Asymmetries in Generalizing Alternations to and from Initial Syllables

Michael Becker, Andrew Nevins, and Jonathan Levine

article (pdf) | abstract | materials and results | contact info

Article (pdf)

Michael Becker, Andrew Nevins, and Jonathan Levine (to appear in Language) Asymmetries in Generalizing Alternations to and from Initial Syllables.

Abstract

We show that in the English lexicon, voicing alternations in the plural impact monosyllables more than finally-stressed polysyllables. This is the opposite of what happens typologically, and would thereby run contrary to the predictions of initial syllable faithfulness. However, in a wug-test we found that monosyllables are impacted just as much as finally-stressed polysyllables—a "surfeit of the stimulus" effect, in which speakers fail to learn a statistical generalization present in the lexicon. We then present two artificial grammar experiments in which English speakers in fact demonstrate the universal bias for protecting monosyllables and initial syllables more generally. The conclusion, therefore, is that speakers can exhibit spontaneous learning that goes directly against the evidence offered by the ambient language, a result attributed to Universal Grammar, which provides a set of formal and substantive biases in phonological acquisition.

Materials and results

The zipped file contains csv (text) files and accompanying R files.
becker_nevins_levine_English_data.zip

Contact info

Michael Becker, michael.becker@phonologist.org
Andrew Nevins, a.nevins@ucl.ac.uk
Jonathan Levine, jplevine@fas.harvard.edu