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March 25, 2026Language Variation and ChangeOpen Access

Unpredictable grammatical choices are not harder than predictable ones

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Authors

THThomas Van HoeyMGMatt Hunt GardnerRMRuiming Ma

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Overview

Variationist analysis compares the difficulty of grammatical choices in speech, suggesting no difference in unpredictability.

Key Points

  • The study investigates whether unpredictable grammatical contexts are more difficult than predictable ones in speech production.
  • Analyzed the SWITCHBOARD corpus of spoken American English
  • Examined 7,295 conversational turns and 7,001 optionality contexts
  • Recorded filled and unfilled pauses during speech production
  • Weak probabilistic cueing does not lead to more production difficulties than strong cueing
  • Unpredictable grammatical choices are as easy as predictable ones

Cite This Study

Hoey et al. (2026) studied this question.

synapsesocial.com/papers/69c37bb3b34aaaeb1a67e698https://doi.org/10.1017/s0954394526100660
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Also Consider

Synapse has enriched 5 closely related papers on similar clinical questions. Consider them for comparative context:

  1. 1No hesitation at the choice point: verb–particle placement is cost-free in production2026
  2. 2Cloze, Frequency, Surprisal, or Plausibility? A Comparative Analysis of Predictors for Local Ambiguity Resolution.2026
  3. 3Variability, Its Limits, and the Performance–Competence Debate: Implications of Linguistic Variability for a Theory of Grammar2025
  4. 4Modelling optionality in verb complementation: a multivariate learner corpus study of that/zero alternation2026
  5. 5Covariation in processing: grammar vs. context2024