Publications

Forthcoming

Levshina, N. (In press). Communicative efficiency and semantics: Language variation, universals and change. In P. Mondal (Ed.), Handbook of Linguistic Semantics - Bridging Theory, Philosophy and Cognition. Springer. [pdf (draft)]

2026

Levshina, N. (2026). Which languages are “hot”, and which are “cool”? Using Universal Dependencies for large-scale comparisons of subject Expression. In Proceedings of the Ninth Workshop on Universal Dependencies (UDW 2026), Palma de Mallorca, May 16, 2026 (pp. 49–53). ELRA [pdf (book of abstracts)]

2025

de Hoop, H., Levshina, N., Sadowski, S., & Schoenmakers, G.-J. (2025). Generalizing or personalizing: effects of three types of second person pronouns in service ads. Dutch Journal of Applied Linguistics, 14. [doi] [pdf]

Levshina, N. (2025). A Bayesian dawn in linguistics: Trends, benefits and good practices. arXiv. [doi] [pdf]

Levshina, N. (2025). Efficiency in Language Change. Reference Module in Social Sciences. Elsevier. [doi] [pdf (draft)]

Levshina, N. (2025). The paradox of SOV: A case for token-based typology. Glottometrics, 59(2), 1–23. [doi] [pdf]

2024

Ariel, M., & Levshina, N. (2024). The counting principle makes number words unique. Corpus Linguistics and Linguistic Theory, 21(1), 173-199. [doi] [pdf]

Levshina, N., Koptjevskaja-Tamm, M., & Östling, R. (2024). Revered and reviled: a sentiment analysis of female and male referents in three languages. Frontiers in Communication, 9. [doi] [pdf]

Levshina, N. (2024). Word classes in corpus linguistics. In E. van Lier (Ed.), The Oxford Handbook of Word Classes (pp. 833–850). Oxford University Press. [pdf]

2023

de Hoop, H., Levshina, N., & Segers, M. (2023). The effect of the use of T or V pronouns in Dutch HR communication. Journal of Pragmatics, 203, 96–109. [doi] [pdf]

Ebert, C., Levshina, N., & Widmer, P. (2023). ParTree - Parallel Treebanks: A multilingual corpus of movie subtitles. (Version 1.0.0) [Data set]. LaRS - Language Repository of Switzerland. [doi]

Levshina, N., Namboodiripad, S., Allassonnière-Tang, M., Kramer, M., Talamo, L., Verkerk, A., Wilmoth, S., Rodriguez, G., Gupton, T., Kidd, E., Liu, Z., Naccarato, C., Nordlinger, R., Panova, A. & Stoynova, N. (2023). Why we need a gradient approach to word order. Linguistics, 61(4), 825–883. [doi] [pdf]

Thothathiri, M., & Levshina, N. (2023). Updating constructions: additive effects of prior and current experience during sentence production. Cognitive Linguistics, 34(3–4), 479–502. [doi] [pdf]

2022

Levshina, N. (2022). Frequency, informativity and word length: Insights from typologically diverse corpora. Entropy, 24(2), 280. [doi] [pdf]

Levshina, N. (2022). Communicative Efficiency: Language Structure and Use. Cambridge University Press. [doi] [blog post]

Levshina, N. (2022). Comparing Bayesian and frequentist models of language variation: The case of help + (to) Infinitive. In O. Schützler & J. Schlüter (Eds.), Data and methods in corpus linguistics – Comparative Approaches (pp. 224–258). Cambridge University Press. [pdf (draft)]

Levshina, N. (2022). Corpus-based typology: applications, challenges and some solutions. Linguistic Typology, 26(1), 129–160. [doi] [pdf]

Levshina, N. (2022). Semantic maps of causation: New hybrid approaches based on corpora and grammar descriptions. Zeitschrift für Sprachwissenschaft, 41(1), 179–205. [doi] [pdf]

Levshina, N. (2022). Testing communicative and learning biases in a causal model of language evolution: A study of cues to Subject and Object. In Proceedings of the 23rd Amsterdam Colloquium (pp. 383–387). [URL]

Levshina, N., & Hawkins, J.A. (2022). Verb-argument lability and its correlations with other typological parameters. A quantitative corpus-based study. Linguistic Typology at the Crossroads, 2(1), 94–120. [doi] [pdf]

Levshina, N., & Lorenz, D. (2022). Communicative efficiency and the Principle of No Synonymy: Predictability effects and the variation of want to and wanna. Language and Cognition, 14(2), 249–274. [doi] [pdf]

2021

Levshina, N. (2021). Cross-linguistic trade-offs and causal relationships between cues to grammatical subject and object, and the problem of efficiency-related explanations. Frontiers in Psychology, 12, 648200. [doi] [pdf]

Levshina, N. (2021). Communicative efficiency and differential case marking: A reverse-engineering approach. Linguistics Vanguard, 7(s3), 20190087. [doi] [pdf]

Levshina, N. (2021). The grammar network: How linguistic structure is shaped by language use. By Holger Diessel. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2019. Pp. xviii, 290. ISBN 9781108671040. $110 (Hb). Language, 97(4), 825–830. [doi] [pdf]

Levshina, N., & Moran, S. (2021). Efficiency in human languages: corpus evidence for universal principles. Linguistics Vanguard, 7(s3), 20200081. [doi] [pdf]

Sommer, N., & Levshina, N. (2021). Cross-linguistic differential and optional marking database (v1.0.0) [Data set]. Zenodo. [doi]

2020

Levshina, N. (2020). Conditional inference trees and random forests. In M. Paquot & S. Th. Gries (Eds.), Practical Handbook of Corpus Linguistics (pp. 611–643). Springer. [doi] [pdf]

Levshina, N. (2020). Efficient trade-offs as explanations in functional linguistics: some problems and an alternative proposal. Revista da ABRALIN, 19(3), 50–78. [doi] [pdf]

Levshina, N. (2020). How tight is your language? A semantic typology based on Mutual Information. In Proceedings of the 19th International Workshop on Treebanks and Linguistic Theories (pp. 70–78). ACL. [pdf]

2019

Levshina, N. (2019). Linguistic Frankenstein, or How to test universal constraints without real languages. In K. Schmidtke-Bode, N. Levshina, S.M. Michaelis & I.A. Seržant (Eds.), Explanation in linguistic typology: Diachronic sources, functional motivations and the nature of the evidence (pp. 203-223). Language Science Press. [URL] [pdf]

Levshina, N. (2019). Token-based typology and word order entropy: A study based on Universal Dependencies. Linguistic Typology, 23(3), 533–572. [doi] [pdf]

Levshina, N. (2019). Universal Dependencies in a galaxy far, far away… What makes Yoda’s English truly alien. In Proceedings of SyntaxFest, August 26–30 2019, Paris. [pdf]

Schmidtke-Bode, K., Levshina, N., Michaelis, S.M., & Seržant, I.A. (Eds.). (2019). Explanation in linguistic typology: Diachronic sources, functional motivations and the nature of the evidence. Language Science Press. [URL] [pdf]

2018

Levshina, N. (2018). Anybody (at) home? Communicative efficiency knocking on the Construction Grammar door. Yearbook of the German Cognitive Linguistics Association, 6, 71–90. [doi] [pdf]

Levshina, N. (2018[2016]). Finding the best fit for direct and indirect causation: a typological study. Lingua Posnaniensis, 58(2), 65–83. [doi] [pdf]

Levshina, N. (2018). Probabilistic grammar and constructional predictability: Bayesian generalized additive mixed-effects models of help + (to) Infinitive in varieties of web-based English. Glossa, 3(1), 1–22. [doi] [pdf]

Levshina, N. (2018). Towards a Theory of Communicative Efficiency in Human Languages. Habilitation thesis, Leipzig University. [doi] [pdf]

Schmidtke-Bode, K. & Levshina, N. (2018). Assessing case effects on differential case marking: methodological, conceptual and theoretical issues in the quest for a universal. In I.A. Seržant & A. Witzlack-Makarevich (Eds.), Diachrony of Differential Argument Marking (pp. 509–537). Language Science Press. [URL] [pdf]

2017

Levshina, N. (2017). A multivariate study of T/V forms in European languages based on a parallel corpus of film subtitles. Research in Language, 15(2), 153–172. [doi] [pdf]

Levshina, N. (2017). Communicative efficiency and syntactic predictability: A crosslinguistic study based on the Universal Dependencies corpora. In Proceedings of the NoDaLiDa 2017 Workshop on Universal Dependencies (UDW 2017), Gothenburg, Sweden, 22 May 2017 (pp. 72–78). ACL. [URL] [pdf]

Levshina, N. (2017). Measuring iconicity: A quantitative study of lexical and analytic causatives in British English. Functions of Language, 24(3), 319–347. [doi] [pdf]

Levshina, N. (2017). Online film subtitles as a corpus: An n-gram approach. Corpora, 12(3), 311–338. [doi] [pdf (draft)]

Levshina, N. 2017. SÉMANTICKÁ MAPA (Semantic maps). In P. Karlík, M. Nekula, J. Pleskalová (eds.) Nový encyklopedický slovník češtiny (New Encyclopedic Dictionary of Czech). Nakladatelství Lidové noviny. [URL (in Czech)] [pdf (English version)]

Levshina, N., & Degand, L. (2017). Just because: In search of objective criteria of subjectivity in causal connectives. Dialogue and Discourse, 8(1), 132–150. [doi] [pdf]

2016

Divjak, D., Levshina, N., & Klavan, J. (2016). Looking back, looking forward: The many faces of Cognitive Linguistics. Cognitive Linguistics, 27(4), 447–464. [doi] [pdf]

Levshina, N. (2016). A geometric exemplar-based model of semantic structure: The Dutch causative construction with laten. In J. Yoon & S. Th. Gries (Eds.), Construction Grammar beyond English: (pp. 241–262). [doi] [pdf (draft)]

Levshina, N. (2016). Control, causation and Google counts. Nederlandse Taalkunde, 21(2), 253–263. [doi] [pdf]

Levshina, N. (2016). Verbs of letting in Germanic and Romance languages: A quantitative investigation based on a parallel corpus of film subtitles. Languages in Contrast, 16(1), 84–117. [doi] [pdf]

Levshina, N. (2016). When variables align: A Bayesian multinomial mixed-effects model of English permissive constructions. Cognitive Linguistics, 27(2), 235–268. [doi] [pdf]

Levshina, N. (2016). Why we need a token-based typology: A case study of analytic and lexical causatives in fifteen European languages. Folia Linguistica, 50(2), 507–542. [doi] [pdf]

2015

Levshina, N. (2015). European analytic causatives as a comparative concept: Evidence from a parallel corpus of film subtitles. Folia Linguistica, 49(2), 487–520. [doi] [pdf]

Levshina, N. (2015). How to Do Linguistics with R: Data exploration and statistical analysis. John Benjamins. [doi]

Levshina, N. (2015). How Europeans GIVE: A two-layered semantic typology based on parallel corpora. In B. Nolan, G. Rawoens & E. Diedrichsen (Eds.), Causation, Permission, and Transfer: Argument realisation in GET, TAKE, PUT, GIVE and LET verbs (pp. 147–175). John Benjamins. [doi] [pdf]

2014

Gast, V., & Levshina, N. (2014). Motivating w(h)-clefts in English and German: A hypothesis-driven parallel corpus study. In A.-M. de Cesare (Ed.), Frequency, Forms and Functions of Cleft Constructions in Romance and Germanic. Contrastive, Corpus-Based Studies (pp. 377–414). De Gruyter Mouton. [doi] [pdf (draft)]

Levshina, N. (2014). Geographic variation of quite + ADJ in twenty national varieties of English: A pilot study. Yearbook of the German Cognitive Linguistics Association, 2(1), 109–126. [doi] [pdf]

Levshina, N. (2014). Putting meaning on the map: Integration of geographic and semantic variation in multivariate models of language use. In Ilja A. Seržant & Björn Wiemer (Eds.), Contemporary approaches to dialectology: The area of North, Northwest Russian and Belarusian vernaculars. Slavica Bergensia, 13 (pp. 37–52). University of Bergen. [pdf]

Levshina, N., Geeraerts, D., & Speelman, D. (2014). Dutch causative constructions with doen and laten: Quantification of meaning and meaning of quantification. In D. Glynn & J. Robinson (Eds.), Corpus Methods for Semantics: Quantitative studies in polysemy and synonymy (pp. 377–414). John Benjamins. [doi] [pdf (draft)]

Levshina, N., & Heylen, K. (2014). A Radically Data-driven Construction Grammar: Experiments with Dutch causative constructions. In R. Boogaart, T. Colleman & G. Rutten (Eds.), Extending the Scope of Construction Grammar (pp. 17–46). Mouton de Gruyter. [doi] [pdf (draft)]

2013

Levshina, N., Geeraerts, D., & Speelman, D. (2013). Mapping constructional spaces: A contrastive analysis of English and Dutch analytic causatives. Linguistics, 51(4), 825–854. [doi] [pdf]

Levshina, N., Geeraerts, D., & Speelman, D. (2013). Towards a 3D-Grammar: Interaction of linguistic and extralinguistic factors in the use of Dutch causative constructions. Journal of Pragmatics, 52, 34–48. [doi] [pdf]

2012 and earlier

Levshina, N. (2012). Comparing constructicons: A usage-based analysis of the causative construction with doen in Netherlandic and Belgian Dutch. Constructions and Frames, 4(1), 76–101. [doi] [pdf (draft)]

Levshina, N., Geeraerts, D., & Speelman, D. (2011). Changing the world vs. changing the mind: Distinctive collexeme analysis of the causative construction with doen in Belgian and Netherlandic Dutch. In F. Gregersen, J. Parrot and P. Quist (Eds.), Language variation - European perspectives III. Selected papers from the 5th International Conference on Language Variation in Europe, Copenhagen, June 2009 (pp. 111–122). John Benjamins. [doi]

Levshina, N. (2011). Doe wat je niet laten kan (Do what you cannot let): A usage-based analysis of Dutch causative constructions. PhD dissertation, University of Leuven. [pdf]

Levshina, N. (2006). Kosvennyje rečevyje taktiki v predvybornom diskurse (Indirect speech tactics in pre-election discourse). Thesis for the degree of candidate of philological sciences, Sankt Petersburg State University.

Also see my publication list on ORCID.