Alternating the Non-Alternate: A Probabilistic Approach to Dative Alternation

This paper proposes an informational approach to the dative alternation in English following up on the Stochastic Optimality- Theoretic (OT) model by Bresnan and Nikitina (2003). While Bresnan and Nikitina's stochastic OT model resolves the crucial problem of 'gradience' unavoidably implicated in variation phenomena by applying the notion of probability to linguistic problems, it fails to account for the details of the unusually alternating examples, which normally would not alternate. More importantly, it fails to capture the focus effect involved in the alternation. This paper has worked out all the problematic examples by modifying the Bresnan and Nikitina model. This new account captures not only the unusual behavior of the less-alternating verbs and idioms but also the special focus effect of the common alternating verbs.