Natalia Levshina
Biographic Data
| ID | 805730 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Natalia Levshina |
| GIVEN NAMES | Natalia |
| FAMILY NAME | Levshina |
| SIGNATURE | LEVSHINA N |
| AFFILIATIONS | Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-3669-8784 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 18 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 23 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 18 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2012 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 3 |
Why AI is not (quite) the same as artificial intelligence: Reconciling isomorphism and communicative efficiency in formal reduction
In line with the principle of isomorphism, formally reduced expressions such as clippings or abbreviations develop distinct social and/or semantic functions. This article argues that such differentiation follows the principles of communicative efficiency, with accessibility playing a central role. The claim is supported by a corpus-based comparison of the full form a rtificial intelligence and the abbreviated form AI in online news and Reddit com…
Revered and reviled: A sentiment analysis of female and male referents in three languages
Our study contributes to the less explored domain of lexical typology, focusing on semantic prosody and connotation. Semantic derogation, or pejoration of nouns referring to women, whereby such words acquire connotations and further denotations of social pejoration, immorality and/or loose sexuality, has been a very prominent question in studies on gender and language (change). It has been argued that pejoration emerges due to the general derogat…
Updating constructions: Additive effects of prior and current experience during sentence production
While much earlier work has indicated that prior verb bias from lifelong language experience influences language processing, recent findings highlight the fact that verb biases induced during lab-based exposure sessions also influence processing. We investigated the nature of updating, i.e., how prior and current experience might interact in guiding subsequent sentence production. Participants underwent a short training session where we manipulat…
The effect of the use of T or V pronouns in Dutch HR communication
n Contains fulltext :\n 291919.pdf (Publisher’s version ) (Open Access)\n
Why we need a gradient approach to word order
This article argues for a gradient approach to word order, which treats word order preferences, both within and across languages, as a continuous variable. Word order variability should be regarded as a basic assumption, rather than as something exceptional. Although this approach follows naturally from the emergentist usage-based view of language, we argue that it can be beneficial for all frameworks and linguistic domains, including language ac…
Communicative efficiency and the Principle of No Synonymy: Predictability effects and the variation of want to and wanna
There is ample psycholinguistic evidence that speakers behave efficiently, using shorter and less effortful constructions when the meaning is more predictable, and longer and more effortful ones when it is less predictable. However, the Principle of No Synonymy requires that all formally distinct variants should also be functionally different. The question is how much two related constructions should overlap semantically and pragmatically in orde…
Corpus-based typology: Applications, challenges and some solutions
Over the last few years, the number of corpora that can be used for language comparison has dramatically increased. The corpora are so diverse in their structure, size and annotation style, that a novice might not know where to start. The present paper charts this new and changing territory, providing a few landmarks, warning signs and safe paths. Although no corpus at present can replace the traditional type of typological data based on language…
Semantic maps of causation: New hybrid approaches based on corpora and grammar descriptions
The present paper discusses connectivity and proximity maps of causative constructions and combines them with different types of typological data. In the first case study, I show how one can create a connectivity map based on a parallel corpus. This allows us to solve many problems, such as incomplete descriptions, inconsistent terminology and the problem of determining the semantic nodes. The second part focuses on proximity maps based on Multid…
Efficiency in human languages: Corpus evidence for universal principles
Over the last few years, there has been a growing interest in communicative efficiency. It has been argued that language users act efficiently, saving effort for processing and articulation, and that language structure and use reflect this tendency. The emergence of new corpus data has brought to life numerous studies on efficient language use in the lexicon, in morphosyntax, and in discourse and phonology in different languages. In this introduc…
Communicative efficiency and differential case marking: A reverse-engineering approach
The use of differential case marking of A and P has been explained in terms of efficiency (economy) and markedness. The present study tests predictions based on these accounts, using conditional probabilities of a particular feature given the syntactic role (cue availability), and conditional probabilities of a particular syntactic role given the feature in question (cue reliability). Cue availability serves as a measure of markedness, whereas cu…
The grammar network: How linguistic structure is shaped by language use by Holger Diessel
Measuring iconicity: A quantitative study of lexical and analytic causatives in British English
The idea of isomorphism of form and meaning has played an important role in functionalist theories of syntax and morphology. However, there have been few studies that test this hypothesis empirically on quantitative data. This study aims to fill this gap by testing the predictions made by iconicity theory with the help of statistical hypothesis-testing techniques. The paper focuses on a subtype of isomorphism, namely iconicity of cohesion. The an…
When variables align: A Bayesian multinomial mixed-effects model of English permissive constructions
This paper is a quantitative multifactorial study of the near-synonymous constructions let +V, allow + to V and permit + to V based on the British National Corpus. The study investigates the differences between these constructions with the help of 23 formal, semantic, social and collostructional variables. A Bayesian multinomial mixed-effects model reveals a remarkable alignment of the variables that represent different dimensions of variation, n…
Cognitive Linguistics: Looking back, looking forward”
Since its conception, Cognitive Linguistics as a theory of language has been enjoying ever increasing success worldwide. With quantitative growth has come qualitative diversification, and within a now heterogeneous field, different – and at times opposing – views on theoretical and methodological matters have emerged. The historical “prototype” of Cognitive Linguistics may be described as predominantly of mentalist persuasion, based on introspect…
How to do Linguistics with R: Data exploration and statistical analysis
This book provides a linguist with a statistical toolkit for exploration and analysis of linguistic data. It employs R, a free software environment for statistical computing, which is increasingly popular among linguists. How to do Linguistics with R: Data exploration and statistical analysis is unique in its scope, as it covers a wide range of classical and cutting-edge statistical methods, including different flavours of regression analysis and…
Mapping constructional spaces: A contrastive analysis of English and Dutch analytic causatives
The paper demonstrates how verb and noun classes can be used as a common interface in contrastive Construction Grammar. It presents an innovative approach to the contrastive analysis of constructional spaces (sets of constructions covering a certain semantic domain). We compare English and Dutch analytic causatives by using the statistical technique of multiple correspondence analysis applied to data from large monolingual corpora. The method all…
Towards a 3D-grammar: Interaction of linguistic and extralinguistic factors in the use of Dutch causative constructions
Comparing constructicons: A usage-based analysis of the causative construction with doen in Netherlandic and Belgian Dutch
In the constructionist view, the grammar of a language is represented by constructions organized in taxonomic networks. This paper addresses the question of how one should account for the differences and similarities in the organization of such networks in different varieties of a language. In particular, a corpus-driven quantitative methodology is developed that can provide evidence for modelling the relevant constructional networks. The method …
When variables align: A Bayesian multinomial mixed-effects model of English permissive constructions
This paper is a quantitative multifactorial study of the near-synonymous constructions let +V, allow + to V and permit + to V based on the British National Corpus. The study investigates the differences between these constructions with the help of 23 formal, semantic, social and collostructional variables. A Bayesian multinomial mixed-effects model reveals a remarkable alignment of the variables that represent different dimensions of variation, n…
The effect of the use of T or V pronouns in Dutch HR communication
n Contains fulltext :\n 291919.pdf (Publisher’s version ) (Open Access)\n
Why we need a gradient approach to word order
This article argues for a gradient approach to word order, which treats word order preferences, both within and across languages, as a continuous variable. Word order variability should be regarded as a basic assumption, rather than as something exceptional. Although this approach follows naturally from the emergentist usage-based view of language, we argue that it can be beneficial for all frameworks and linguistic domains, including language ac…
Towards a 3D-grammar: Interaction of linguistic and extralinguistic factors in the use of Dutch causative constructions
Cognitive Linguistics: Looking back, looking forward”
Since its conception, Cognitive Linguistics as a theory of language has been enjoying ever increasing success worldwide. With quantitative growth has come qualitative diversification, and within a now heterogeneous field, different – and at times opposing – views on theoretical and methodological matters have emerged. The historical “prototype” of Cognitive Linguistics may be described as predominantly of mentalist persuasion, based on introspect…
Mapping constructional spaces: A contrastive analysis of English and Dutch analytic causatives
The paper demonstrates how verb and noun classes can be used as a common interface in contrastive Construction Grammar. It presents an innovative approach to the contrastive analysis of constructional spaces (sets of constructions covering a certain semantic domain). We compare English and Dutch analytic causatives by using the statistical technique of multiple correspondence analysis applied to data from large monolingual corpora. The method all…
Updating constructions: Additive effects of prior and current experience during sentence production
While much earlier work has indicated that prior verb bias from lifelong language experience influences language processing, recent findings highlight the fact that verb biases induced during lab-based exposure sessions also influence processing. We investigated the nature of updating, i.e., how prior and current experience might interact in guiding subsequent sentence production. Participants underwent a short training session where we manipulat…
Comparing constructicons: A usage-based analysis of the causative construction with doen in Netherlandic and Belgian Dutch
In the constructionist view, the grammar of a language is represented by constructions organized in taxonomic networks. This paper addresses the question of how one should account for the differences and similarities in the organization of such networks in different varieties of a language. In particular, a corpus-driven quantitative methodology is developed that can provide evidence for modelling the relevant constructional networks. The method …
Mapping constructional spaces: A contrastive analysis of English and Dutch analytic causatives
The paper demonstrates how verb and noun classes can be used as a common interface in contrastive Construction Grammar. It presents an innovative approach to the contrastive analysis of constructional spaces (sets of constructions covering a certain semantic domain). We compare English and Dutch analytic causatives by using the statistical technique of multiple correspondence analysis applied to data from large monolingual corpora. The method all…
Towards a 3D-grammar: Interaction of linguistic and extralinguistic factors in the use of Dutch causative constructions
How to do Linguistics with R: Data exploration and statistical analysis
This book provides a linguist with a statistical toolkit for exploration and analysis of linguistic data. It employs R, a free software environment for statistical computing, which is increasingly popular among linguists. How to do Linguistics with R: Data exploration and statistical analysis is unique in its scope, as it covers a wide range of classical and cutting-edge statistical methods, including different flavours of regression analysis and…
When variables align: A Bayesian multinomial mixed-effects model of English permissive constructions
This paper is a quantitative multifactorial study of the near-synonymous constructions let +V, allow + to V and permit + to V based on the British National Corpus. The study investigates the differences between these constructions with the help of 23 formal, semantic, social and collostructional variables. A Bayesian multinomial mixed-effects model reveals a remarkable alignment of the variables that represent different dimensions of variation, n…
Cognitive Linguistics: Looking back, looking forward”
Since its conception, Cognitive Linguistics as a theory of language has been enjoying ever increasing success worldwide. With quantitative growth has come qualitative diversification, and within a now heterogeneous field, different – and at times opposing – views on theoretical and methodological matters have emerged. The historical “prototype” of Cognitive Linguistics may be described as predominantly of mentalist persuasion, based on introspect…
Measuring iconicity: A quantitative study of lexical and analytic causatives in British English
The idea of isomorphism of form and meaning has played an important role in functionalist theories of syntax and morphology. However, there have been few studies that test this hypothesis empirically on quantitative data. This study aims to fill this gap by testing the predictions made by iconicity theory with the help of statistical hypothesis-testing techniques. The paper focuses on a subtype of isomorphism, namely iconicity of cohesion. The an…
Efficiency in human languages: Corpus evidence for universal principles
Over the last few years, there has been a growing interest in communicative efficiency. It has been argued that language users act efficiently, saving effort for processing and articulation, and that language structure and use reflect this tendency. The emergence of new corpus data has brought to life numerous studies on efficient language use in the lexicon, in morphosyntax, and in discourse and phonology in different languages. In this introduc…
Communicative efficiency and differential case marking: A reverse-engineering approach
The use of differential case marking of A and P has been explained in terms of efficiency (economy) and markedness. The present study tests predictions based on these accounts, using conditional probabilities of a particular feature given the syntactic role (cue availability), and conditional probabilities of a particular syntactic role given the feature in question (cue reliability). Cue availability serves as a measure of markedness, whereas cu…
The grammar network: How linguistic structure is shaped by language use by Holger Diessel
Communicative efficiency and the Principle of No Synonymy: Predictability effects and the variation of want to and wanna
There is ample psycholinguistic evidence that speakers behave efficiently, using shorter and less effortful constructions when the meaning is more predictable, and longer and more effortful ones when it is less predictable. However, the Principle of No Synonymy requires that all formally distinct variants should also be functionally different. The question is how much two related constructions should overlap semantically and pragmatically in orde…
Corpus-based typology: Applications, challenges and some solutions
Over the last few years, the number of corpora that can be used for language comparison has dramatically increased. The corpora are so diverse in their structure, size and annotation style, that a novice might not know where to start. The present paper charts this new and changing territory, providing a few landmarks, warning signs and safe paths. Although no corpus at present can replace the traditional type of typological data based on language…
Semantic maps of causation: New hybrid approaches based on corpora and grammar descriptions
The present paper discusses connectivity and proximity maps of causative constructions and combines them with different types of typological data. In the first case study, I show how one can create a connectivity map based on a parallel corpus. This allows us to solve many problems, such as incomplete descriptions, inconsistent terminology and the problem of determining the semantic nodes. The second part focuses on proximity maps based on Multid…
Updating constructions: Additive effects of prior and current experience during sentence production
While much earlier work has indicated that prior verb bias from lifelong language experience influences language processing, recent findings highlight the fact that verb biases induced during lab-based exposure sessions also influence processing. We investigated the nature of updating, i.e., how prior and current experience might interact in guiding subsequent sentence production. Participants underwent a short training session where we manipulat…
The effect of the use of T or V pronouns in Dutch HR communication
n Contains fulltext :\n 291919.pdf (Publisher’s version ) (Open Access)\n
Why we need a gradient approach to word order
This article argues for a gradient approach to word order, which treats word order preferences, both within and across languages, as a continuous variable. Word order variability should be regarded as a basic assumption, rather than as something exceptional. Although this approach follows naturally from the emergentist usage-based view of language, we argue that it can be beneficial for all frameworks and linguistic domains, including language ac…
Revered and reviled: A sentiment analysis of female and male referents in three languages
Our study contributes to the less explored domain of lexical typology, focusing on semantic prosody and connotation. Semantic derogation, or pejoration of nouns referring to women, whereby such words acquire connotations and further denotations of social pejoration, immorality and/or loose sexuality, has been a very prominent question in studies on gender and language (change). It has been argued that pejoration emerges due to the general derogat…
Why AI is not (quite) the same as artificial intelligence: Reconciling isomorphism and communicative efficiency in formal reduction
In line with the principle of isomorphism, formally reduced expressions such as clippings or abbreviations develop distinct social and/or semantic functions. This article argues that such differentiation follows the principles of communicative efficiency, with accessibility playing a central role. The claim is supported by a corpus-based comparison of the full form a rtificial intelligence and the abbreviated form AI in online news and Reddit com…
Linguistics (15 works) · Computer Science (11 works) · Natural language processing (8 works) · Psychology (8 works) · Artificial Intelligence (7 works) · Natural Language Processing Techniques (7 works) · Philosophy (7 works) · Syntax, Semantics, Linguistic Variation (7 works) · Language and cultural evolution (6 works) · Language, Metaphor, and Cognition (5 works)