Stem alternations contribute a unique type of morphological complexity to inflectional systems (Baerman et al. 2015), but despite the fact that they can show remarkable stability over time (Maiden 2018), the manner in which they are maintained and the types of changes they undergo are still poorly understood, in particular when it comes to understudied languages for which diachronic data are usually nonexistent. The verbal inflection of Chichimec (Oto-Pamean, Mexico) is characterized by intricate distributions of stem alternations, and it affords us a unique opportunity to study them from a diachronic perspective, because, unlike most other minority languages, we have a precise and detailed description of its verbal inflection system from almost a century ago (de Angulo 1933) from which we are able to reconstruct the paradigms of 170 verbs. In this article, we compare the verbal system as it was registered by de Angulo in 1930 to our own primary data recorded during two recent field trips. We show evidence that certain elements of the intricate patterns of stem alternations have been reanalyzed and redistributed by the speakers. We argue that the changes make sense only from a morphological perspective in which stem alternations are seen as involving fixed configurations of cells, or ‘morphomes’ (Aronoff 1994). We also show that speakers have not manipulated these configurations in isolation but in clusters, resulting in a substantial restructuring of verbal inflection at the paradigmatic level. We conclude that the changes have not resulted in a simpler system, but rather one that, while almost the same in terms of morphological complexity, has become more consistent.

In some languages, such as Hebrew and German, a D-PRONOUN (a pronominal demonstrative form) may refer to a human. When it does, the use of the d-pronoun may be associated with a pejorative effect, implying a negative evaluation of the denoted individual (henceforth N(EGATIVE)-EFFECT). The N-effect is triggered, however, only under certain conditions. For example, when the d-pronoun is modified, no N-effect arises. This article examines the syntactic and pragmatic conditions under which this meaning emerges, and develops an account that integrates pronominal markedness and competition into the fold of conversational implicatures. The study addresses two questions: (i) What is the distribution of the N-effect? (ii) How is it linguistically encoded? Regarding (i), it is shown that the N-effect is triggered only when a personal pronoun could also have been used. This suggests that, everything else being equal, a personal pronoun is preferred over a d-pronoun; it also suggests that the N-effect is not intrinsically, or lexically, encoded. Regarding (ii), the N-effect must derive from the nonuse of a personal pronoun, and in this sense, it is related to markedness, and to systems that derive conversational implicatures. We argue that the use of a d-pronoun when a personal pronoun could also have been used gives rise to an implicature that the d-pronoun is associated with [–person], and we substantiate a theory of PERSON as a contentful category that marks discourse participation.

Using a very large lexical database and generalized additive modeling, this article reveals that labial-velar (LV) stops are marginal phonemes in many of the languages of Northern Sub-Saharan Africa that have them, and that the languages in which they are not marginal are grouped into three compact zones of high lexical LV frequency. The resulting picture allows us to formulate precise hypotheses about the spread of the Niger-Congo and Central Sudanic languages and about the origins of the linguistic area known as the Sudanic zone or Macro-Sudan belt. It shows that LV stops are a substrate feature that should not be reconstructed into the early stages of the languages that currently have them. We illustrate the implications of our findings for linguistic prehistory with a short discussion of the Bantu expansion. Our data also indirectly confirm the hypothesis that LV stops are more recurrent in expressive parts of the vocabulary, and we argue that this has a common explanation with the well-known fact that they tend to be restricted to stem-initial position in what we call C-emphasis prosody.

This article uses formal and usage-based data and methods to argue for a hybrid model of English tensed auxiliary contraction combining lexical syntax with a dynamic exemplar lexicon. The hybrid model can explain why the contractions involve lexically specific phonetic fusions that have become morphologized and lexically stored, yet remain syntactically independent, and why the probability of contraction itself is a function of the adjacent cooccurrences of the subject and auxiliary in usage, yet is also subject to the constraints of the grammatical context. Novel evidence includes a corpus study and a formal analysis of a multiword expression of classic usage-based grammar.

Sequences such as [mb, kp, ts] pattern as complex segments in some languages but as clusters of simple consonants in others. What evidence is used to learn their language-specific status? We present an implemented computational model that starts with simple consonants and builds more complex representations by tracking statistical distributions of consonant sequences. This strategy succeeds in a wide range of cases, both in languages that supply clear phonotactic arguments for complex segments and in languages where the evidence is less clear. We then turn to the typological parallels between complex segments and consonant clusters: both tend to be limited in size and composition. We suggest that our approach allows the parallels to be reconciled. Finally, we compare our model with alternatives: learning complex segments from phonotactics and from phonetics.

As a journal, Language has a substantial history of publishing articles about areas of linguistics now commonly identified as language documentation, revitalization, and reclamation. The significance of this vein of research is exemplified by the collection of articles published by Ken Hale and colleagues in this journal in 1992 (Hale et al. 1992). These articles present themselves as case studies of language revitalization, outlining arguments for the importance of linguistic training and assessing language vitality and diversity, all with more relevance than ever nearly three decades later. LANGUAGE REVITALIZATION AND DOCUMENTATION, a new section of the journal, will build upon the base of knowledge as a venue for peer-reviewed research articles in language revitalization and documentation. As the inaugural associate editor for this journal section, I outline a framework for the section as a starting point for submissions.

In response to the lack of culturally sustaining pedagogies for Black students in linguistics, we created an online Introduction to Linguistics course designed as part of a specially funded research program that serves Black undergraduates from Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) as well as Predominantly White Institutions (PWIs). In recognition of the fact that conventional introductory linguistics courses often alienate Black students, the course was designed to center Black language and culture in every lesson. We describe the rationale for and implementation of the course, as well as the impact of the model on students and instructors. The course's Black-centered content as well as its online synchronous and asynchronous teaching model can be adapted for other teaching contexts as a way to recruit Black students into linguistics and to offer linguistics courses to students at universities, especially HBCUs, that do not have linguistics programs. The work is particularly relevant as linguists seek to be inclusive in their teaching during the COVID-19 pandemic and work toward the greater inclusion of Black people in every aspect of linguistics due to the heightened awareness of anti-Blackness in higher education and specifically in language studies.

Methods of quantifying distance between sound sequences are known as phonological distance measures. Despite the wide application across subfields, phonological distance has been calculated mainly with features related to consonants and vowels. This research report establishes new measurements of phonological distance that incorporate lexical tone through experimental approaches and modeling, using Hong Kong Cantonese as a case study. Results show correspondences between the experimental data and predictions from information-theoretic measures, including entropy measures and functional load, suggesting that lexical components which play a more crucial role in phonological distance judgments are lexically less predictable as well. Implications for phonological distance measures are discussed.

This report describes a new research resource: a searchable database of 4,700 naturally occurring instances of sluicing in English, annotated so as to shed light on the questions that have shaped research on ellipsis since the 1960s. The paper describes the data set and how it can be obtained, how it was constructed, how it is organized, and how it can be queried. It also highlights some initial empirical findings, first describing general characteristics of the data, then focusing more closely on issues concerning antecedents and possible mismatches between antecedents and ellipsis sites.

A central question of language comprehension concerns the interaction between linguistic form and broader representations of discourse in the interpretation of context-sensitive expressions. This interaction is instantiated in the interpretation of verb phrase ellipsis (VPE), where previous work has shown that the linguistic antecedent and the broader context are both considered in resolution. Using a novel experimental paradigm, we investigated VPE interpretation in discourses where the antecedent and the broader context make different information available for inclusion in the interpretation of the ellipsis site. Our results point to a complex interaction between linguistic antecedents and the broader discourse context in interpretation, putting considerable constraints on the set of possible models for VPE resolution. This work contributes to a better understanding of both the connections between and the boundaries separating linguistic structure and mental models of discourse contexts.