During the past year, we have finally been able to collect new data for the project, while at the same time we have succeeded in fine-tuning our methods for data analysis and data collection. Since January, we have therefore been busy writing articles, designing experiments and collecting data. The project is largely about how to explain non-deterministic or arbitrary processes in language use, and then with a main focus on word order, e.g. why in certain cases one says "the man threw out the dog yesterday" and in other cases one says "the man threw the dog out yesterday". In this question also lies the question why these arbitrary processes are quite rare in human languages: in most cases, a change in word position leads to the sentence becoming ungrammatical ("Yesterday threw out the man the dog") or it acquires a new meaning (" The dog threw the man out yesterday». In 2022, we have investigated in various ways whether strict rules make it easier for speakers to plan and produce language, mainly speech targets. In this work, we have both analyzed previously collected material with new types of methods, and also collected new data with new experimental paradigms. Here we have focused on the relationship between prosodic units and syntactic structures. When we speak, we must create utterances that both have a logically coherent content and a well-formed syntactic structure, but also a sound structure that follows with implicit rules and expectations for the language. In several studies, we have examined the extent to which rules for the prosodic system interact with word order principles in the development of a more strict word order. In addition, in collaboration with other linguists in Scandinavia, we have published the last articles in the series on strict and variable word order patterns in the Scandinavian languages. These are now available to the general public in the online journal Nordic Atlas of Language Structures online (https://journals.uio.no/NALS).
The natural languages of the world are characterized by largely rigid, often highly idiosyncratic rule systems. Within any given language, it is hard to find instances of true optionality (i.e. a many-to-one mapping from form to meaning). The ExSynOp project sets out to explore this central puzzle: what drives the evolution of complex, rigid rule systems in natural languages? We do this by investigating the sources of regularisation, i.e., the reduction of variation in a language. Our focus on regularisation will bring new insights to one of the most debated issues in linguistics: are languages shaped predominantly by the usage patterns of adults (evident in processing, register/style choices, MacDonald 2013, Bybee 2015), or the learning preferences/limitations of children (Clark 1987, Newport 2005, Yang 2017, Chomsky 1986)?
This project takes as its starting point a unique naturally-occurring case study in (apparent) optionality: word order variation in the closely related Mainland Scandinavian languages and varieties. We have identified four word order variables where at least one variety shows optionality, and another a strict rule: subject shift, particle shift, object shift and long object shift. By studying acquisition (L1 child and L2 adult), and processing (production/comprehension) of variable and non-variable grammars in the context of closely related languages, we can identify where preferences for regular systems arise. We will address three fundamental issues in the establishment of rigid grammars: (1) are there processing benefits (or costs) associated with categorical rules; (2) is the L1 language learner pre-disposed to categorical rules, or do categorical tendencies develop later and (3) is low-frequent syntactic variation in speakers conditioned by register/dialect? To address these issues, we will use novel large-scale experiments for speech elicitations, combined with methods for text-speech alignment, which will be developed within the project.
