Ontology highlight
ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Cuskley CF
PROVIDER: S-EPMC4118841 | biostudies-other | 2014
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-other
Cuskley Christine F CF Pugliese Martina M Castellano Claudio C Colaiori Francesca F Loreto Vittorio V Tria Francesca F
PloS one 20140801 8
Human languages are rule governed, but almost invariably these rules have exceptions in the form of irregularities. Since rules in language are efficient and productive, the persistence of irregularity is an anomaly. How does irregularity linger in the face of internal (endogenous) and external (exogenous) pressures to conform to a rule? Here we address this problem by taking a detailed look at simple past tense verbs in the Corpus of Historical American English. The data show that the language ...[more]