Joan Bybee University of New Mexico Shana Poplack University of

A VARIATIONIST PERSPECTIVE ON PRIMING
LSA 2005
Joan Bybee
University of New Mexico
Shana Poplack
University of Ottawa
INHERENT VARIABILITY
(1)
(4) Three independent variable rule analyses of the contribution of factors
selected as significant to the probability of NEGATIVE CONCORD
WITH INDEFINITES in African Nova Scotian English (ANSE),
Samaná English (SE) and the Ex-slave Recordings (ESR).
(from Howe 1995)
ENGLISH FUTURE TEMPORAL REFERENCE
a.
I think it’s gonna get worse before it’ll get better
(OTT/117/224B/17-20)1
Total N:
Corrected mean:
b. You’re going to hell! (GYE/040/1478)
c.
TYPE OF INDEFINITE
Any/no pronouns
Ever/never either/neither
Common noun
Range
PRIMING
Negative concord precedes
No negative concord precedes
Range
Next week you eat the blueberries. (GYE/045/275)
VARIABLE NEGATIVE CONCORD WITH INDEFINITES WITHIN THE
SAME CLAUSE IN EARLY AFRICAN AMERICAN ENGLISH
(2)
a.
(3)
(5)
I ain’t never wore none. (ESR/012/270)
SE
ESR
689
.86
322
.68
208
.78
.75
.27
.32
.89
.48
.16
.79
.39
.30
48
.61
.13
73
.59
.29
48
49
.64
.20
30
44
Logistic regression model incorporated in variable rule analysis
(Rand & Sankoff 1990)
p
mean
factor effect where p is the occurrence rate of
=
#
1" p 1" mean 1" factor effect
FACTORS CONSIDERED IN THE ANALYSIS:
Type of indefinite
Type of negative element
Location of indefinite
Priming
the variant.
p
!
Codes refer to speaker number and address of utterance in corpus.
.86
.61
For ANSE, 1" p = 1" .86 # 1" .61 $ p = 0.91 (neg-concord priming
neg concord),
p
.14
.87
#
$ p = 0.53 (no neg-concord priming no neg!=
1" p 1" .14 1" .87
concord)
1
ANSE
But you fellas ain’t putting nothing down. (ANSE/030/117)
b. He didn’t use no kind of bad words before me. (SE/006/1759)
c.
January 6th, 2005
!
LSA05
BYBEE & POPLACK 2
VARIABLE PLURAL MARKING IN PUERTO RICAN SPANISH
(6)
Tienen mucho(s) juego(s) de eso(s) pintado(s) en el suelo
diferente(s). (PRS/CT/80)
‘They have a lot of different games like that painted on the floor’.
(7)
FACTORS CONSIDERED IN THE ANALYSIS:
Grammatical category of host
Nature of following phonological environment
Stress on following syllable
Presence and nature of disambiguating information in the
utterance
Priming (sequence of preceding marks)
(8)
a.
Los ojos ‘the eyes’
b.
un sojo
[losóho]
(9) Variable rule analysis of the contribution of factors selected as
significant to the probability that plural (s) will surface as Ø in Puerto
Rican Spanish (from Poplack 1980)
Total N:
Corrected mean:
PRIMING BY PRECEDING MARK(S)
ØØ
SØ
Ø
S
ØS, SS
Range
GRAMMATICAL CATEGORY
Adjective
Noun
Determiner
Range
OTHER DISAMBIGUATING INFO
Morphological outside NP
Morphological & non
Non- morphological
Morphological within NP
Range
FOLLOWING PHONOLOGICAL ENVIRONMENT
Pause
Consonant
Vowel
Range
STRESS ON FOLLOWING SYLLABLE
Weak
Heavy
Range
8566
.78
.76
.56
.55
.39
.39
43
.63
.61
.28
35
.59
.58
.55
.29
30
0.61
0.51
0.38
23
0.55
0.45
10
LSA05
BYBEE & POPLACK 3
VARIABLE MOOD CHOICE UNDER SUBJUNCTIVE-SELECTING
MATRICES IN FRENCH
(13) Variable rule analysis of the contribution of factors selected as
significant to the choice of SUBJUNCTIVE in embedded clauses
governed by verbs other than falloir (from Poplack 1992).
2694
Total N:
(10)
a.
Faut je lui dis (IND) c’est vrai. Faut je lui dise (SUBJ)
c’est la vérité. (OH/064/356/369)
‘I have to tell him it’s true. I have to tell him it’s the truth.’
b.
Faut au moins que je serais (COND) bien obligée.
(OH/067/78)
‘At least I’d have to be really forced.’
(11)
FACTORS CONSIDERED IN THE ANALYSIS:
Indicators of non-factual modality
Structure of matrix clause
“Semantic” class of matrix verb
Overtness of complementizer que
Distance between matrix and embedded verb
Lexical identity
Token frequency
Type frequency
Conjugation class
Priming
(12)
a.
b.
J’aimerais (COND) ça que le Bon Dieu viendrait (COND)
me chercher. (OH/040/2559)
for
J’aimerais (COND) ça que le Bon Dieu vienne (SUBJ) me
chercher.
‘I would like it if the Good Lord would come and get me’.
Corrected mean:
LEXICAL IDENTITY OF MATRIX
Vouloir
Aimer
Penser neg.
Range
PRIMING BY TENSE OF MATRIX VERB
Imperfect
Present
Passé composé
Periphrastic Future
Conditional
Range
MORPHOLOGICAL FORM/ FREQUENCY OF EMBEDDED VERB
Suppletive/frequent
Regular/rare
Range
PRESENCE OF QUE COMPLEMENTIZER
Overt
Absent
Range
.53
.77
.66
.09
68
.65
.51
.42
.38
.25
40
.56
.36
20
.52
.47
5
VARIABLE EXPRESSION OF FUTURE TEMPORAL REFERENCE IN
FRENCH
(14)
a.
Il va dire (PF), “bien demain,... tu vas aller (PF) au Bingo, tu
vas gagner (PF)”. (OH/065/2301)
‘ He’s going to say, “well tomorrow,... you’re going to go to
Bingo and you’re going to win.”’’
b.
Moi, j’ai dit, "laisse faire, on ira (SF) à messe demain matin".
(OH/070/686)
‘I said, "forget it, we’ll go to Mass tomorrow morning".’
LSA05
c.
BYBEE & POPLACK 4
Il dit, "je vas (P) demain matin chez vous". (OH/119/861)
(17)
FACTORS CONSIDERED IN THE ANALYSIS:
He says, "I’m going to your house tomorrow morning".’
(15)
a.
Contingency
Temporal distance
Imminence
Polarity
Stativity
Person and number of subject
Adverbial specification
Lexical identity
Token frequency
Type frequency
Conjugation class
Priming
Tu vas la barrer (PF) puis tu vas la débarrer (PF), puis tu vas
la rebarrer (PF), puis tu t’apercevra (SF) pas qu’elle était
debarré! (RFQ/021/1256)
‘You’re going to lock it, and you’re going to unlock it, and
you’re going to relock it, and you won’t notice that it was
already unlocked!’
(16) Variable rule analysis of the contribution of factors selected as
significant to the probability of variant choice in French future temporal
reference contexts (from Poplack & Turpin 1999)
Corrected mean:
Total N
VARIABLE PAST TIME MARKING IN NIGERIAN PIDGIN ENGLISH
SYNTHETIC
PERIPHRASTIC
FUTURE
FUTURE
.15
725
.73
2627
.99
.36
.01
.65
(18)
a.
[kom]
We kom drink am with everything wey he give us.
(04/256)
‘We drank it with everything he gave us.’
b.
[don]
He don dai ee (1/013)
‘He has died.’
64
c.
[de]
I de waka for north, left, right and center. (3/103)
‘I was walking about in the North left, right and
center.’
37
d.
[bin]
I bin originally kom from England. (01/7-8)
‘I originally came from England.’
.29
e.
[finish]
I fall finish (2/152)
‘I fell.’
f.
[Ø]
Immediately they de see the demonstrators, they
shoot (0/270)
‘As soon they saw the demonstrators, they shot.’
POLARITY
Negative
Affirmative
Range
TYPE OF ADVERBIAL SPECIFICATION
Non-specific
No adverbial
Specific
Range
SPEECH STYLE
Formal
Less formal
Range
63
.85
.47
.37
.19
.56
.23
48
.81
.49
.22
.51
32
LSA05
(19)
BYBEE & POPLACK 5
VARIABLE TENSE CHOICE IN THE PROTASIS OF FRENCH
HYPOTHETICAL SI-COMPLEXES
FACTORS CONSIDERED IN THE ANALYSIS:
Temporal relationship
Temporal distance
Stativity
Temporal disambiguation
Polarity
Priming
(21)
kom
.19
1087
don
.07
485
pro[Si
c’était (IMP) à mon choix], apo[je les enlèverais de là].
(OH/025/657)
‘If it were up to me, I would get them out of there.’
b.
(20) Six independent variable rule analyses of the contribution of factors
selected as significant to the probability of variant choice in NPE past
temporal reference contexts (from Poplack & Tagliamonte 1996).
Corrected mean:
Total N
a.
bin
.004
73
finish
.012
68
de
.07
372
TEMPORAL RELATIONSHIP
Anterior
.20
.76
.90
[ ]
.50
Sequential
.70
.28
.21
[ ]
.40
Non-anterior
.41
.65
.63
[ ]
.64
Range
50
48
69
24
POLARITY
Negative
.14
0
[ ]
0
.38
Affirmative
.53
.50
[ ]
.50
.51
Range
39
13
PRIMING BY PRECEDING MARK
Same mark precedes
.72
.82
.95
.75
Other mark precedes
.45
.49
.48
.46
Zero precedes
.41
.46
.51
.48
Range
31
36
44
19
TEMPORAL ADVERB
Present
.33
.36
.65
.17
.63
Absent
.52
.51
.49
.54
.49
Range
22
15
16
37
14
LEXICAL STATIVITY
[+Stative]
.55
.48
[ ]
.32
.38
[+Punctual]
.48
.51
[ ]
.57
.54
Range
7
3
25
16
TEMPORAL D ISTANCE
[+remote]
[ ]
.44
.58
.46
.54
[-remote]
[ ]
.63
.32
.59
.41
Range
19
26
15
13
Note: Square brackets indicate that the factor group was not selected as significant.
zero
.57
2612
pro[Si
je l’avais pas faite] (PLU) apo[je pourrais pas en parler].
(OH/028/1514)
‘If I hadn’t done it, I wouldn’t be able to talk about it.’
(22)
.55
.47
.51
a.
pro[Si
je serais (COND) une fille moi], apo[je resterais jamais
avec.] (OH/081/1248)
‘If I would be a girl, I would never live with him.’
b.
8
.86
.47
39
.59
.49
10
[ ]
[ ]
.51
.47
4
j’aurais resté (PAST COND) au couvent, et pro [j’aurais
fini] (PAST COND), apo[je serais (COND) véterinaire
aujourd’hui (OH/015/5).
[If I would have stayed in the convent, and [I would have
finished], [I would be a veterinarian today].’
.60
.40
20
pro [Si
(23)
Distribution of the conditional variant by age
LSA05
(24)
BYBEE & POPLACK 6
(27) Variable rule analysis of the contribution of factors selected as
significant to the choice of CONDITIONAL morphology in the protases
of hypothetical si- complexes (from Leblanc & Poplack 1999)
FACTORS CONSIDERED IN THE ANALYSIS:
Semantic reading
Polarity of protasis and apodosis
Person of subject (protasis)
Embedding of conditional complex
Linear order of protasis and apodosis
Distance between protasis and apodosis
Lexical identity
Token frequency
Type frequency
Conjugation class
Priming
Total N:
Corrected mean:
SEMANTIC R EADING
Potential
Counterfactual
Range:
(28)
1406
.53
.57
.45
12
Priming rates and overall rates of variants
Imperfect/Pluperfect
Conditional (past and present)
(25) Priming in conjoined protases (from Leblanc 1999)
Protasis I
Protasis II
Conditional (present and past)
Imperfect and pluperfect
%
N
%
N
Present Conditional
83%
69
17%
14
Past Conditional
73%
16
27%
6
Imperfect Indicative
26%
11
74%
32
Pluperfect Indicative
27%
3
73%
8
Others
13%
1
87%
7
(26)
a.
pro 1[Si
j’avais (IMP) des jeunes], pis
pro 2[fallait (IMP) je travaille là],
apo[je pense que ça l’arriverait (COND).] (OH/114/1334)
‘pro 1[If I had kids], and
pro 2[I had to work],
apo[I think that that would happen].’
b.
pro 1[Si
j’aurais resté (PAST COND) au couvent, et
[j’aurais
fini] (PAST COND),
pro 2
apo[je serais (COND) véterinaire aujourd’hui (OH/015/5).
‘pro 1[If
I would have stayed in the convent, and
pro 2 [I would have finished], apo[I’d be a veterinarian today].’
REFERENCES:
Bybee, J. 2001. Phonology and language use. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Howe, D. 1995. Negation in Early African American English. M.A. thesis, University of Ottawa.
LeBlanc, C.L. 1999. Du conditionnel dans les propositions hypothétiques en si: cet intrus. M.A.
thesis, University of Ottawa.
LeBlanc, C.L., and Poplack, S. 1999a."Conditions on conditional usage in French hypothetical siclauses". Paper read at LSRL 29.
Poplack, S. 1980. Deletion and disambiguation in Puerto Rican bilinguals. Language 56 (2): 371-385
Poplack, S., and Turpin, D. 1999. "Does the FUTUR have a future in (Canadian) French?". Probus
11: 133-164.
Poplack, S. & Tagliamonte, S. 1996. Nothing in context: variation, grammaticization and past time
marking in Nigerian Pidgin English. Changing meanings, changing functions, ed. by P. Baker &
A. Syea, 71-94. Westminster, UK: University Press.
Poplack, S. 1992. The inherent variability of the French subjunctive. Theoretical analyses in romance
linguistics, ed. by C. Laeufer & T. Morgan, 235-263. Amsterdam: Benjamins.
Rand, D. and Sankoff, D. 1990. GoldVarb. A variable rule application for the Macintosh. Centre de
recherches mathématiques, Université de Montréal, Montreal, Canada.
Sankoff, D. (1988). Variable rules. In U. Ammon, N. Dittmar & K. J. Mattheier (Ed.),
Sociolinguistics: An international handbook of the science of language and society. Berlin: Walter
de Gruyter. 140-161.