The synergy of linguistic theories and models of learning

Abstract Emergence is a key concept in usage-based linguistic theories, which view natural languages as complex systems learned through exposure to usage, by relying on general cognitive functions rather than an innate language faculty and its underlying universal grammar posited by generativist theories. Despite its importance, however, the emergence of language knowledge has often been treated axiomatically rather than being empirically substantiated. We argue that learning, understood as a gradual change in knowledge, can serve as an operational definition of emergence of knowledge through usage. Integrating usage-based linguistics with the psychology of learning creates a productive synergy. For linguistics, a focus on learning processes constrains theoretical abstractions to those learnable from data. For psychology, language provides a unique and challenging testbed for understanding real-world learning mechanisms. We illustrate these points with case studies on the tense-aspect systems of English and Polish, shedding new light on the role of imperfect contingencies in shaping linguistic patterns while testing psychological models of learning.