<OT> New Posting: ROA-720

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ROA 720-0305

Predicting the Dative Alternation

Joan Bresnan <bresnan at stanford.edu>

Direct link: http://roa.rutgers.edu/view.php3?roa=720


Abstract:
In this essay on the dative alternation we show that linguistic
data are more probabilistic than has been recognized in theoretical
syntax and that persistent questions about corpus syntactic studies
of usage data can be addressed empirically by using modern statistical
theory and modeling strategies.  We develop a probabilistic model
that can predict the choice of dative structures in spontaneous telephone
conversations with 94% accuracy.  We use the model to show
that along with formal syntactic and semantic properties, animacy and
discourse accessibility have an irreducible effect on dative syntax across
written and spoken modalities, across verb senses, and across
speakers, in the familiar pattern of harmonic alignment.


Comments: co-authored by Joan Bresnan, Anna Cueni, Tatiana Nikitina, R. Harald Baayen
Keywords: dative, usage, syntax, corpus, animacy, discourse, harmonic alignment, probabilistic grammar
Areas: Syntax
Type: Manuscript

Direct link: http://roa.rutgers.edu/view.php3?roa=720