Scale in Language

Autor/in	Enfield, N. J.
Titel	Scale in Language
Quelle	In: Cognitive Science, 47 (2023) 10, (51 Seiten) PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	0364-0213
DOI	10.1111/cogs.13341
Schlagwörter	Psycholinguistics; Guidelines; Interdisciplinary Approach; Language Research; Phonemes; Word Frequency; Computational Linguistics; Native Speakers; Language Classification; Social Networks; Grammar; Morphology (Languages); Syntax; Second Languages; Contrastive Linguistics; Linguistic Theory; Cognitive Science + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Psycholinguistik; Richtlinien; Fächerübergreifender Unterricht; Fächerverbindender Unterricht; Interdisziplinarität; Sprachforschung; Fonem; Word analysis; Frequency; Wortanalyse; Häufigkeit; Linguistics; Computerlinguistik; Muttersprachler; Sprachtypologie; Social network; Soziales Netzwerk; Grammatik; Morphology; Morphologie; Second language; Zweitsprache; Kontrastive Linguistik; Linguistische Theorie; Kognitionswissenschaft
Abstract	A central concern of the cognitive science of language since its origins has been the concept of the linguistic system. Recent approaches to the system concept in language point to the exceedingly complex relations that hold between many kinds of interdependent systems, but it can be difficult to know how to proceed when "everything is connected." This paper offers a framework for tackling that challenge by identifying scale as a conceptual mooring for the interdisciplinary study of language systems. The paper begins by defining the scale concept--simply, the possibility for a measure to be larger or smaller in different instances of a system, such as a phonemic inventory, a word's frequency value in a corpus, or a speaker population. We review sites of scale difference in and across linguistic subsystems, drawing on findings from linguistic typology, grammatical description, morphosyntactic theory, psycholinguistics, computational corpus work, and social network demography. We consider possible explanations for scaling differences and constraints in language. We then turn to the question of dependencies between sites of scale difference in language, reviewing four sample domains of scale dependency: in phonological systems, across levels of grammatical structure (Menzerath's Law), in corpora (Zipf's Law and related issues), and in speaker population size. Finally, we consider the implications of the review, including the utility of a scale framework for generating new questions and inspiring methodological innovations and interdisciplinary collaborations in cognitive-scientific research on language. (As Provided).
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Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2024/1/01