decide the issue.

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