Regularization is a

linguistic Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. It is called a scientific study because it entails a comprehensive, systematic, objective, and precise analysis of all aspects of language, particularly its nature and structure. Linguis ...

phenomenon observed in

language acquisition Language acquisition is the process by which humans acquire the capacity to perceive and comprehend language (in other words, gain the ability to be aware of language and to understand it), as well as to produce and use words and sentences to ...

, language development, and

language change Language change is variation over time in a language's features. It is studied in several subfields of linguistics: historical linguistics, sociolinguistics, and evolutionary linguistics. Traditional theories of historical linguistics iden ...

typified by the replacement of irregular forms in morphology or syntax by regular ones. Examples are "gooses" instead of "geese" in child speech and replacement of the

Middle English Middle English (abbreviated to ME) is a form of the English language that was spoken after the Norman conquest of 1066, until the late 15th century. The English language underwent distinct variations and developments following the Old English ...

plural form for " cow", "kine", with "cows". Regularization is a common process in

natural language In neuropsychology, linguistics, and philosophy of language, a natural language or ordinary language is any language that has evolved naturally in humans through use and repetition without conscious planning or premeditation. Natural languag ...

s; regularized forms can replace loanword forms (such as with "cows" and "kine") or coexist with them (such as with " formulae" and " formulas" or " hepatitides" and " hepatitises"). Erroneous regularization is also called ''overregularization''. In overregularization the regular ways of modifying or connecting words are mistakenly applied to words that require irregular modifications or connections. It is a normal effect observed in the language of beginner and intermediate language-learners, whether native-speaker children or foreign-speaker adults. Because most

s have some irregular forms, moving beyond overregularization is a part of mastering them. Usually learners' brains move beyond overregularization naturally, as a consequence of being immersed in the language. The same person may sometimes overregularize and sometimes say the correct form. Native-speaker adults can overregularize, but this does not happen often.

Comparison and contrast with phonetic overcompensation

Phonetic overcompensation, one form of hypercorrection, can be compared and contrasted with overregularization. In both cases, a learner must master the automatic overriding of a rule to the point that it happens unconsciously and instantly—one case being phonetic, the other being morphologic. (The neurologic mechanisms of how that happens are still being investigated. Perhaps the brain needs practice in sidestepping the rule entirely as the needed objects .g., phonetic strings or past-tense inflected verb formsare called directly instead of being derived on-the-fly via the rule.) Native-speaker children do not make phonetic overcompensation errors in the same manner or degree that foreign-speaker adults do, because they do not carry the baggage of an earlier language's differences. But it does not seem correct to say that overcompensation cannot happen at all to a monolingual speaker, because some minor tongue-twisting and some minor Freudian slips could possibly involve neurologic processes that are analogous to phonetic overcompensation.

References

{{reflist Language acquisition de:Übergeneralisierung acquisition-stub

Comparison and contrast with phonetic overcompensation

See also

References