SubsidieMeestersExperimental replication of historical reanalysis processes
EXREAN aims to develop a laboratory methodology to replicate historical reanalysis processes, exploring social and individual factors influencing language change.
Projectdetails
Background
In historical linguistics, reanalysis is described as the process by which speakers assign a new meaning to a superficially unchanged element. Reanalysis is basic to grammar change.
However, due to the methodological difficulty of studying change on the basis of historical texts and limitations in the understanding of associated social processes, current research struggles to explain both why and when reanalysis occurs and why it spreads between speakers.
Aim
EXREAN has three main innovative objectives:
- To develop a methodology that allows replicating historical reanalysis processes in a laboratory setting.
- To determine in which context types reanalysis occurs.
- To determine which social, language-specific, and individual factors favor or disfavor reanalysis and its actualization.
Approach
The EXREAN project is the first of its kind to systematically examine reanalysis and actualization processes in a laboratory setting.
EXREAN brings together and integrates insights from historical linguistics, psycholinguistics, and social psychology. Using experimental paradigms from natural language comprehension and artificial language learning, participants from typologically diverse languages will be trained to replicate three attested historical reanalysis processes from different grammatical domains.
The project will test the hypothesis that reanalysis processes can be predicted from exposure to bridging contexts, social factors such as arousal and familiarity, individual differences in habit tendency, and blocking effects arising from previous experience with language.
Innovation and Impact
EXREAN breaks new ground by developing a methodology by which hypotheses on processes of language change can be submitted to rigorous testing.
It will establish the necessity to define reanalysis not only as a cognitive, but also as a social process. In doing so, EXREAN will establish a new historical linguistics that understands itself as a predictive science.
Financiële details & Tijdlijn
Financiële details
| Subsidiebedrag | € 1.980.706 |
| Totale projectbegroting | € 1.980.706 |
Tijdlijn
| Startdatum | 1-4-2024 |
| Einddatum | 31-3-2029 |
| Subsidiejaar | 2024 |
Partners & Locaties
Projectpartners
- FREIE UNIVERSITAET BERLINpenvoerder
Land(en)
Vergelijkbare projecten binnen European Research Council
| Project | Regeling | Bedrag | Jaar | Actie |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Language geography and the dynamics of linguistic and population prehistoryThe LANGUAGE REDUX project aims to uncover the factors preserving ancient linguistic distributions by combining historical evidence with spatial statistics and quantitative modeling. | ERC Consolid... | € 1.974.676 | 2024 | Details |
Linguistic traces: low-frequency forms as evidence of language and population historyThis project aims to reconstruct early European languages by analyzing low-frequency linguistic variants in historical texts, integrating philology with deep learning to uncover cultural interactions. | ERC Advanced... | € 2.498.135 | 2025 | Details |
Second Nature: Towards an Information-Processing Theory of the Reification of Social RealityThis project aims to develop a comprehensive theory of reification, exploring its causes and effects to inform interventions that challenge harmful social constructs and improve societal outcomes. | ERC Starting... | € 1.499.465 | 2023 | Details |
Modeling causes of language change and conservatismThis project uses game-theoretic and reinforcement learning models to explore the balance between causes of language change and conservatism, analyzing historical data from three West Germanic languages. | ERC Starting... | € 1.172.500 | 2022 | Details |
The Delta of LanguageDELTA-LANG aims to predict psychotic relapses by analyzing spontaneous speech through NLP, linking language changes to neural signatures and enabling timely interventions. | ERC Synergy ... | € 9.939.329 | 2024 | Details |
Language geography and the dynamics of linguistic and population prehistory
The LANGUAGE REDUX project aims to uncover the factors preserving ancient linguistic distributions by combining historical evidence with spatial statistics and quantitative modeling.
Linguistic traces: low-frequency forms as evidence of language and population history
This project aims to reconstruct early European languages by analyzing low-frequency linguistic variants in historical texts, integrating philology with deep learning to uncover cultural interactions.
Second Nature: Towards an Information-Processing Theory of the Reification of Social Reality
This project aims to develop a comprehensive theory of reification, exploring its causes and effects to inform interventions that challenge harmful social constructs and improve societal outcomes.
Modeling causes of language change and conservatism
This project uses game-theoretic and reinforcement learning models to explore the balance between causes of language change and conservatism, analyzing historical data from three West Germanic languages.
The Delta of Language
DELTA-LANG aims to predict psychotic relapses by analyzing spontaneous speech through NLP, linking language changes to neural signatures and enabling timely interventions.