Priority as frequency.
The centerpiece of determinacy grammar (DG) is determinacy form (DF). According to DF, a binder (z) binds an argument (x) to a predicate (y) with certain amounts of accuracy (I) and completeness (C), where I and C are defined in terms of frequencies (N): I = N(xy)/N(x) and C = N(xy)/N(y). DF is written: x,z-->y, I = m and C = n, where the values of I and C fall between 0.00 and 1.00. In this paper it is argued that priority = frequency. By this we mean that the spatial relations 'before--after' and the temporal relations 'earlier--later' are best understood as the frequentative relations 'less frequent--more frequent'. The Aristotelian interpretations of 'priority' are reexamined in this frequentative light, and it is concluded that relations of space and time are available to DG as relations of frequency. The leads to the question of frequency in DG, consisting of (1) a data matrix (DM) and (2) a determinacy analysis (DA) whose movements orchestrate DF. A typology of DM movements is given, and it is shown that 'earlier' and 'later' movements involve lower and higher frequencies, respectively. Moreover, it is found that DF qua movement suggests the existence of several movement-related frequency types.
Luelsdorff
P A
PA
Universität Regensburg, Deutschland.
D001288:Attention; D003210:Concept Formation; D006801:Humans; D011578:Psycholinguistics; D012660:Semantics