Form, function, and frequency in phonological variation

Abstract

Formal and usage-based approaches to phonology make competing predictions that can be tested with variationist methodology. This paper investigates formal, functional, and frequency effects on (t/d)-deletion in Canadian English. Although initial results suggest a correlation between lexical frequency and deletion, once interaction and lexical effects are taken into account, only phonological and morphological factor groups are significant. Previous reports of frequency effects may result from different measurements of frequency and the contribution of overlapping factor groups. These results suggest that frequency does not operate monotonically but interacts dynamically with the lexicon.

Production planning and coronal stop deletion in spontaneous speech

“…Due to the inclusion of a by-word random intercept, the significant frequency effect cannot be attributed to the influence of particular lexical items (e.g., and, just). This result contrasts with claims that frequency does not affect CSD once other factors are controlled for (Walker, 2012).…”

“…As noted above, this finding contrasts with some previous CSD studies (Walker, 2012), but is unsurprising if CSD is viewed as a case of segmental reduction, given that word frequency (or predictability) is often positively correlated with reduction probability in such processes cross-linguistically (e.g., Bell et al, 2009;Ernestus et al, 2006;Jurafsky et al, 2001;Schuppler et al, 2012;Zipf, 1929). What is important for our purposes is not the existence of an overall frequency effect, but the fact that it significantly modulates the effect of following context: The higher the frequency of the t/d-final word, the less its deletion rate depends on the identity of the following segment.…”

“…A recurring finding is that CSD is more likely to apply in frequent words compared to infrequent words (see also Gahl & Garsney, 2006;Guy et al, 2008;Pluymaekers et al, 2005). However, Walker (2012), in a study of CSD in Canadian English, found that word frequency does not significantly impact deletion once lexically-specific effects and interactions are accounted for. Gregory et al (1999) and Jurafsky et al (2001) explored the effects of various other measures of predictability on CSD and vowel reduction, in addition to word frequency, such as conditional probability or mutual information in two-word sequences.…”

The variable effect of form and lemma frequencies on phonetic variation: Evidence from /s/ realization in two varieties of Colombian Spanish

“…For example, Walker (2012) analyzes (t/d)-deletion impressionistically and suggests that frequency may not operate monotonically, but rather has a more dynamic interaction with the lexicon: "The usage-based hypothesis that lexical frequency constrains (t/d)-deletion receives no support, once its interaction with morphological status and the contribution of a small set of lexical items are taken into account" (p. 412). Regarding the expression of Subject Personal Pronouns (SPP) in Spanish, Erker and Guy (2012) find that high frequency does not by itself favor or disfavor pronoun use, but rather has significant interactions with other constraints affecting SPP occurrence: "High frequency potentiates or amplifies the effects of other constraints" (p. 527).…”

The Role of Exemplars and Lexical Frequency in Rendaku

“…Some studies did not identify clear-cut evidence for the frequency effects (e.g. Bayley, Greer, & Holland, 2013;Tamminga, 2014;Walker, 2012 Shin-Ichiro Sano attention has thus far been paid to the effect of lexical frequency on rendaku. Although Ohno (2000) proposes an analogy-based model of rendaku based on their phonological and/or semantic similarities, the mechanism of analogy, especially how the similarities are defined, is not specified and remains an open question.2 If an exemplar-theoretic model is a correct model of our phonological knowledge, then lexical frequency should play a crucial role in phonology of rendaku.…”