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In:Historical Linguistics 2017: Selected papers from the 23rd International Conference on Historical Linguistics, San Antonio, Texas, 31 July – 4 August 2017
Edited by Bridget Drinka
[Current Issues in Linguistic Theory 350] 2020
► pp. 343–362

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The rich get richer

Preferential attachment and the diachrony of light verbs in Old Swedish

 | Purdue University
Published online: 9 July 2020
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https://doi.org/10.1075/cilt.350.16sun
Abstract
This study investigates five common light verbs in an Old Swedish corpus of texts from 1225–1526, focusing on the increasing frequency with which light verbs combine with an ever-widening range of NP-objects. Tools of statistical analysis from network science and ecology are used to track changes in frequency and diversity. Results indicate that light verbs are a small, closed class of verbs with unique historical properties that set them apart from more lexically-specific verbs. The way in which they grow more frequent and diverse is typical of the “rich-get-richer” phenomenon of preferential attachment in studies of dynamic network growth.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Background
    • 2.1Terminology
    • 2.2Historical trends and the frequency of LVCs
    • 2.3Possible explanations for historical trends among LVCs
  • 3.Methodology
    • 3.1Corpus
    • 3.2Selection of LVCs
    • 3.3Data collection procedure
    • 3.4Statistical analysis of LVC frequency and diversity
  • 4.Results
  • 6.Discussion
  • 6.Summary and conclusion
  • Notes
  • Abbreviations
  • References
  • Appendix
References (42)
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Cited by (1)

Cited by one other publication

Sundquist, John D.
2020. Productivity, richness, and diversity of light verb constructions in the history of American English. Journal of Historical Linguistics 10:3 ► pp. 349 ff. DOI logo

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