Linked Life Data

10520563

Source:http://linkedlifedata.com/resource/pubmed/id/10520563

Statements in which the resource exists as a subject.
PredicateObject
rdf:type
lifeskim:mentions
pubmed:issue
1
pubmed:dateCreated
1999-11-5
pubmed:abstractText
According to the 'word/rule' account, regular inflection is computed by a default, symbolic process, whereas irregular inflection is achieved by associative memory. Conversely, pattern-associator accounts attribute both regular and irregular inflection to an associative process. The acquisition of the default is ascribed to the asymmetry in the distribution of regular and irregular tokens. Irregular tokens tend to form tight, well-defined phonological clusters (e.g. sing-sang, ring-rang), whereas regular forms are diffusely distributed throughout the phonological space. This distributional asymmetry is necessary and sufficient for the acquisition of a regular default. Hebrew nominal inflection challenges this account. We demonstrate that Hebrew speakers use the regular masculine inflection as a default despite the overlap in the distribution of regular and irregular Hebrew masculine nouns. Specifically, Experiment 1 demonstrates that regular inflection is productively applied to novel nouns regardless of their similarity to existing regular nouns. In contrast, the inflection of irregular sounding nouns is strongly sensitive to their similarity to stored irregular tokens. Experiment 2 establishes the generality of the regular default for novel words that are phonologically idiosyncratic. Experiment 3 demonstrates that Hebrew speakers assign the default regular inflection to borrowings and names that are identical to existing irregular nouns. The existence of default inflection in Hebrew is incompatible with the distributional asymmetry hypothesis. Our findings also lend no support for a type-frequency account. The convergence of the circumstances triggering default inflection in Hebrew, German and English suggests that the capacity for default inflection may be general.
pubmed:grant
pubmed:language
eng
pubmed:journal
pubmed:citationSubset
IM
pubmed:status
MEDLINE
pubmed:month
Aug
pubmed:issn
0010-0277
pubmed:author
pubmed:issnType
Print
pubmed:day
25
pubmed:volume
72
pubmed:owner
NLM
pubmed:authorsComplete
Y
pubmed:pagination
1-44
pubmed:dateRevised
2007-11-14
pubmed:meshHeading
pubmed:year
1999
pubmed:articleTitle
Default nominal inflection in Hebrew: evidence for mental variables.
pubmed:affiliation
Department of Psychology, Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton 33431-0991, USA. iberent@fau.edu
pubmed:publicationType
Journal Article, Research Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S.