Speakers’ knowledge of alternations is asymmetrical: Evidence from Seoul Korean verb paradigms
Name
speakers_knowledge_of_alternations_is_asymmetrical_evidence_from_seoul_korean_verb_paradigms_1.pdf
Size
354.28 KB
Format
Adobe PDF
Checksum (MD5)
ef398cb809f52324fdbf6fe707a7d551
Author(s)
Jun, Jongho
Albright, Adam
Date Issued
September 2016
Journal
Journal of Linguistics
Publisher
Cambridge University Press (CUP)
Citation
Jun, Jongho, and Adam Albright. “Speakers’ Knowledge of Alternations Is Asymmetrical: Evidence from Seoul Korean Verb Paradigms.” Journal of Linguistics, vol. 53, no. 03, Aug. 2017, pp. 567–611. © 2016 Cambridge University Press
Version
Final published version
Abstract
This paper investigates whether and how speakers track the relative frequency of different patterns of alternation in the lexicon, by investigating speakers' behavior when they are faced with unpredictability in allomorph selection. We conducted a wug test on Seoul Korean verb paradigms, testing whether speakers can generalize reliable lexical patterns. The test was performed in two directions. In forward formation test, the pre-vocalic base and pre-consonantal non-base forms were the stimulus and response, respectively, whereas in backward formation test, the stimulus-response relation was switched. The results show patterns approximating statistical patterns in Seoul Korean verb lexicon, thus confirming the lexical frequency matching reported in many previous studies. However, contrary to the conventional assumption, the results of the backward formation test are consistent with lexical frequencies relevant for the forward formation, not backward formation. This observed asymmetry is broadly consistent with the single base hypothesis (Albright 2002a, b, 2005, 2008), in which forward, as opposed to backward formation rules play a privileged role in speakers' morphological grammar. KEYWORDS: allomorph selection, alternation, Seoul Korean, single base hypothesis, wug
test
MIT Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Linguistics and Philosophy
Terms of Use
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
Persistent DSpace Link
DOI of Published Version
https://doi.org/10.1017/S0022226716000293
