Schemas and the frequency/acceptability mismatch: Corpus distribution predicts sentence judgments

Abstract

A tight connection between competence and performance is a central tenet of the usage-based model. Methodologically, however, corpus frequency is a poor predictor of acceptability – a phenomenon known as the “frequency/acceptability mismatch”. This article argues that the mismatch arises from a “methodological mismatch”, when simple frequency measures are mapped onto complex grammatical units. To illustrate, we discuss the results of acceptability judgments of go/come-v. The construction is subject to a formal constraint (Go see the doctor! vs. *He goes sees the doctor), which results from its mandative semantics (directives, commissives). While a formal model makes no prediction with regard to gradient acceptability of bare (“grammatical”) go/come-v, the usage-based view assumes that acceptability is a function of compatibility with an abstract schema. The experimental ratings are compared with a number of corpus-derived measures: while acceptability is largely independent of (raw) frequency, it is not independent of frequency-related usage distribution. The results add to recent suggestions that the frequency/acceptability mismatch is substantially reduced if the syntactic complexity of a unit is appropriately captured in usage data.

The Missing VP Illusion in Spanish: Assessing the Role of Language Statistics and Working Memory

“…This is consistent with the view that consecutive-verb patterns and language statistics contribute to the illusion. If speakers’ knowledge about language statistics is the underlying source of the inversion effect in the missing VP illusion, our results would support the view that acceptability is influenced by linguistic experience (Bybee, 2006 , 2007 , 2010 ; Goldberg, 2007 , 2013 ; Tomasello, 2009 ), which allows comprehenders to assess the likelihood that words belonging to specific categories cluster together in sentences (Bermel & Knittl, 2012 ; Bresnan, 2007 ; Dąbrowska, 2008 ; Flach, 2020 ; Francis, 2022 ; Lau et al, 2017 ; Sprouse et al, 2018 ). The impact of word cluster frequencies on judgments is likely due to the fact that comprehenders perceive sentences as linear strings.…”