Produc'vity and schema'city of the wayconstruc'on

Transcription

1 Produc'vity and schema'city of the wayconstruc'on in Late Modern English Florent Perek University of Birmingham 1

2 Diachronic construc'on grammar Language change consists either of construc'onaliza'on or construc'onal change (TraugoB & Trousdale 2013) Three aspects of construc'onal change: Composi'onality: how seman'cally transparent a construc'on is Produc'vity: the range of lexical items that may occur in it Schema'city: the level of detail (esp. seman'c) with which the construc'on is stored; defines restric'ons on use This talk focuses on how the last two can be characterized from corpus data 2

3 Produc'vity and schema'city Produc'vity can be observed in corpus data; what about schema'city? The two are commonly thought to be interrelated More schema'c construc'ons have more schema'c slots: fewer constraints on the lexical items that can be used Conversely, the occurrence of more diverse items makes a slot more schema'c 3

4 Produc'vity and schema'city By no means a one-to-one rela'on Compa'bility of an item with a schema does not mean that it will necessarily be abested Conversely, new coinages can happen outside of a schema, e.g., by analogical extension Schema'city vs. produc'vity ~ licensing vs. coining How to characterize schema'city when only abested types are observable? 4

5 Case study: the way-construc'on Verb one s way PP, e.g., He pushed his way through the crowd Describes mo'on of the subject referent Three senses of the construc'on: Path-crea'on: the verb describes what enables mo'on They hacked their way through the jungle. Manner: the verb describes the manner of mo'on They trudged their way through the snow Incidental-ac'on: the verb refers to some co-occurring ac'on unrelated to mo'on He whistled his way across the room 5

6 The way-construc'on in diachrony Previous research mostly focused on the origins of the construc'on (Israel 1996, TraugoB & Trousdale 2003) LiBle discussion of the recent history of the construc'on (19 th 20 th ) Gramma'cally stable since the 19 th century Good case for the study of syntac'c produc'vity Excep'on: Mondorf (2011) But her focus is on the comparison with the self-resulta've construc'on (e.g., He worked himself to exhaus<on) Only ten verbs, few datapoints 6

7 Data All tokens of V Poss way Prep between 1830 and 2009 extracted from the Corpus of Historical American English (COHA, Davies 2010) Manually filtered, annotated for construc'onal meaning: path-crea'on, manner, incidental-ac'on Quan'ta've measures of produc'vity Token frequency: how oeen the construc'on is used? Type frequency: with how many different verbs? 7

8 Token frequency (per million words) Verb type frequency Tokens per million words path crion manner incidental Types path crion manner incidental Token frequency is rela'vely stable Steady increase in type frequency: the construc'on is used with more and more different verbs 8

9 Type frequency Type frequency reflects the lexical range of a construc'on But it is a purely quan'ta've measure Only indirectly related to seman'c diversity No account of how different items are Ques'ons: What kinds of verbs joined the distribu'on? Did it become more seman'cally diverse? Are there par'cular seman'c domains favored by the construc'on? 9

10 Distribu'onal seman'cs Most studies in DiaCxG draw on seman'c intui'ons This paper takes a different approach: using distribu'onal seman'cs to measure seman'c similarity (Perek 2014, 2016) Words that occur in similar contexts tend to have related meanings (Miller & Charles 1991) You shall know a word by the company it keeps. (Firth 1957: 11) Therefore, a way to characterize the meaning of words is through their distribu'on in large corpora Widely used in computa'onal linguis'cs Benefits: Fully automa'c Data-driven and objec've 10

11 Distribu'onal seman'c model The more frequent collocates are shared by two words, the more similar they will be considered Bag of words approach Extrac'on of lexical collocates of each verb in a 5-word window from a large corpus Each verb is assigned an array of values (= a vector) derived from co-occurrence frequencies High correla'on between vectors is an indica'on of seman'c relatedness 11

12 Distribu'onal seman'c plots Output: pairwise distances between verbs Define a seman'c space that can be plobed for visualiza'on By means of t-distributed Stochas'c Neighbor Embedding algorithm (t-sne) (Van der Maaten & Hinton 2008) Places objects in a 2-dimensional space such that the between-object distances are preserved as well as possible Superior to mul'dimensional scaling (MDS) for dense spaces with many dimensions Distance matrix converted to coordinates for each verb Seman'c domain of the construc'on plobed for four 'me periods: , , , Three senses of the construc'on examined separately 12

13 The path-crea'on sense 13

14 make take think find feel work pay open understand break wear cut lie win pick strike fight sleep force push burn gain press spread tear fit beg burst struggle kick dig smell trace guide crush melt enforce explore shape squeeze conquer explode shove crash pierce smooth carve spell rip steer poke fan track punch grope root screw fumble dispute flap leak wrestle shoulder pave probe gnaw bribe maneuver wedge marshal rend hew burrow fiddle make take think find feel work talk read pay break wear cut lie drive buy build win pick fight shoot sing teach sleep force guess push drink hit burn b gain press plan extendspread dare steal tear worry argue dance beg earn burst bore kick dig purchase smell trace plead bite crush melt taste shape crack squeeze reason shove scratch blaze hug stuff smash lick pierce carve spell rip steer poke blast advertise perfect grope screw battle fumble flap stammer experiment gesture slash forge fret wrestle hack hitch shoulder trick hustle batter pave probe gnaw bribe prick shear bully saw thrash wedge claw scorch simmer jostle scent pilot brew hew paw burrow butt make take think find feel work run live write talk read pay play break wear laugh cut lie drive kill buy spend smile pull win pick fight act shoot sing marry force push drink burn b press blow plan manage kiss steal tear sign argue swing dance dream beg figure wash earn bore kick dig wrap smell trace crowd borrow bite crush melt murder explore tap crack squeeze reason whip clutch shove slam scratch pitch blaze negotiate rattle chew smash analyze carve grind rip pound grip poke flatter ch quarrel blast joke fish punch soak grope root battle mumble drill fumble kid peel compromise sting puff hammer flap brood chatter chop bust slice forge wrestle hack hitch model clip con shoulder snarl cram batter harvest probe nudge digest bellow conspire gnaw bribe finger maneuver bully ruffle tick saw wrest thrash rape scribble wedge bawl nibble claw box grate drum paste foul hew paw burrow etch butt make take think find feel work write talk read pay open grow lead play break wear laugh cut lie kill buy spend smile build pull explain win pick fight agree act shoot sing sleep marry force push settle drink study announce imagine burn b nod gain press deal manage kiss whisper pray tear worry stretch argue dance acquire dream paint figure knock earn struggle arrest bore smoke kick toss dig cling purchase cook aim smell trace grin borrow shrug entertain hunt invest focus melt contemplate taste consume labor squeeze reason trade shiver groan shove slam scratch negotiate spit blink chew hug smash lick wheel smooth carve spell grind rip pound stroke steer will poke flatter ch trim sniff blast sue shatter hook sip rage chat scrape joke punch grope pump click wail flip screw puzzle battle mumble drill charm fumble export peel dust plot hammer sort flap twitch chop pry storm slash slice graze forge coax wrestle hack hitch crumble tickle con scrub shoulder trick brave dial vibrate bargain skate cram batter pave probe nudge slaughter bat bribe gamble seduce finger fund maneuver bully saw thrash wedge wrinkle nibble mop claw tangle navigate jostle seep petition swap pilot improvise sample stomp inflate ram paw burrow seethe key etch butt discipline Clear concrete/abstract divide in the distribu'onal seman'c plot Higher density of verbs describing forceful ac'ons (cut, push, kick,..), especially in earlier periods 14

15 make take think find feel work pay open understand break wear cut lie win pick strike fight sleep force push burn gain press spread tear fit beg burst struggle kick dig smell trace guide crush melt enforce explore shape squeeze conquer explode shove crash pierce smooth carve spell rip steer poke fan track punch grope root screw fumble dispute flap leak wrestle shoulder pave probe gnaw bribe maneuver wedge marshal rend hew burrow fiddle make take think find feel work talk read pay break wear cut lie drive buy build win pick fight shoot sing teach sleep force guess push drink hit burn b gain press plan extendspread dare steal tear worry argue dance beg earn burst bore kick dig purchase smell trace plead bite crush melt taste shape crack squeeze reason shove scratch blaze hug stuff smash lick pierce carve spell rip steer poke blast advertise perfect grope screw battle fumble flap stammer experiment gesture slash forge fret wrestle hack hitch shoulder trick hustle batter pave probe gnaw bribe prick shear bully saw thrash wedge claw scorch simmer jostle scent pilot brew hew paw burrow butt make take think find feel work run live write talk read pay play break wear laugh cut lie drive kill buy spend smile pull win pick fight act shoot sing marry force push drink burn b press blow plan manage kiss steal tear sign argue swing dance dream beg figure wash earn bore kick dig wrap smell trace crowd borrow bite crush melt murder explore tap crack squeeze reason whip clutch shove slam scratch pitch blaze negotiate rattle chew smash analyze carve grind rip pound grip poke flatter ch quarrel blast joke fish punch soak grope root battle mumble drill fumble kid peel compromise sting puff hammer flap brood chatter chop bust slice forge wrestle hack hitch model clip con shoulder snarl cram batter harvest probe nudge digest bellow conspire gnaw bribe finger maneuver bully ruffle tick saw wrest thrash rape scribble wedge bawl nibble claw box grate drum paste foul hew paw burrow etch butt make take think find feel work write talk read pay open grow lead play break wear laugh cut lie kill buy spend smile build pull explain win pick fight agree act shoot sing sleep marry force push settle drink study announce imagine burn b nod gain press deal manage kiss whisper pray tear worry stretch argue dance acquire dream paint figure knock earn struggle arrest bore smoke kick toss dig cling purchase cook aim smell trace grin borrow shrug entertain hunt invest focus melt contemplate taste consume labor squeeze reason trade shiver groan shove slam scratch negotiate spit blink chew hug smash lick wheel smooth carve spell grind rip pound stroke steer will poke flatter ch trim sniff blast sue shatter hook sip rage chat scrape joke punch grope pump click wail flip screw puzzle battle mumble drill charm fumble export peel dust plot hammer sort flap twitch chop pry storm slash slice graze forge coax wrestle hack hitch crumble tickle con scrub shoulder trick brave dial vibrate bargain skate cram batter pave probe nudge slaughter bat bribe gamble seduce finger fund maneuver bully saw thrash wedge wrinkle nibble mop claw tangle navigate jostle seep petition swap pilot improvise sample stomp inflate ram paw burrow seethe key etch butt discipline From period 2 onwards: inges'on (, drink, nibble, puff, sip, smoke,..), commerce & finance (buy, export, fund, invest, pay, spend,..), misconduct (bribe, bully, ch, conspire, kill, murder, plot, rape, trick,..) 15

16 make take think find feel work pay open understand break wear cut lie win pick strike fight sleep force push burn gain press spread tear fit beg burst struggle kick dig smell trace guide crush melt enforce explore shape squeeze conquer explode shove crash pierce smooth carve spell rip steer poke fan track punch grope root screw fumble dispute flap leak wrestle shoulder pave probe gnaw bribe maneuver wedge marshal rend hew burrow fiddle make take think find feel work talk read pay break wear cut lie drive buy build win pick fight shoot sing teach sleep force guess push drink hit burn b gain press plan extendspread dare steal tear worry argue dance beg earn burst bore kick dig purchase smell trace plead bite crush melt taste shape crack squeeze reason shove scratch blaze hug stuff smash lick pierce carve spell rip steer poke blast advertise perfect grope screw battle fumble flap stammer experiment gesture slash forge fret wrestle hack hitch shoulder trick hustle batter pave probe gnaw bribe prick shear bully saw thrash wedge claw scorch simmer jostle scent pilot brew hew paw burrow butt make take think find feel work run live write talk read pay play break wear laugh cut lie drive kill buy spend smile pull win pick fight act shoot sing marry force push drink burn b press blow plan manage kiss steal tear sign argue swing dance dream beg figure wash earn bore kick dig wrap smell trace crowd borrow bite crush melt murder explore tap crack squeeze reason whip clutch shove slam scratch pitch blaze negotiate rattle chew smash analyze carve grind rip pound grip poke flatter ch quarrel blast joke fish punch soak grope root battle mumble drill fumble kid peel compromise sting puff hammer flap brood chatter chop bust slice forge wrestle hack hitch model clip con shoulder snarl cram batter harvest probe nudge digest bellow conspire gnaw bribe finger maneuver bully ruffle tick saw wrest thrash rape scribble wedge bawl nibble claw box grate drum paste foul hew paw burrow etch butt make take think find feel work write talk read pay open grow lead play break wear laugh cut lie kill buy spend smile build pull explain win pick fight agree act shoot sing sleep marry force push settle drink study announce imagine burn b nod gain press deal manage kiss whisper pray tear worry stretch argue dance acquire dream paint figure knock earn struggle arrest bore smoke kick toss dig cling purchase cook aim smell trace grin borrow shrug entertain hunt invest focus melt contemplate taste consume labor squeeze reason trade shiver groan shove slam scratch negotiate spit blink chew hug smash lick wheel smooth carve spell grind rip pound stroke steer will poke flatter ch trim sniff blast sue shatter hook sip rage chat scrape joke punch grope pump click wail flip screw puzzle battle mumble drill charm fumble export peel dust plot hammer sort flap twitch chop pry storm slash slice graze forge coax wrestle hack hitch crumble tickle con scrub shoulder trick brave dial vibrate bargain skate cram batter pave probe nudge slaughter bat bribe gamble seduce finger fund maneuver bully saw thrash wedge wrinkle nibble mop claw tangle navigate jostle seep petition swap pilot improvise sample stomp inflate ram paw burrow seethe key etch butt discipline From period 3 onwards: social interac'on (chat, chaaer, joke, kid, nod, quarrel, talk), emo'on (grin, laugh, smile, shrug, laugh), cogni'on (brood, fret, puzzle, think, worry) 16

17 The path-crea'on sense Ini'ally centered on forceful ac'ons Pushing, hipng, cupng, etc. Other regions are more sparsely populated In line with the diachronic origin of the construc'on: literal crea'on of a physical path Over 'me, the distribu'on becomes more even More abstract verbs: interac'on, commerce, cogni'on, etc. 17

18 The path-crea'on sense The new verbs tend to refer to increasingly unusual ways to cause mo'on They are especially prone to cause abstract, metaphorical mo'on, e.g.: [T]hey talk about Uncle Paul having bought his way into the Senate! By the 'me he was four he could spell his way through his book with only occasional pauses for brh. I sit and watch [ ], grazing my way through a muffule7a. I saw Wallace Shawn [ ] lisping his way through a mournful monologue. Can be seen as reflec'ng an increase in the schema'city of the mo'on component of the construc'on 18

19 The manner sense 19

20 Verbs describing slow, indirect, or difficult mo'on: thread, trial, weave, wind, plod, toil, tramp, trudge go turn bend pour urge climb steal sweep burst wind crowd thrust twist speed stumble tread jerk stride crash trail scramble toil edge ply thread wrench paddle plod wriggle course jolt go move drive ride bend hurry urge climb steal sweep swing drag burst flash back wind creep crowd thrust drift brush twist whip retr tread stoop weave trail scramble grind row trip dodge toil splash bump trample edge shuffle storm writhe limp ply thread sift paddle clamber trudge tramp streak squirm plod tiptoe wriggle churn ripple blunder ooze course jolt loop go run pass walk fly lean step bend climb sweep drag burst sail fling slide wind crowd thrust swim brush twist dash spin speed stumble flush ease tread sway stoop pace weave crash stamp blink scramble grind pound stagger h skip bounce roam trip trot stalk jam dodge toil bump edge wade ply thread wrench skim paddle filter lurch inch totter thrash plod wriggle churn blunder ooze ski course stomp wrhe loop go turn run move walk step slip climb steal sweep drag flow slide back wind thrust hasten brush twist crawl dash speed stumble ease jerk curl weave blaze rock glide tumble scramble pound grind sneak bounce drip trip stalk hop dodge bump hammer edge bob shuffle wade storm writhe limp ply thread swirl sift trudge lurch squirm tack inch thrash waft plod wriggle chafe churn twirl blunder lunge ooze strut idle ski course power jolt lug stomp straggle angle 20

21 toil crowd plod stride tread go bend steal speed climb trail wriggle jolt edge wind thread jerk stumble crash twist scramble urge wrench thrust turn sweep burst pour course paddle ply toil plod trudge crowd tiptoe tramp tread shuffle storm retr hurry go bend trample stoop ride dodge steal drive clamber creep climb edge writhe squirm wriggle jolt whip trail wind brush bump drag thread loop scramble trip swing weave twist limp blunder back thrust grind urge ripple sweep burst sift streak churn move flash drift ooze ply splash course row paddle stalk jamcrowd toil plod pace roam step walk go stoop tread lean bend trot skip sway speed dodge run wriggle lurch climb edge brush wind wrhethrash bouncedrag thread weave twist loop bump stagger scramble trip crashslidespinstompwrench totter pound fling stumble ease blunder inch thrust stamp grind dash sweep blink pass flush filter churn burst h ooze skim sail fly course ply wade paddle swim ski plod strut stalk trudge walk step go storm shufflehasten rock dodge sneak idle speed hop run steal power climb crawl chafe squirm wriggle lurch edge wind straggle thrash brush curl writhe jolt bounce bump twirl weave bob lugdragslip thread lunge stumble trip jerktwist limpscramble hammer tumble angle slide stomp blunder pound grind easeinch thrust back move dash sweep turn sift swirl glide blaze flow churn ply drip waft courseooze wade tack ski Clumsy or unsteady mo'on: blunder, limp, scramble, stagger, stumble, toaer Surrounded by verbs that encode body movements to facilitate mo'on: bend, jerk, lean, lunge, stoop, thrash, twist, wrench, wriggle, writhe 21

22 toil crowd plod stride tread go bend steal speed climb trail wriggle jolt edge wind thread jerk stumble crash twist scramble urge wrench thrust turn sweep burst pour course paddle ply toil plod trudge crowd tiptoe tramp tread shuffle storm retr hurry go bend trample stoop ride dodge steal drive clamber creep climb edge writhe squirm wriggle jolt whip trail wind brush bump drag thread loop scramble trip swing weave twist limp blunder back thrust grind urge ripple sweep burst sift streak churn move flash drift ooze ply splash course row paddle stalk jamcrowd toil plod pace roam step walk go stoop tread lean bend trot skip sway speed dodge run wriggle lurch climb edge brush wind wrhethrash bouncedrag thread weave twist loop bump stagger scramble trip crashslidespinstompwrench totter pound fling stumble ease blunder inch thrust stamp grind dash sweep blink pass flush filter churn burst h ooze skim sail fly course ply wade paddle swim ski plod strut stalk trudge walk step go storm shufflehasten rock dodge sneak idle speed hop run steal power climb crawl chafe squirm wriggle lurch edge wind straggle thrash brush curl writhe jolt bounce bump twirl weave bob lugdragslip thread lunge stumble trip jerktwist limpscramble hammer tumble angle slide stomp blunder pound grind easeinch thrust back move dash sweep turn sift swirl glide blaze flow churn ply drip waft courseooze wade tack ski More neutral manners of mo'on: walking (stride, strut, <ptoe, walk,..), rapid mo'on (power, run, speed,..), liquid mo'on (course, drip, sid, ooze,..), vehicle/theme (fly, paddle, ply, sail, ski,..) 22

23 The manner sense Difficult mo'on = seman'c core of the construc'on (Goldberg 1995) Stable throughout the last 180 years Several high-frequency members Source of produc'vity: unsteady mo'on, body movements Non-difficult mo'on more prominent in later periods Likely interpreta'on: increase in schema'city of the verb slot, from difficult mo'on to general manner of mo'on 23

24 The incidental-ac'vity sense 24

25 crackle crunch shoot shriek wail sound sing drink bow fuss fiddle smear tap kiss squeak thump bang splash dig crash kick puff roar vibrate flicker sniff grunt swear yawn hoot beg whine sob laugh smile weep giggle cough babble worry sound bore dance sing drum brush kiss thump tap spray crunch devour creak bang slam dig drink blast shoot burn blaze twitch puff roar rumble holler squeal waver bellow growl scream sneer grunt howl mumble shriek curse yawn squint swear shudder groan wink bow whine smile sigh laugh chuckle whimper joke grumble cough babble giggle wail chatter talk complain sw hush fuss whistle dance lie sing chant High seman'c diversity from the start smear tap pat crunch tip kiss rattlebang thump squeak click splash creak slam punch waterfish clatter kick crash bite drink smoke burn blast thrash claw puff twist spark roar throb shine bristle thunder shout snarl howl screech grunt curse murder shudder yawn gasp grin smile thank bully groansigh whisper bow apologize weep babble laugh joke talk grumble vomit sneeze chatter suffer sw exasperate stink whistle hum sleep dance sing preach play dream Sound emission dominates in later periods: noise (bang, creak, crunch, thump), speech (babble, chaaer, joke, swear, talk), cry (bellow, howl, roar, scream, shriek), other human sounds (grunt, sigh, sob, whine, yawn) 25

26 The incidental-ac'vity sense Likely to be highly schema'c from the start No clear seman'c core in the distribu'on High seman'c diversity from the start Construc'onal meaning is rather open Increase in produc'vity, no increase in schema'city Prominence of sound emission in mid and late 20 th century Probably explained by higher compa'bility with schema But not from the start (contra Israel 1996) 26

27 Conclusions Produc'vity and schema'city of the way-construc'on Substan'al distribu'onal changes in the 19 th and 20 th centuries for all three senses of the construc'on Likely to correspond to higher schema'city for two senses The usefulness of distribu'onal seman'c plots Close examina'on of the seman'c spread of a construc'on over 'me Makes it possible to inform hypotheses about schema'city 27

28 Thank you! hbp:// Davies, M. (2010). The Corpus of Historical American English: 400 million words, Available online at hbp://corpus.byu.edu/coha/ Firth, J.R. (1957). A synopsis of linguis'c theory In Studies in Linguis<c Analysis, pp Oxford: Philological Society. Goldberg, A. (1995). Construc<ons: A construc<on grammar approach to argument structure. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Israel, M. (1996). The way construc'ons grow. In A. Goldberg (ed.), Conceptual structure, discourse and language. Stanford, CA: CSLI Publica'ons, Miller, G. & W. Charles (1991). Contextual correlates of seman'c similarity. Language and Cogni<ve Processes, 6(1), Mondorf, B. (2011). Varia'on and change in English resulta've construc'ons. Language Varia<on and Change, 22, Perek, F. (2014). Vector spaces for historical linguis'cs: Using distribu'onal seman'cs to study syntac'c produc'vity in diachrony. In Proceedings of the 52nd Annual Mee<ng of the Associa<on for Computa<onal Linguis<cs, Bal<more, Maryland USA, June Perek, F. (2016). Using distribu'onal seman'cs to study syntac'c produc'vity in diachrony: A case study. Linguis<cs, 54(1), TraugoB, E. & G. Trousdale (2013). Construc<onaliza<on and Construc<onal Changes. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Van der Maaten, L. & Hinton, G. (2008). Visualizing Data using t-sne. Journal of Machine Learning Research, 9,