#  Week of October 10 

 





October 11, 2022

 

 

##  Harvard LangCog

 [Athulya Arvind ](https://web.mit.edu/aaravind/www/about.html)(MIT)

 Title: Alternatives in word learning

 Abstract: The meaning and use of a linguistic expression S is often determined in part by properties of its alternatives, unpronounced linguistic objects that relate in specific ways to S. In this talk, I will discuss two case studies illustrating how alternative-sensitive computations interact with lexical acquisition. First, I will offer a new theory of the well-established mutual exclusivity inference in novel noun learning (joint work with Gabor Brody & Roman Feiman). I will suggest that children derive the inference by reasoning over alternatives invoked by information-structural markers (instead of learning biases, as universally assumed in the literature). Second, I will show how we can use theories of alternative-sensitive computations to predict when lexical acquisition might be hard (joint work with Frank Staniszewski & Rachel Stacey). Focusing on the domain of modal verbs (have to, is allowed to), I suggest that specific failures in children's behavior with such expressions result from them entertaining a non-adult set of alternatives.

 Tuesday, October 11 | 5:30- 7:00 PM | William James Hall, Room #1550



 

 

 



 

 

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