Phonological Register Classifier

New preprint on schwa density as a phonological register classifier

A new preprint on single-feature register classification in English text is available: Schwa Density as a Phonological Stylistic Classifier. The paper tests whether schwa density can serve as a phonologically motivated single-feature register classifier.

Key findings include:

• Schwa density matches or exceeds Flesch-Kincaid on all pre-registered corpora.
• A function-word ablation preserves or amplifies register discrimination on all four corpora.
• Schwa density functions as a Primary Stylistic Feature on within-prose variation and a Secondary Modality Feature on speech-versus-writing variation.

Materials and code are available on GitHub, and the paper site is here.

Tags: phonological register classifier, schwa density, single-feature register classification, English text, preprint, linguistics, natural language processing, NLP