@article{LCNL:1,
	author={Todd R. Haskell and Maryellen C. MacDonald and Mark S. Seidenberg},
	year={2003},
	title={Language learning and innateness: Some implications of compounds research.},
	journal={Cognitive Psychology},
	volume={47},
	pages={119-163},
	comments={The fact that an eater of rats is a rat-eater, not a *rats-eater has been repeatedly cited as evidence for the level-ordering theory of the lexicon and the Pinker theory of the past tense. We show that the facts about rat-eating are not as commonly portrayed and that constraints on plurals as modifiers in compounds are graded in nature, arising from phonological and semantic factors.},
	abstract={In noun compounds in English, the modifying noun may be singular (mouse-eater) or an irregularly inflected plural (mice-eater), but regularly inflected plurals are dispreferred (*rats-eater). This phenomenon has been taken as strong evidence for dual-mechanism theories of lexical representations, which hold that regular (rule-governed) and irregular (exception) items are generated by qualitatively different and innately specified mechanisms. Using corpus analyses, behavioral studies, and computational modeling, we show that the rule-versus-exceptions approach makes a number of incorrect predictions. We propose a new account in which the acceptability of modifiers is determined by a constraint satisfaction process modulated by semantic, phonological, and other factors. The constraints are acquired by the child via general purpose learning algorithms, based on noun compounds and other constructions in the input. The account obviates the regular/irregular dichotomy while simultaneously providing a superior account of the data.},
	language={English},
	keywords={language learning; language development; compound nouns; lexical representations; dual mechanism theory; rule learning; innateness; morphology; adjectives; phonology; models; English; Grammar; Nouns; Cognitive Hypothesis Testing; Human Information Storage; Inflection; Syntax},
	issn={00100285},
	URL={http://lcnl.wisc.edu/publications/archive/1.pdf},
}