Actionality classes and cross-linguistic coding tendencies.Typological research and development of an analysis software tool

这个项目将记录和解释一个语法普遍性，即动词和动词类和体类之间的跨语言编码倾向，通过展示语言形式的跨语言模式和语言使用的总体趋势之间的联系。将通过在项目期间开发的分析软件工具对这一普遍现象进行分析的基本组成部分。该提案的主张是，频繁表达的意义倾向于通过零编码形式(形式-频率对应)来表达。数量频率和形式是Zipfs定律(1935)的组成部分，该定律将通过将频率-形式关系扩展到频率-形式/功能关系来追求，因为编码不对称性表达了动词的动作类和体类别之间的区别并具有语义含义：在零编码的情况下，Telic动词倾向于分别表示完成体和非完成体，而在显性编码的情况下则是另一轮。我们将考察形式(编码)-频率-对应关系，考察一些欧洲和非欧洲语言中atelic/telic动词编码的不对称性。一般来说，出现频率较高的组合往往是跨语言的显式零编码，而很少出现的组合往往是显式编码的。拟议的解释是，频率较高的项目因此概率较高的项目比频率较低的项目更可预测，可预测的内容不需要公开表达或可以用较短的形式表达。这个假设是，频率只是构成可预测性的一系列因素之一，它的目的是披露和加权这些因素。形式-频率对应使语言结构更有效率(Zipf 1949)，但仍然需要证明存在一种机制来创建和维持这些有效结构：由说话者对用户友好的话语的偏好所驱动的语言变化的反复发生。因此，该项目结合了关于语法的跨语言研究和跨语言语料库研究。形式-频率对应在很大程度上仍然被语言学家忽视和忽视，因此目前的项目将对我们对人类语言的总体理解产生重大影响。该项目的技术成果将是分析软件工具。为了揭示可预测性的组成部分，该工具提供了几种基于统计熵和基于概率的技术。该项目的这一部分不仅包括软件编程，而且还包括对结果的评估和解释，并对理论的形成做出了重要贡献。这一结果将使我们能够更深入地了解我们所说的编码不对称的可预测性是什么意思。未来的研究将通过随机最优理论等形式主义的方法来处理项目主题(Bresnan等人)。2001)或进化博弈论(Jäger 2007)。

This project will document and explain a grammatical universal, i.e. cross-linguistic coding tendencies in verbs with actional classes and aspect classes by demonstrating a link between cross-linguistic patterns of language form and general trends of language use. Essential components of the analysis of this universal will be carried out by an analysis software tool which will be developed during the project. The claim of the proposal is that frequently expressed meanings tend to be expressed by zero-coded forms (form-frequency correspondences). The quantities frequency and form are components of Zipfs law (1935) which will be pursued by extending the frequency-form relation to a frequency-form/function-relation, since the coding asymmetries express distinctions between actional and aspect classes of verbs and have semantic implications: With zero-coding, telic verbs tend to express perfective aspect and atelic verbs imperfective aspect, respectively, with overt-coding it is the other round. The form (coding)-frequency-correspondence will be examined inspecting the asymmetry in the coding of atelic/telic verbs in a number of European and non-European languages. In general, combinations that occur more frequently tend to be zero-coded overtly across languages, while the combinations that occur more rarely tend to be coded overtly. The proposed explanation is that higher-frequency and thus higher probability items are more predictable than lower-frequency items, and predictable content need not be expressed overtly or can be expressed by shorter forms. The hypothesis is that frequency is just one of a set of factors that constitute predictability, and it is aimed at disclosing and weighting these factors. Form-frequency correspondences make language structure more efficient (Zipf 1949), but it still needs to be shown that there exists a mechanism that creates and maintains these efficient structures: recurrent instances of language change driven by the speakers preference for user-friendly utterances. The project thus combines cross-linguistic research on grammar and cross-linguistic corpus research. Form-frequency correspondences are still largely overlooked and ignored by linguists, so the current project will have a significant impact on our general understanding of human language. The technological output of this project will be analysis software tool. In order to disclose components of predictability, the tool provides a couple of statistical entropy based and probability based techniques. This part of the project comprises not only software programming but also evaluation and interpretation of the results and contributes essentially to theory forming. The results will allow for deeper insights what we mean when talking about predictably of coding asymmetries. Future research will deal with the projects topics by means of formalisms such as stochastic optimality theory (Bresnan et al. 2001) or evolutionary game theory (Jäger 2007).