Cross-linguistic regularity

[Faudree, Paja]

Dear All,

I have a colleague in music who is trying to get guidance on a particular
aspect of language-music comparison.  Any advice most welcome!  Here's what
he's after:

"I've been thinking about degrees of regularity/orderliness in Javanese
music.  In some respects it can be described with broad rules that are
virtually (though not absolutely) exceptionless.  In other respects its
regularities, though apparent, are shot through with exceptions.

I have a vague sense that language also exhibits various degrees of
regularity, and that linguistics has devoted a lot more attention to this
variety than music theorists have (distinguishing phenomena like
irregularity, suppletion, semi-productivity, etc.).

Has any work been done on the different degrees of regularity found in
language?  In particular, have any hypotheses been floated about which
aspects of language are likely to display the most regularity, and why? I
know that type- and token-frequency of words has been studied a lot, and
that high frequency corresponds to resistance to linguistic change, but I
wonder if there has been any work that looks beyond vocabulary to include
syntax, etc."

Please email me with any suggestions!

Best wishes,

Paja

-- 
* * * * * * *
Paja Faudree
Assistant Professor of Anthropology, Brown University
(401) 863-2638

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