Prototype-driven alternations: The case of German weak nouns

Over the past years, multifactorial corpus-based explorations of alternations in grammar have become an accepted major tool in cognitively oriented corpus linguistics. For example, prototype theory as a theory of similarity-based and inherently probabilistic linguistic categorization has received support from studies showing that alternating constructions and items often occur with probabilities influenced by prototypical formal, semantic or contextual factors. In this paper, I analyze a low-frequency alternation effect in German noun inflection in terms of prototype theory, based on strong hypotheses from the existing literature that I integrate into an established theoretical framework of usage-based probabilistic morphology, which allows us to account for similarity effects even in seemingly regular areas of the grammar. Specifically, the so-calledweakmasculine nouns in German, which follow an unusual pattern of case marking and often have characteristic lexical properties, sporadically occur in forms of the dominantstrongmasculine nouns. Using data from the nine-billion-token DECOW12A web corpus of contemporary German, I demonstrate that the probability of the alternation is influenced by the presence or absence of semantic, phonotactic, and paradigmatic features. Token frequency is also shown to have an effect on the alternation, in line with common assumptions about the relation between frequency and entrenchment. I use a version of prototype theory with weighted features and polycentric categories, but I also discuss the question of whether such corpus data can be taken as strong evidence for or against specific models of cognitive representation (prototypes vs. exemplars).

The alternation effect in ionic liquid homologous series

Understanding density alternation effects in ionic liquid homologous series.

Opposition Coalitions and Democratization by Election

This article critically assesses the argument that oppositional coordination creates democratization by elections. It argues that the previously acknowledged democratizing effect of pre-electoral coalitions is better described as an alternation effect, by which coordinated oppositional parties are more likely to win elections. The positive effect of oppositional coalitions is, however, short lived and intimately connected with cases where the election is won by the opposition. Evidence of potential endogeneity is presented, which shows that coalitions are more likely when there is a realistic chance of oppositional victories. These results were derived by utilizing an original dataset of 251 authoritarian elections in 86 countries from 1973 to 2004.

Case Alternation Effect: Two Types of Word Recognition?

Two experiments were conducted to test Besner's (1983) claim that the lexical decision task involves a type of recognition mechanism that simply monitors the visual familiarity of the target without uniquely specifying the word. The experiments tested the combined effects of case alternation and decision type, and case alternation and word frequency in a lexical decision task and in a task requiring speeded decisions about the syntactic usage of target words. Contrary to Besner's proposal, case alternation did not affect word decisions more than nonword decisions in the lexical decision task. Further, the finding of additive effects of case alternation and word frequency in the two tasks was also at odds with the prediction derived from Besner's account. The discrepancy between the results obtained by Besner and the present lexical decision task was discussed in terms of different decision strategies, and it was suggested that under conditions of difficult word-nonword discrimination, the global visual familiarity of the target is not involved in making lexical decisions.

Switching between Musical Response Modes: Evidence for Global Parameter Settings

In four experiments a large temporal effect is demonstrated for alternating between different response modes of musical output: sing—whistle, sing–play. This effect, demonstrated for college students with some musical training, has theoretical implications for the setting of response mode parameters. Over the series of four studies, it is shown that the time to alternate between musical output modes is not due to peripheral competition for the components of the same motor system, or to central competition produced by concurrently trying to use the same central resources for several things at once. Syntactic disruption explains some of the alternation effect, but the most complete explanation is attributable to an output parameter setting mechanism in which different response modes may be set to ON/OFF. Both evidence and argument suggest that these parameters are set globally, and it takes time to change their values (about 200 msec per switch).