Yang, Charles

Search Results

Now showing 1 - 2 of 2

English auxiliary realization and the independence of morphology and phonetics
(2013-10-17) Mackenzie, Laurel; Yang, Charles
One of the key questions in the study of language concerns the architecture of the grammar. At issue is the nature of and relationship between the systems that generate linguistic output. The present paper tests the predictions of two competing theories of grammatical architecture for a variable process of h-deletion in connected speech. A usage-based theory of grammar predicts that this phonetic lenition rule will show word-sensitivity, while a modular, feed-forward theory predicts a uniform rate of h-deletion across lexical items. Data from the Switchboard corpus supports the latter prediction.
The Evolutionary Trajectory of the Icelandic New Passive
(2013-10-17) Ingason, Anton Karl; Legate, Julie Anne; Yang, Charles
We examine the diachronics of a New Passive construction in Icelandic and use Yang's model of language learning and change to explain its rapid rise. The New Passive has been spreading at the expense of a Canonical Passive in the recent past 50 years. Applying empirical measurements from the IcePaHC corpus, we show that our model can be used to account for the spread of the New Passive and the rate of change. The model also has implications for the actuation of the change.