I primarily teach courses related to:

• Spanish grammar and language proficiency
• Sociolinguistics
• Historical linguistics

I have taught at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels, both in Sweden and abroad (Ghent University and Humboldt University of Berlin).

My research primarily centers on language variation and change, particularly focusing on morphosyntactic and semantic change. I approach these issues from a usage-based, cognitive, and probabilistic viewpoint. I predominantly utilize variationist and corpus linguistic methodologies to understand the emergence and diffusion of language change, as well as the cognitive foundations underlying variation and change. I mainly focus on phenomena of variation and change within different varieties of Spanish, but I also conduct research on other Romance languages. Within these languages, my studies cover a broad spectrum, including:

• incipient and ongoing language change
• frequency effects on change
• constructionalization and constructional change
• grammaticalization
• reanalysis
• analogy
• actualization
• linguistic efficiency
• redundancy
• pragmaticalization
• accessibility
• subjectification and intersubjectification
• cognitive pragmatics

Moreover, my specific interests involve possessive pronouns, definite articles, omission, structural reduction, accessibility markers, coding length variability, subjunctive attrition, entrenchment and chunking, and the social determinants of neurocognitive routines. I find innovative data collection techniques intriguing, such as utilizing social media and crowdsourcing methods. Additionally, I am keen on employing statistical models to analyze language variation and change. Furthermore, I am interested in issues related to (Internet) research ethics and remain dedicated to the principles of Open Science.

A selection from Stockholm University publication database

• Modelling incipient probabilistic grammar change in real time: the grammaticalisation of possessive pronouns in European Spanish locative adverbial constructions

  2021. Matti Marttinen Larsson. Corpus linguistics and linguistic theory

  Article

  The present paper provides a methodological case study on how underlying incipient grammar change might be discerned even when frequencies of the incoming variant are apparently marginal and stable. Analysing the spread of tonic possessive pronouns in complements of locative adverbial constructions in European Spanish from a probabilistic perspective, more than 11,000 locative constructions from 1900 to 2004 were compiled, and probabilistic grammar change was operationalised as an interactive function between language-internal predictors and real time. The results reveal that numerous intralinguistic factors have been and are active in constraining the variation, with the innovation spreading significantly in spite of apparent stability in frequency. Crucially, the findings demonstrate that, even in a relatively standardised written language where the innovation has a considerably low frequency, the innovation grammaticalises along the same pathway as in colloquial vernaculars where the incoming variant is employed much more frequently.

  Read more about Modelling incipient probabilistic grammar change in real time: the grammaticalisation of possessive pronouns in European Spanish locative adverbial constructions

• Probabilistic reduction and constructionalization: a usage-based diachronic account of the diffusion and conventionalization of the Spanish la de <noun> que construction

  Matti Marttinen Larsson.

  This paper scrutinizes the conventionalization of the Spanish expression la de <noun> que (‘the amount of <noun> that’), a reduced variant of la cantidad de <noun> que. The study seeks to determine the diachrony of and mechanisms underlying the emergence and diffusion of the la de <noun> que expression and whether it has conventionalized to develop into an independent form-function pairing. A Bayesian mixed-effects logistic regression analysis of approximately 2000 observations of diachronic corpus data tests the influence of the CONDITIONAL PROBABILITY of lexemes in the noun slot and the REGISTER, which both turn out to have a meaningful effect. It is argued that the initial omission of cantidad can be accounted for by appealing to the notion of probabilistic reduction, whereby omission is feasible in contexts involving a high degree of constructional predictability. In the mapping out of change, conventionalization of the innovative la de <noun> que is most observable in contexts involving high constructional predictability and is least prominent in contexts of low constructional predictability. On the grounds that, over time, the la de <noun> que progressively has become stylistically divergent from the longer expression, the two constructions are claimed to be functionally distinct.

  Read more about Probabilistic reduction and constructionalization

• Construction-lexeme accessibility determines variable and changing coding length: Evidence from constructional and syntactic changes in Spanish

  2024. Matti Marttinen Larsson.

  Conference

  Levshina (2022, p. 230) introduces the Hypothesis of Construction–Lexeme Accessibility and Formal Length, positing that the accessibility of a lexeme is negatively correlated with the coding length of a construction (i.e., low accessibility renders longer coding, and vice versa). Analyzing morphosyntactic variation in contemporary English, Levshina (2022, p. 244) lends support to the hypothesis and suggests that this tendency may account for the evolution of existing constructions and the emergence of new ones. However, empirical testing on non-English languages and diachronic verifications are lacking. The present talk addresses this gap by examining two ongoing processes of language change in Spanish: one involving constructional complexification/lengthening (the conventionalization of a definite article in oblique relative clauses, illustrated in [1]), and one involving constructional reduction through conventionalized omission (the constructionalization of the exclamative construction la de que, emerged as a reduced variant of la cantidad de que, presented in [2]).

  (1) a. la casa en que nac-í

  DET.FEM.SG house in REL born-1SG-PRET

  b. la casa en la que nac-í

  DET.FEM.SG house in DET.FEM.SG REL born-1SG-PRET

  ‘The house in which I was born’

  (2) a. la cantidad de vec-es que

  DET.FEM.SG amount of time.PL REL

  b. la de vec-es que

  DET.FEM.SG of time.PL REL

  ‘The number of times that’

  The study analyzes constructional attraction (Schmid, 2000, 2010; see also Levshina, 2018; Schmid & Küchenhoff, 2013), focusing on the predictability of a lexeme given a construction.

  The predictions that the study tests are:

  I. The less accessible (predictable) an antecedent given an oblique relative clause, the greater the chances of the definite article.

  II. The more accessible (predictable) the lexeme given the la [cantidad / Ø] de que construction, the greater the chances of the shorter variant (la Ø de que).

  The first case study (1) analyzes data from Peruvian, Colombian, and Argentinian Spanish extracted from the historical CORDE (1850-1974) and CREA (1975-2000) corpora. The second study (2) compiles European Spanish data from the CORDE, CREA, and CORPES XXI (2001-2023) corpora. Using mixed-effects logistic regression analyses, the influence of the constructional predictability is analyzed in interaction with real time. Results consistently show a significant influence of constructional predictability on synchronic variation and diachronic change. As predicted in (I), the definite article emerges in oblique relative clauses with inaccessible antecedents, spreading over time to high-accessibility contexts. Regarding (II), the study reveals the initial omission of cantidad in highly accessible contexts, with the shorter variant spreading to increasingly inaccessible contexts over time. This study provides diachronic support for the Hypothesis of Construction–Lexeme Accessibility and Formal Length, offering a unified account of the influence of accessibility constraints on efficient coding and the relationship between efficiency and the actualization of language change.

  Read more about Construction-lexeme accessibility determines variable and changing coding length

• On the cognitive underpinnings of actualization: A diachronic cross-varietal study on ongoing syntactic change in Spanish

  2024. Matti Marttinen Larsson.

  Conference

  The actualization of language change unfolds gradually across linguistic environments. Over the past decade, there has been growing recognition that actualization is largely driven by similarity-based generalizations-that is, by analogy (De Smet, 2012b). Moreover, frequently used structures often serve as analogical models, exerting a 'gravitational pull' that attracts other structures (De Smet, 2012a, p. 72). In other words, actualization through similarity-based generalizations is largely steered by frequency effects, and actualization hinges on usage and experience with language use. In this talk, I address a somewhat overlooked aspect of actualization theory, namely that the input structures that are most frequent in one community may differ from the most frequent structures in another community (see also Fischer 2013, p. 528). Granted that analogy is sensitive to frequency effects, this discrepancy in input frequency of structures could, hypothetically speaking, result in variations in the substructures guiding the course of actualization across different varieties of a language (see e.g. Grafmiller et al., 2018; Röthlisberger et al., 2017; Verhagen et al., 2018; Barking et al., 2022). Since the cross-varietally potentially variable composition of probabilistic grammars has not yet been incorporated into actualization theory, the extent to which a determined course of actualization is community-specific cannot be predicted by actualization theory in its current form.

  To address this issue, I adopt a usage-based perspective on actualization. I hypothesize that if domain-general cognitive mechanisms and processes along with usage factors steer the course of actualization, they should operate similarly across varieties of a language. This, in turn, would mean that the mapping out of change across linguistic contexts should largely align cross-varietally. To test this prediction, I analyze an instance of ongoing syntactic change in Spanish, namely the conventionalization of definite articles in oblique relative clauses (la casa en que nací vs la casa en la que nací, 'the house in which I was born'). Approximately 8000 oblique relative clauses from 19th-20th century Argentinean, Peruvian, and Colombian Spanish are analyzed using mixed-effects logistic regression to test the influence of cognitive and usage-determined factors, viz. the CONSTRUCTIONAL PREDICTABILITY of the antecedent lexeme, the NUMBER and LEVEL OF DETERMINATION of the antecedent, the DISTANCE between the antecedent and the relative clause, and the TYPE OF RELATIVE CLAUSE. Under a usage-based view of the actualization of this change (cf. supra), the prediction is that the new longer form should first be used to convey less accessible (e.g. unpredictable) meanings (Levshina, 2022: 135), and that, over time, the new form diffuses across contexts along similarity-based generalizations by spreading gradually across low-accessibility contexts towards high-accessibility contexts. Crucially, actualization should unfold in a similar manner in different varieties of a language.

  The results confirm this hypothesis by showing that, in all of the analyzed varieties, change is initiated and led in contexts involving low accessibility. Over time, the new variant spreads significantly to contexts involving high-accessibility antecedents (e.g. adjacent, definite, singular, higher-frequency antecedents, and restrictive clauses). These findings provide robust support for a usage-based view on actualization with a strong cognitive commitment.

  Read more about On the cognitive underpinnings of actualization

• Pathways of actualization across regional varieties and the real-time dynamics of syntactic change: Evidence from Spanish oblique relative clauses

  2023. Matti Marttinen Larsson.

  If the same instance of syntactic change is attested across different varieties of the same language, to what extent is the course of actualization noncontingent on regional varieties? This study delves into this question by analyzing approximately 8000 occurrences of Spanish oblique relative clauses from three historical macroregional varieties of Latin American Spanish. A cross-dialectal diachronic variationist analysis using mixed-effects regression modeling tests the hypothesis that, to the extent that actualization is conditioned by cognitive mechanisms and usage factors (such as analogy, frequency, coding efficiency, and accessibility), the trajectories of actualization should unfold cross-varietally in the same manner. The findings corroborate this hypothesis, and furthermore reveal a pattern that demonstrates that part of the variation is entirely functional cross-dialectally, while other constraints act as springboards for actualization. The methodological approach used here thus uncovers dynamics not evident in other variationist approaches to cross-varietal change, such as the comparative sociolinguistic approach.

  Read more about Pathways of actualization across regional varieties and the real-time dynamics of syntactic change: Evidence from Spanish oblique relative clauses

• Variation and change in the Romance possessive constructions

  2020. Miriam Bouzouita, Matti Marttinen Larsson. Moderna Språk 114 (3), 1-44

  Article

  In this introductory article, we will first illustrate the great morpho-syntactic diversity that exists in the Romance possessive systems from a comparative perspective, and then detail the recent changes that have taken place. After discussing the various nominal patterns, the use of tonic possessives in the adverbial and verbal domain will be examined. Subsequently, the various contributions of this special issue will be summarized and evaluated.

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• A variação no uso do artigo definido antes de possessivo em variedades africanas, brasileiras e europeias do Português contemporâneo: motivações internas e externas da gramaticalização

  2023. Laura Álvarez López, Matti Marttinen Larsson. Para o estudo comparativo de variedades do Português, 113-143

  Chapter

  Read more about A variação no uso do artigo definido antes de possessivo em variedades africanas, brasileiras e europeias do Português contemporâneo

• Feminine morphology in possessive complements of adverbial constructions in Andalusian varieties

  2022. Matti Marttinen Larsson, Miriam Bouzouita. Círculo de Lingüística Aplicada a la Comunicación 91, 157-171

  Article

  The present study scrutinizes the Spanish morphological variation between masculine and feminine possessive complements used with locative adverbials (e.g. cerca mío / mía ‘close to me’). The feminine -a suffix (e.g. mía) is the innovative variant and has been described by normative grammars as a low-frequency and stigmatized trait. This paper focuses on Andalusian Spanish, where the innovative -a-suffix has the highest frequency of use. Twitter data from the eight provinces of Andalusia are compiled in order to determine the innovation's diatopic distribution and linguistic diffusion. The quantitative results show that the -a variant predominates in all Andalusia and that the change has spread through all the adverbial locative contexts. We propose a series of analogical extensions have taken place whereby the feminine possessive complement spreads from one adverbial context to another, creating an analogical snowballing effect.

  Read more about Feminine morphology in possessive complements of adverbial constructions in Andalusian varieties

• El uso de los adverbios locativos con pronombres posesivos en el español uruguayo: un análisis diacrónico y probabilístico

  2022. Matti Marttinen Larsson, Laura Álvarez López.

  Article

  El presente artículo se centra en el uso variable de las construcciones adverbiales locativas del tipo (a)delante de mí – (a)delante mío en el español del Uruguay. Estudiamos los usos de tales variantes, destacando el proceso diacrónico de cambio lingüístico y los mecanismos subyacentes a este. A través del análisis cuantitativo de un conjunto de más de dos mil datos extraídos de cinco corpus comparables, describimos los contextos lingüísticos de empleo de estas construcciones entre 1900 y 2019. Comprobamos que la probabilidad de encontrar la variante posesiva aumenta con el tiempo y que esta forma innovadora se difunde particularmente junto a adverbios prefijados y con referentes de las 1ª y 2ª personas del singular (como en a-delante mío y a-trás tuyo). Al comparar estos resultados con los que se han obtenido anteriormente con datos de España, constatamos que el español uruguayo y el peninsular comparten una gramática probabilística de esta variación morfosintáctica, mostrando tendencias altamente similares con relación a los factores lingüísticos que condicionan el fenómeno estudiado (persona gramatical, número gramatical, tipo de locativo).

  Read more about El uso de los adverbios locativos con pronombres posesivos en el español uruguayo

• La gramaticalización del posesivo tónico “no posesivo”: los casos de delante mío y habla mal tuyo

  2023. Matti Marttinen Larsson. Revista de filología española

  Article

  Este estudio indaga en la gramaticalización de los posesivos tónicos cuyo uso se documenta desde hace algo más de un siglo en el sintagma adverbial (por ejemplo, delante mío) y en el sintagma verbal (por ejemplo, habla mal tuyo). Se arroja luz sobre la difusión del posesivo tónico “no posesivo” de un ámbito lingüístico a otro, cómo los cambios observados se relacionan entre sí, y qué condiciones y mecanismos posibilitan la extensión del posesivo tónico en su función argumental de persona. Los hallazgos ponen de manifiesto cómo la actualización del cambio avanza sigilosamente a través de extensiones analógicas sucesivas.

  Read more about La gramaticalización del posesivo tónico “no posesivo”

Show all publications by Matti Marttinen Larsson at Stockholm University