Advocates of usage-based linguistics including Joan Bybee and [[Martin Haspelmath]] argue that statistics of language usage depend on [[frequency]]. For instance, it is argued that the English verb ''tell'' always has two arguments ('tell something to someone') unlike the verb ''sell,'' which more frequently only has an object in actual language usage ('sell something'). It is hypothesized that such differences in the recurrence of the [[indirect object]] depend on statistical learning based on the language usage encountered by the individual. [[Jae Jung Song]] argues that the frequency explanation is circular—certain patterns are often used by people because they are frequent—and that the explanation of frequency issues must be found outside themselves.<ref name="Song_20122">{{cite book|last=Song|first=Jae Jung|title=Word Order|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=2012|isbn=9780521872140}}</ref>
== Constructions: Form-meaning pairings<ref>{{cite web |last1=Bybee |first1=Joan L. |title=Usage-based Theory and Exemplar Representations of Constructions |url=https://www.oxfordhandbooks.com/view/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199544004.001.0001/oxfordhb-9780199544004-e-032 |website=Oxford Handbooks Online}}</ref>==
