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Why we need a token-based typology: A case study of analytic and lexical causatives in fifteen European languages

This paper investigates variation of lexical and analytic causatives in
15 European languages from the Germanic, Romance, and Slavic genera based
on a multilingual parallel corpus of film subtitles. Using typological parameters
of variation of causatives from the literature, this study tests which parameters
are relevant for the choice between analytic and lexical causatives in the sample
of languages. The main research question is whether the variation is constrained
by one semantic dimension, namely, the conceptual integration of the causing
and caused events, as suggested by previous research on iconicity in language,
or whether several different semantic and syntactic factors are at play. To answer
this question, I use an exploratory multivariate technique for categorical data
(Multiple Correspondence Analysis with supplementary points) and conditional
random forests, a nonparametric regression and classification method. The study
demonstrates the importance of corpus data in testing typological hypotheses.

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:DRESDEN/oai:qucosa:de:qucosa:83089
Date26 January 2023
CreatorsLevshina, Natalia
PublisherDe Gruyter
Source SetsHochschulschriftenserver (HSSS) der SLUB Dresden
LanguageEnglish
Detected LanguageEnglish
Typeinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion, doc-type:article, info:eu-repo/semantics/article, doc-type:Text
Rightsinfo:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
Relation0165-4004

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