learnable and unlearnable languages kees hengeveld
TRANSCRIPT
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Learnable and unlearnable languages
Kees Hengeveld
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Introduction
• Can a typologist contribute to the Learnability discussion?
• Can we distinguish between learnable and unlearnable languages?
• A methodological problem: unlearnable languages have not been attested
• The alternative: determining degrees of learnability
• The implication: some languages are harder/easier to learn than others
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Introduction
• Transparency as a crucial factor in language acquisition
• Implicational relations between degrees of transparency can be uncovered through typological research
• The resulting hierarchy helps to identify the most opaque/transparent features of language
• and to identify the most opaque/ transparent language systems
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Contents
1. Transparency2. Defining Transparency in FDG3. Typology 4. Typology and acquisition5. Implications for other fields of language
study6. Conclusions
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1. Transparency
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Transparency
Turkishel-ler-im-dehand-PL-1.SG.POSS-LOC
‘in my hands’
Mastered before the age of two
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Transparency
Dutchde balDEF.COMM ball(COMM)
het paardDEF.NEUT horse(NEUT)
Not completely mastered at the age of seven
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Transparency: overgeneralization
Dutchik koop-te < ik kochtI buy-PST.SG I buy.PST.SG
‘I bought’
Turkishovergeneralization impossible
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Transparency ≠ simplicity
TurkishKoş-uş-tur-ul-a-ma-dı-y-sa-lar.run-RECIPR-CAUS-PASS-ABIL-NEG-PST.VIS-y-COND-PL
‘If they haven’t been made available for our service.’
Dutchverbal system with tense, number, person
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Transparency: EsperantoDesign feature of Esperanto
EsperantoLa uson-a prezid-ant-o Bush pretend-is, ke
Irako […]DEF USA-adj preside-PRES.PRTC-N Bush pretend-PST that
Iraq‘The US president Bush pretended that Iraq […]’
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2. Defining transparency in FDG
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Frames, Lexemes, Primary operators
Templates,Auxiliaries, Secondary operators
Interpersonal Level
Representational Level
Formulation
Morphosyntactic Encoding
Morphosyntactic Level
Phonological Encoding
Phonological Level
Prosodic patterns,Morphemes, Tertiary operators
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Interpersonal Level
(π M1: [ Move
(π A1: [ Discourse Act
(π F1) Illocution
(π P1)S Speaker
(π P2)A Addressee
(π C1: [ Communicated Content
(π T1)Φ Ascriptive Subact
(π R1)Φ Referential Subact
] (C1)Φ Communicated Content
] (A1)Φ Discourse Act
] (M1)) Move
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Representational Level
(π p1: Propositional Content
(π ep1: Episode
(π e1: State-of-Affairs
[(π f1: [ Configurational Property
(π f1) Lexical Property
(π x1)Φ Individual
] (f1)) Configurational Property
(e1)Φ]) State-of-Affairs
(ep1)) Episode
(p1)) Propositional Content
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Morphosyntactic Level
(Le1: Linguistic Expression
(Cl1: Clause
(Xp1 : Phrase
(Xw1 : Word
(Xs1) Stem
(Aff1) Affix
(Xw1)) Word
(Xp1)) Phrase
(Cl1)) Clause
(Le1)) Linguistic Expression
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Phonological Level
(π U1: Utterance
(π IP1: Intonational Phrase
(π PP1: Phonological Phrase
(π PW1: Phonological Word
(π F1: Foot
(π S1) Syllable
(F1)) Foot
(PW1)) Phonological Word
(PP1)) Phonological Phrase
(IP1)N Intonational Phrase
(U1)) Utterance
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Frames, Lexemes, Primary operators
Templates,Auxiliaries, Secondary operators
Interpersonal Level
Representational Level
Formulation
Morphosyntactic Encoding
Morphosyntactic Level
Phonological Encoding
Phonological Level
Prosodic patterns,Morphemes, Tertiary operators
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Relations between Levels
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Interpersonal Level
Representational Level
Morphosyntactic Level
Phonological Level
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Relations between Levels
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Interpersonal Level
Representational Level
Morphosyntactic Level
Phonological Level
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Relations between Levels
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Interpersonal Level
Representational Level
Morphosyntactic Level
Phonological Level
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Relations between Levels
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Interpersonal Level
Representational Level
Morphosyntactic Level
Phonological Level
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Relations within Levels
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Interpersonal Level
Representational Level
Morphosyntactic Level: Form X → Form Y
Phonological Level
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Relations within Levels
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Interpersonal Level
Representational Level
Morphosyntactic Level
Phonological Level: Form X → Form Y
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Relations between and within Levels
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Interpersonal Level
Representational Level
Morphosyntactic Level: Form X → Form Y
Phonological Level: Form X → Form Y
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Interpersonal - Representational
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Interpersonal Level
Representational Level
Morphosyntactic Level
Phonological Level
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No appositionOne Interpersonal unit should map onto one representational unit
Sri Lankan MalayMrSebastian aada, se aada kitham duuva arà-oomong.MrSebastian exist 1.SGexist 1.PL two NON.PAST-
speak‘You are here, I am here, the two of us are talking.’
ChickasawAboha anõ’k-akõ Dan ib-aa-binni’li-li-tok.house in-CONTR.NONSUBJ Dan COM-LOC-sit-1.SG.A-PST‘I sat with Dan in the house.’
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Predication
No limitations on which semantic units can be chosen as predicates
Kharia Lebu ɖel=ki.man come=M.PST‘The man came.’
Bhagwan lebu=ki ro ɖel=ki.God man=m.pst and come=m.pst‘God became man [=Jesus] and came [to earth].’
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Interpersonal/Representational - Morphosyntactic
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Interpersonal Level
Representational Level
Morphosyntactic Level
Phonological Level
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No grammatical relations
Pragmatic/semantic alignment system
AcehneseLȏn teungöh=lȏn=jak.1 M=1.A=go‘I am going.’
Gopnyan galak=geuh that.3.POL happy=3.POL.U very‘He is very happy.’
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No discontinuity
Pragmatic/semantic units map onto a single morphosyntactic unit
EnglishThe guy who is going to fix my lock has arrived.The guy has arrived who is going to fix my lock.
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Function marking not sensitive to nature of input
Phrase rather than head marking
Namaǁ’iip ke ‘áop=à kè ǂaí.3.SG.M DECL man=ACC REM.PAST call‘He called the man.’
Siíkxm ke kè ǁnàú ǁ’iíp kò !úu !xáis=à .
1.PL.M.DU DECL REM.PAST hear 3.SG.M REC.PAST goCOMP=ACC
‘We heard that he had just left.’
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Interpersonal/Representational/Morphosyntactic - Phonological
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Interpersonal Level
Representational Level
Morphosyntactic Level
Phonological Level
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Phonological and morphosyntactic phrasing run parallel
Acehnese[Ureueng='nyan] [ka=geu=jak='woe] [ba'roe]person=DEM INCH=3=go=return yesterday‘That person returned yesterday.’
Dutch[Ik] [[wou] [dat [hij] [kwam]]].['kʋɑu] ['dɑti] ['kʋɑm]I want.PST COMPhe come.PST‘I wish he would come.’
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Phonological Phonological weight does not influence position
SpanishLo=ví.3.SG.ACC=see.PRF.PST.IND.3.SG‘I saw him.’
Ví a tu vecino.see.PRF.PST.IND.3.SG OBJ 2.SG.POSS neighbour‘I saw you neighbour.’
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Within the Morphosyntactic Level
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Interpersonal Level
Representational Level
Morphosyntactic Level: Form X → Form Y
Phonological Level
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No expletive elements
Tagalog
Marami-ng pera.lot-LNK money‘There is a lot of money.’“A lot of money”
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No tense copyingAmele Naus uqa ege [qila bele-q-an fo=ec] sisil-t-en.Naus he I today go-1.PL-FUT Q=NMLZ ask-1.SG/3.SG-
REM.PST‘Naus asked me whether we would go today.’
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No grammatical gender, declination, conjugation
Spanish casa ‘house’ is arbitrarily assigned to the class of feminine nounsárbol ‘tree’ is arbitrarily assigned to the class of masculine nouns
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No agreementSpanish la-ø casa-ø viej-a-øDEF.F-SG house(F)-SG old-F-SG‘the old house’
el árbol-ø viej-o-øDEF.M.SG tree(M)-SG old-M-SG‘the old tree’
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No fusional morphology
No stem alternationWambonen- ande- na-eat(basic stem) eat(PAST/FUT/IMP.PL stem) eat(IMP.SG stem)
No cumulationSpanishcompr-é.buy-IND.PAST.PF.1.SG‘(I) bought.’
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No phonological adaptation
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Interpersonal Level
Representational Level
Morphosyntactic Level
Phonological Level: Form X → Form Y
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No phonological adaptation
Quechua nasal assimilation:tayta-n=paq ‘father-3.POSS=PURP’ ‘for his father’ -> taytampaq
Spanish diphtongization: dormir ‘sleep’ duerme ‘sleeps’
Dutch degemination:pakkans ‘chance to be caught’ -> pakans
Turkish vowel harmony:gel-miș ‘come-RES’ gör-müș ‘see-RES’
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3. Typology
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Sample
Diu Indo-Portuguese (Leufkens 2010)DutchEsperanto (Jansen fc.)Kharia (Leufkens fc.)Pichi (Leufkens 2010)Quechua (Grández Ávila fc.)Sri Lankan Malay (Nordhoff fc.)
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Transparent feature DIP Dutch Kharia Pichi Que-chua
SLM
No apposition - - - - - -All semantic units used as predicates
- - + - - -
No grammatical relations + - + + - +No discontinuity - - + - - +No sensitivity for nature of input
- - + - - +
Parrallel phonological and morphosyntactic phrasing
+ - + - - +
No influence of ph. weight - - + - - -No expletive elements - - + - - +No tense copying + - + + + +No grammatical gender + - + + + +No agreement + - + + + +No stem alternation - - + - - +No cumulation - - - - - -No phonological adaptation - - - - - -
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Transparent feature Dutch Que-chua
Pichi DIP SLM Kharia
No apposition - - - - - -All semantic units used as predicates
- - - - - +
No grammatical relations - - + + + +No discontinuity - - - - + +No sensitivity for nature of input
- - - - + +
Parrallel phonological and morphosyntactic phrasing
- - - + + +
No influence of ph. weight - - - - - +No expletive elements - - - - + +No tense copying - + + + + +No grammatical gender - + + + + +No agreement - + + + + +No stem alternation - - - - + +No cumulation - - - - - -No phonological adaptation - - - - - -
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Transparent feature Dutch Que-chua
Pichi DIP SLM Kharia
No tense copying - + + + + +No grammatical gender - + + + + +No agreement - + + + + +No grammatical relations - - + + + +Parrallel phonological and morphosyntactic phrasing
- - - + + +
No expletive elements - - - - + +No sensitivity for nature of input
- - - - + +
No discontinuity - - - - + +No stem alternation - - - - + +All semantic units used as predicates
- - - - - +
No influence of phon. weight - - - - - +No phonological adaptation - - - - - -No apposition - - - - - -No cumulation - - - - - -
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Transparent feature Dutch Que-chua
Pichi DIP SLM Kharia
No tense copying - + + + + +No grammatical gender - + + + + +No agreement - + + + + +No grammatical relations - - + + + +Parrallel phonological and morphosyntactic phrasing
- - - + + +
No expletive elements - - - - + +No sensitivity for nature of input
- - - - + +
No discontinuity - - - - + +No stem alternation - - - - + +All semantic units used as predicates
- - - - - +
No influence of phon. weight - - - - - +No phonological adaptation - - - - - -No apposition - - - - - -No cumulation - - - - - -
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Two scales
• Learnable/unlearnable languages• Learnable/unlearnable features
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Transparent feature Dutch Que-chua
Pichi DIP SLM Kharia
No tense copying - + + + + +No grammatical gender - + + + + +No agreement - + + + + +No grammatical relations - - + + + +Parrallel phonological and morphosyntactic phrasing
- - - + + +
No expletive elements - - - - + +No sensitivity for nature of input
- - - - + +
No discontinuity - - - - + +No stem alternation - - - - + +All semantic units used as predicates
- - - - - +
No influence of phon. weight - - - - - +No phonological adaptation - - - - - -No apposition - - - - - -No cumulation - - - - - -
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Unlearnable non-transparent features
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Interpersonal Level
Representational Level
Morphosyntactic Level: Form X → Form Y
Phonological Level
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Learnable non-transparent features
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Interpersonal Level
Representational Level
Morphosyntactic Level
Phonological Level: Form X → Form Y
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The learnability of Esperanto
• Phonology and morphology are extremely learnable
• Syntax is not
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Transparent feature Dutch Que-chua
Pichi DIP SLM Kharia Espe-ranto
No tense copying - + + + + + +No grammatical gender - + + + + + +No agreement - + + + + + -No grammatical relations - - + + + + -Parrallel phonological and morpho syntactic phrasing
- - - + + + +
No expletive elements - - - - + + -No sensitivity for nature of input
- - - - + + +
No discontinuity - - - - + + +No stem alternation - - - - + + +All semantic units used as predicates
- - - - - + +
No influence of phon. weight - - - - - + -
No phonological adaptation - - - - - - +No apposition - - - - - - -No cumulation - - - - - - +
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4. Typology and acquisition
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Transparent feature Dutch Que-chua
Pichi DIP SLM Kharia
No tense copying — + + + + +No grammatical gender — + + + + +No agreement — + + + + +No grammatical relations - - + + + +Parrallel phonological and morphosyntactic phrasing
- - - + + +
No expletive elements - - - - + +No sensitivity for nature of input
- - - - + +
No discontinuity - - - - + +No stem alternation - - - - + +All semantic units used as predicates
- - - - - +
No influence of phon. weight - - - - - +No phonological adaptation - - - - - -No apposition - - - - - -No cumulation - - - - - -
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Tense copyingHij vroeg of ik ziek was.he ask.PAST.SG whether I ill COP.PAST.SG‘He asked whether I was ill.’
Ambiguity in acquisition:He asked: “Are you ill?”.He asked: “Were you ill?”.
JapaneseTaroo=wa Hanako=ga byookidat-ta=to it-taTaroo=TOP Hanako=NOM be.sick.PAST=COMP say-PAST‘Taroo said that Hanako had been sick.’
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Tense copying
Hollebrandse (1999)
The correct interpretation of the tense-copied form takes at least until 7
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Gender and agreementhet ding de jongenDEF thing(NEUT) DEF boy(COMM)‘the thing’ ‘the boy’
een klein-Ø dingINDEF small-NEUT thing(NEUT)‘a small thing’
een klein-e jongenINDEF small-COMM boy(COMM)‘a small boy’
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Gender and agreement
Blom, Polišenská & Weerman (2008)
The acquisition of the gender/agreement system takes at least until 7
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Transparent feature Dutch Que-chua
Pichi DIP SLM Kharia
No tense copying - + + + + +No grammatical gender - + + + + +No agreement - + + + + +No grammatical relations - - + + + +Parrallel phonological and morphosyntactic phrasing
- - - + + +
No expletive elements - - - - + +No sensitivity for nature of input
- - - - + +
No discontinuity - - - - + +No stem alternation - - - - + +All semantic units used as predicates
- - - - - +
No influence of phon. weight - - - - - +No phonological adaptation - - - - - —No apposition - - - - - —No cumulation - - - - - —
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5. Implications for other fields of language study
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Implications
• Why are there so few transparent languages, while they seem to be the most easily learnable ones?
• Time depth seems to enhance opaqueness.• Among the limited set of examples of
transparent languages, creole languages arewell represented
• And so are (young) sign languages
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Implications
• Intensive contact seems to favour transparency ...
• ... which brings in the perspective of second language acquisition
• All of this, in turn, is relevant for the theoretical debate about the autonomy of grammar
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6. Conclusions
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Conclusions
• An important parameter in determining the degree of learnability of a language is its degree of transparency
• Degrees of transparency can be established on the basis of typological research, given a formal definition of transparent features
• These degrees of transparency determine ease of first language acquisition
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Conclusions
• Typological research thus contributes to learnability research ...
• .. and has a spin-off in other domains of linguistic research, especially research into language contact and second language acquisition, and the emergence of new (sign) languages
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this presentation is accessible athome.hum.uva.nl/oz/hengeveldp