This thesis aims to elucidate which approach is the most advantageous in the analysis of acceptability judgments of native speakers: whether it is a categorical or a gradient approach....Show moreThis thesis aims to elucidate which approach is the most advantageous in the analysis of acceptability judgments of native speakers: whether it is a categorical or a gradient approach. Acceptability judgments have often been recognized as a relevant source of language knowledge (Chomsky, 1965; Sorace & Keller, 2005; Schütze & Schütze, 2011). Judgment elicitation procedures consist of asking speakers directly about their opinion on linguistic elements, such as sounds, words and sentences. However, interrogating participants directly about their language knowledge is not as simple as it seems. Several confounding factors, such as the order of presentation of the stimuli, and the repetition of instructions (Sprouse, 2007; Schütze, 2016) can interfere with such judgments, casting doubt on the reliability of the data. This thesis discusses some theories and methods involved in judgment elicitation procedures, in order to be able to examine whether categorical or gradient procedures are more successful in tapping into speakers’ knowledge while circumventing potentially confounding factors. Additionally, two empirical studies are discussed in detail, as examples of categorical and gradient approaches in the analysis of speakers’ innate language knowledge; one on syntax (Sprouse, 2007) and one on phonology (Turton, 2017).Show less
Research master thesis | Linguistics (research) (MA)
open access
The laryngeal specification of obstruents, especially in Germanic, has been the subject of extensive study. However, most work has focussed on the laryngeal contrast in stops, while fricatives have...Show moreThe laryngeal specification of obstruents, especially in Germanic, has been the subject of extensive study. However, most work has focussed on the laryngeal contrast in stops, while fricatives have received comparatively little attention. This thesis presents a detailed examination of fricatives in Germanic languages from the perspective of Element Theory (ET), which, following the ‘laryngeal realism’ approach, distinguishes between H-languages (‘aspiration languages’) and L-languages (‘voicing languages’). The results of this examination show that fricatives do not always show the same behaviour as stops. First, in laryngeal contrasts, stops can always be distinguished by a laryngeal specification, whereas this is not always the case for fricatives, as voiced fricatives are sometimes not laryngeally specified. This is particularly true in North Germanic languages, since many voiced fricatives are better described as approximants, i.e. sonorants. Furthermore, while the stops in German and Dutch employ a laryngeal contrast, fricatives are argued to possibly differ in length instead. Second, the distribution of fricatives in syllable structure does not always parallel that of stops. Fricatives are pervasive in rhymal adjunct positions, whereas stops are primarily favoured in onsets. Of the fricatives, sibilants are the most ubiquitous in the rhymal adjunct position, and can in some cases even occur in the rhymal adjuncts of empty-headed syllables.Show less
Research master thesis | Linguistics (research) (MA)
closed access
Secondly, ^^Directionality in sound change, the phenomenon that a segment can change into a certain other segment but not vice versa, has generally been assumed, but has not been studied...Show moreSecondly, ^^Directionality in sound change, the phenomenon that a segment can change into a certain other segment but not vice versa, has generally been assumed, but has not been studied systematically. Previous studies are mainly concerned with a general discussion on the role of phonology in sound change, often attributing directionality in sound change to phonetic bias. On the basis of a sample of 5,769 historical sound changes, the current study shows that directionality in sound change is not a prominent phenomenon in absolute terms. In general, lenition is more frequent than fortition. There are two main findings. Firstly, laterals are likely to change into approximants, but not vice versa. Secondly, an asymmetry was found for segments changing into /h/ or /ʔ/. Adopting the framework of Element Theory, a phonological analysis was presented to account for those directionality patterns. Firstly, vowel elements do not add (L)Show less
