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This paper first shows how Frame Semantics grew out of earlier work on Case Grammar. Then, it discusses some of the basic principles of Frame Semantics and shows how these have been implemented in FrameNet, an online corpus-based lexicographic database (http://framenet.icsi.berkeley.edu). Using semantic frames to structure the lexicon of English, FrameNet provides a wealth of information showing how frame elements (situation-specific semantic roles) are realized syntactically (valence patterns). Finally, the paper provides an overview of how frame-semantic principles have been applied to cover non-lexical phenomena using compatible annotation and data formats. This so-called "constructicon" offers entries of grammatical constructions that are also based on corpus data and that are parallel to lexical entries in FrameNet. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper first shows how Frame Semantics grew out of earlier work on Case Grammar. Then, it discusses some of the basic principles of Frame Semantics and shows how these have been implemented in FrameNet, an online corpus-based lexicographic database (http://framenet.icsi.berkeley.edu). Using semantic frames to structure the lexicon of English, FrameNet provides a wealth of information showing how frame elements (situation-specific semantic roles) are realized syntactically (valence patterns). Finally, the paper provides an overview of how frame-semantic principles have been applied to cover non-lexical phenomena using compatible annotation and data formats. This so-called "constructicon" offers entries of grammatical constructions that are also based on corpus data and that are parallel to lexical entries in FrameNet. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The goal of this paper is to offer an argument for the Sociotopographic Model and its extension to dialectal data. It is shown that Italian and one of its dialects, Aquilan, seem to differ with respect to which reference systems their prepositions can describe. Aquilan includes an absolute and an elevational reference system; Italian only includes an absolute system. It is proposed that this difference is strongly correlated to Aquilan being a dialect spoken in a mountainous valley, and therefore reflecting the "lay of the land" in its spatial lexicon. The paper offers an experimental study involving two groups of informants (group 1, age >70.0 years, N = 13; group 2, age <40.0 years, N = 10). It is shown that both groups can use the elevational system in Aquilan, but generational differences are attested. Some conclusions regarding connections between Sociotopography and Dialectology are offered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many papers in this special issue grew out of the talks given at the Symposium "The role of predictability in shaping human language sound patterns," held at Western Sydney University (Dec. 10–11, 2016). Some papers were submitted in response to an open call; others were invited contributions. This introduction aims to contextualize the papers in the special issue within a broader theoretical context, focusing on what it means for phonological theory to incorporate gradient predictability, what questions arise as a consequence, and how the papers in this issue address these questions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many papers in this special issue grew out of the talks given at the Symposium "The role of predictability in shaping human language sound patterns," held at Western Sydney University (Dec. 10–11, 2016). Some papers were submitted in response to an open call; others were invited contributions. This introduction aims to contextualize the papers in the special issue within a broader theoretical context, focusing on what it means for phonological theory to incorporate gradient predictability, what questions arise as a consequence, and how the papers in this issue address these questions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reviews recent research using participant ratings to measure the iconicity (form-meaning resemblance) of words and signs. This method, by enabling wide coverage of lexical items and cross-linguistic comparison, has revealed systematic patterns in how iconicity is distributed across the vocabularies of different languages. These findings are consistent with established linguistic and psychological theory on iconicity, and they connect iconicity to factors like learning and acquisition, semantics, pragmatic aspects of language like playfulness, and to the semantic neighborhood density of words and signs. After taking stock of this research, we look critically at the construct validity of iconicity ratings, considering an alternative account of iconicity ratings recently put forward by Thompson, Arthur Lewis, Kimi Akita & Youngah Do. 2020a. Iconicity ratings across the Japanese lexicon: A comparative study with English. Linguistics Vanguard 6. 20190088. They propose that, for most vocabulary, participants might rate the iconicity of different words based on their meaning alone – specifically the degree to which it relates to the senses – independently of actual form-meaning resemblance. We argue that their hypothesis cannot account for many of the various, theory-driven results from this line of research, which strongly support the conclusion that the ratings really do measure iconicity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article provides an introduction to Nanosyntax – an approach to the syntax/lexicon interaction originating from work by Michal Starke. I present some of the motivation for allowing lexical items to replace whole phrases rather than only terminal elements, present the basic principles taken to govern the lexicalization procedure and show how syncretism patterns are handled in Nanosyntax. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article provides an introduction to Nanosyntax – an approach to the syntax/lexicon interaction originating from work by Michal Starke. I present some of the motivation for allowing lexical items to replace whole phrases rather than only terminal elements, present the basic principles taken to govern the lexicalization procedure and show how syncretism patterns are handled in Nanosyntax. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many studies report shorter acoustic durations, more coarticulation and reduced articulatory targets for frequent words. This study investigates a factor ignored in discussions on the relation between frequency and phonetic detail, namely, that motor skills improve with experience. Since frequency is a measure of experience, it follows that frequent words should show increased articulatory proficiency. We used EMA to test this prediction on German inflected verbs with [a] as stem vowels. Modeling median vertical tongue positions with quantile regression, we observed significant modulation by frequency of the U-shaped trajectory characterizing the articulation of the [a:]. These modulations reflect two constraints, one favoring smooth trajectories through anticipatory coarticulation, and one favoring clear articulation by realizing lower minima. The predominant pattern across sensors, exponents, and speech rate suggests that the constraint of clarity dominates for lower-frequency words. For medium-frequency words, the smoothness constraint leads to a raising of the trajectory. For the higher-frequency words, both constraints are met simultaneously, resulting in low minima and stronger coarticulation. These consequences of motor practice for articulation challenge both the common view that a higher-frequency of use comes with more articulatory reduction, and cognitive models of speech production positing that articulation is post-lexical. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many studies report shorter acoustic durations, more coarticulation and reduced articulatory targets for frequent words. This study investigates a factor ignored in discussions on the relation between frequency and phonetic detail, namely, that motor skills improve with experience. Since frequency is a measure of experience, it follows that frequent words should show increased articulatory proficiency. We used EMA to test this prediction on German inflected verbs with [a] as stem vowels. Modeling median vertical tongue positions with quantile regression, we observed significant modulation by frequency of the U-shaped trajectory characterizing the articulation of the [a:]. These modulations reflect two constraints, one favoring smooth trajectories through anticipatory coarticulation, and one favoring clear articulation by realizing lower minima. The predominant pattern across sensors, exponents, and speech rate suggests that the constraint of clarity dominates for lower-frequency words. For medium-frequency words, the smoothness constraint leads to a raising of the trajectory. For the higher-frequency words, both constraints are met simultaneously, resulting in low minima and stronger coarticulation. These consequences of motor practice for articulation challenge both the common view that a higher-frequency of use comes with more articulatory reduction, and cognitive models of speech production positing that articulation is post-lexical. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]