From Usage to Grammar: The Mind's Response to Repetition

Abstract

A usage-based view takes grammar to be the cognitive organization of one's experience with language. Aspects of that experience, for instance, the frequency of use of certain constructions or particular instances of constructions, have an impact on representation that is evidenced in speaker knowledge of conventionalized phrases and in language variation and change. It is shown that particular instances of constructions can acquire their own pragmatic, semantic, and phonological characteristics. In addition, it is argued that high-frequency instances of constructions undergo grammaticization processes (which produce further change), function as the central members of categories formed by constructions, and retain their old forms longer than lower-frequency instances under the pressure of newer formations. An exemplar model that accommodates both phonological and semantic representation is elaborated to describe the data considered.

The diachronic development of zero complementation: A multifactorial analysis of the that/zero alternation with think, suppose, and believe

“…Torres Cacoullos and Walker (2009) argue that such discourse formulas have reached a high degree of autonomy (see Bybee 2003Bybee , 2006) from their productive complement-taking source construction. The frequency with which the zero complementizer is used is seen as an indication of this increasing autonomy.…”

Variazione sincronica e mutamento diacronico: il caso di alcuni connettori dell’italiano

“…Come sostiene Bybee (2006Bybee ( , 2007, la frequenza è un fattore cruciale nel momento in cui i parlanti attuano una rianalisi della forma e funzione di un elemento dal valore originario a quello di arrivo. In tale momento si osserva un aumento significativo della frequenza di contesti a doppia compatibilità che sono quelli che ammettono la reinterpretazione e rendono possibile il mutamento semantico.…”

Les greffes phraséologiques – ou quand la syntaxe se compromet

“…Cette conception est largement partagée aujourd'hui avec le retour sur le devant de la scène des conceptions « usage-based » développées, notamment, par J. Bybee (2006Bybee ( , 2010. Le système, quant à lui, représente la partie de la norme qui participe à l'opposition fonctionnelle, mais aussi le possible, ce qui n'a pas été réalisé -le virtuel, en quelque sorte.…”