https://lling.univ-nantes.fr/medias/photo/image-seminaire-synsem-last_1634558540342-JPG
  • Le 14 février 2025 de 14:30 à 16:30
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Fang Wang (Nantes) - Cognitive basis for word order universals: two case studies

Despite their striking diversity, human languages exhibit many typological tendencies (statistical universals). Explanations for the origin of typological tendencies vary. For example, some argue that cognitive factors play a role, while others argue that they are largely driven by accidents of history or language change. In this talk, I will present two series of artificial language learning experiments testing the cognitive basis for two word order tendencies: cross-category harmony and word order of numeral classifiers. Our results suggest that cognition plays different role in shaping these two tendencies. Specifically, in the first case, we observed a consistent learning bias, suggesting that the tendency is at least partly shaped by the feature of human cognitive systems. However, in the second case, we consistently observed a huge disparity between language learning and typology, suggesting that this tendency is more likely to be results of cognitive-external factors.

Lien Zoom:
https://univ-nantes-fr.zoom.us/j/84256472564
Mis à jour le 10 février 2025.
https://lling.univ-nantes.fr/fr/agenda-lling/seminaire-synsem-140