28.3631, Books: Learning Non-Adjacent Dependencies: A Mechanism for Language Acquisition: Grama

Tue Sep 5 16:58:09 UTC 2017

LINGUIST List: Vol-28-3631. Tue Sep 05 2017. ISSN: 1069 - 4875.

Subject: 28.3631, Books: Learning Non-Adjacent Dependencies: A Mechanism for Language Acquisition: Grama

Moderators: linguist at linguistlist.org (Damir Cavar, Malgorzata E. Cavar)
Reviews: reviews at linguistlist.org (Helen Aristar-Dry, Robert Coté,
                                   Michael Czerniakowski)
Homepage: http://linguistlist.org

Please support the LL editors and operation with a donation at:
           http://funddrive.linguistlist.org/donate/

Editor for this issue: Michael Czerniakowski <mike at linguistlist.org>
================================================================

Date: Tue, 05 Sep 2017 12:58:02
From: Jolanda Rozendaal [gw.uilots.lot at uu.nl]
Subject: Learning Non-Adjacent Dependencies: A Mechanism for Language Acquisition: Grama

Title: Learning Non-Adjacent Dependencies: A Mechanism for Language
Acquisition 
Series Title: LOT Dissertation Series  

Publication Year: 2017 
Publisher: Netherlands Graduate School of Linguistics / Landelijke (LOT)
	   http://www.lotpublications.nl/

Book URL: http://www.lotpublications.nl/learning-non-adjacent-dependencies-a-mechanism-for-language-acquisition 

Author: Ileana Grama

Paperback: ISBN:  9789460932366 Pages:  Price: ----  

Abstract:

This dissertation explores the human ability for non-adjacent
dependency-learning (NADL), which allows adults and infants to track the
relationship between a and b in an aXb string. I use artificial grammar
learning with adults and infants to investigate whether NADL could facilitate
the detection of morpho-syntactic dependencies in natura languages (The
princess is gently kissing the frog).

Morpho-syntactic dependencies are typically instantiated between functional
morphemes (is, -ing), straddling lexical morphemes (gently, kiss). Functional
morphemes are often less prosodically prominent than lexical ones. I
investigate the role of prosodic cues in NADL: both adults and infants learn
aXb dependencies when a/b are prosodically prominent, but also when they are
prosodically weak compared to the intervening X. The prosodic properties of
natural languages could thus facilitate non-adjacent dependency learning.

Early familiarity with the individual units of a morpho-syntactic dependency
seems to precede learning of the dependency itself. I investigate how prior
familiarity with a/b impacts learning aXb dependencies for adults. Previous
findings suggest a negative effect of prior familiarity with a/b, but I find
that these results are based on a confound relating to the sequential
presentation of two learning phases (learning a/bs, and learning aXb
dependencies). Eliminating this confound, I find no significant disadvantage
of prior familiarity with a/b.

Finally, I show that adults can generalize a_b dependencies to novel aX’b
strings (with unfamiliar X’), but 18-month-olds show no such generalization.
Young learners may only be able to track dependencies in familiar contexts.

Linguistic Field(s): Cognitive Science
                     Language Acquisition
                     Syntax

Written In: English  (eng)

See this book announcement on our website: 
http://linguistlist.org/pubs/books/get-book.cfm?BookID=119134

PUBLISHING PARTNER

    Cambridge University Press
        http://us.cambridge.org

MAJOR SUPPORTING PUBLISHERS

    Akademie Verlag GmbH
        http://www.oldenbourg-verlag.de/akademie-verlag

    Bloomsbury Linguistics (formerly Continuum Linguistics)
        http://www.bloomsbury.com

    Brill
        http://www.brill.nl

    Cambridge Scholars Publishing
        http://www.c-s-p.org

    Cascadilla Press
        http://www.cascadilla.com/

    Classiques Garnier
        http://www.classiques-garnier.com/

    De Gruyter Mouton
        http://www.degruyter.com/

    Edinburgh University Press
        http://www.euppublishing.com

    Elsevier Ltd
        http://www.elsevier.com/

    Equinox Publishing Ltd
        http://www.equinoxpub.com/

    European Language Resources Association (ELRA)
        http://www.elra.info/

    Georgetown University Press
        http://www.press.georgetown.edu/

    John Benjamins
        http://www.benjamins.com/

    Lincom GmbH
        http://www.lincom-shop.eu/

    MIT Press
        http://mitpress.mit.edu/

    Multilingual Matters
        http://www.multilingual-matters.com/

    Narr Francke Attempto Verlag GmbH + Co. KG
        http://www.narr.de/

    Oxford University Press
        oup.com/us

    Palgrave Macmillan
        http://www.palgrave.com/

    Peter Lang AG
        http://www.peterlang.com/

    Rodopi
        http://www.rodopi.nl/

    Routledge (Taylor and Francis)
        http://www.routledge.com/

    Springer
        http://www.springer.com/

    University of Toronto Press
        http://www.utpjournals.com/

    Wiley-Blackwell
        http://www.wiley.com/

OTHER SUPPORTING PUBLISHERS

    Association of Editors of the Journal of Portuguese Linguistics
        http://www.fl.ul.pt/revistas/JPL/JPLweb.htm

    International Pragmatics Assoc.
        http://ipra.ua.ac.be/

    Linguistic Association of Finland
        http://www.ling.helsinki.fi/sky/

    Morgan & Claypool Publishers
        http://www.morganclaypool.com/

    Netherlands Graduate School of Linguistics / Landelijke (LOT)
        http://www.lotpublications.nl/

    Seoul National University
        http://j-cs.org/index/index.php

    SIL International Publications
        http://www.sil.org/resources/publications

    Universitat Jaume I
        http://www.uji.es/CA/publ/

    University of Nebraska Press
        http://www.nebraskapress.unl.edu/

    Utrecht institute of Linguistics
        http://www-uilots.let.uu.nl/

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

*****************    LINGUIST List Support    *****************
Please support the LL editors and operation with a donation at:
            http://funddrive.linguistlist.org/donate/

----------------------------------------------------------
LINGUIST List: Vol-28-3631	
----------------------------------------------------------