Complexity, Efficiency, and Language Contact

Table Of Contents

• Cover
• Title
• Copyright
• About the author
• About the book
• This eBook can be cited
• Acknowledgements
• Table of Contents
• List of abbreviations
• 1 Introduction
• 1.1 Communicative efficiency and language complexity
• 1.2 Aims and research questions
• 1.3 Structure of the book
• 2 Language complexity
• 2.1 Historical background
• 2.2 Sources of complexity variance
• 2.2.1 Language contact
• 2.2.2 Acquisition versus use
• 2.2.3 A typology of contact situations
• 2.2.4 Additional social determinants of complexity
• 2.3 Measuring complexity
• 2.3.1 Kusters (2003, 2008)
• 2.3.2 Miestamo (2006a, 2008)
• 2.3.3 Hawkins (1994, 2004, 2009, 2014)
• 2.3.4 Comparison between the three metrics
• 2.3.5 Some important distinctions
• 2.4 Complexity and varieties of English
• 3 Pronoun omission
• 3.1 Generative approaches
• 3.2 Cognitive approaches
• 3.2.1 Agreement and context
• 3.2.2 Accessibility theory
• 3.2.3 Further factors
• 3.3 Pronoun omission in English
• 3.3.1 Pronoun omission in the history of British English
• 3.3.2 Constraints in Present-day English
• 3.4 The complexity and efficiency of pronoun omission
• 4 A cross-varietal study of pronoun omission in English
• 4.1 Simplification and substrate effects
• 4.2 Data and methodology
• 4.3 Results
• 4.3.1 Global indexes: pronoun omission attestation and pervasiveness
• 4.3.2 Attestation and pervasiveness of individual features
• 4.4 Simplification and substrate effects revisited
• 5 Complexity variance in English: pronoun omission and language contact
• 5.1 Aims and purpose of the study
• 5.2 Data and methodology
• 5.2.1 Corpus and data retrieval process
• 5.2.2 Varieties selected
• 5.2.3 Variables included in the analysis
• 5.2.3.1 Language-external constraints
• 5.2.3.2 Language-internal constraints
• 5.2.3.3 Interim summary
• 5.2.4 Statistical analysis
• 5.2.4.1 Regression modelling and structural complexity
• 5.2.4.2 Random forests and system complexity
• 5.3 Frequency of omitted and overt pronouns per variety
• 5.3.1 Results
• 5.3.2 Discussion
• 5.4 Multivariate analysis of the data
• 5.4.1 Structural complexity
• 5.4.1.1 Results
• 5.4.1.2 Discussion
• 5.4.2 System complexity
• 5.4.2.1 Results
• 5.4.2.2 Discussion
• 5.5 Complexity and contact revisited
• 6 Concluding remarks and suggestions for further research
• Appendix
• List of figures
• List of tables
• References and sources
• Series Page