Juan Uriagereka
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199593521
- eISBN:
- 9780191731402
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199593521.001.0001
- Subject:
- Linguistics, Psycholinguistics / Neurolinguistics / Cognitive Linguistics, Syntax and Morphology
Since Juan Uriagereka originated the multiple spell-out model in 1999 it has been one of the most influential lines of research in syntactic theorizing. The model simplified a crucial element of the ...
More
Since Juan Uriagereka originated the multiple spell-out model in 1999 it has been one of the most influential lines of research in syntactic theorizing. The model simplified a crucial element of the minimalist account of language making it a more accurate reflection of syntax and its acquisition. This book explores important consequences of the multiple spell-out hypothesis and of the linked notion of cyclicity. It combines the latest thinking in linguistics with perspectives drawn from physics, biology, and animal behaviour, aiming thereby to advance the field first described by Noam Chomsky as biolinguistics. Without simplifying, this book seeks to present the issues and their broader biological significance. The subjects discussed include the linearization of structure, the punctuated nature of a derivation (the multiple spell-out model), cyclicity and its consequences for locality, and the definition of c-command and its relevance to various types of grammatical dependency. The book discusses the evolutionary implications of Uriagereka's work, considering, for example, whether the punctuated nature of the derivation is a resolution of conflicting demands that yield an equilibrium found in nature more generally.Less
Since Juan Uriagereka originated the multiple spell-out model in 1999 it has been one of the most influential lines of research in syntactic theorizing. The model simplified a crucial element of the minimalist account of language making it a more accurate reflection of syntax and its acquisition. This book explores important consequences of the multiple spell-out hypothesis and of the linked notion of cyclicity. It combines the latest thinking in linguistics with perspectives drawn from physics, biology, and animal behaviour, aiming thereby to advance the field first described by Noam Chomsky as biolinguistics. Without simplifying, this book seeks to present the issues and their broader biological significance. The subjects discussed include the linearization of structure, the punctuated nature of a derivation (the multiple spell-out model), cyclicity and its consequences for locality, and the definition of c-command and its relevance to various types of grammatical dependency. The book discusses the evolutionary implications of Uriagereka's work, considering, for example, whether the punctuated nature of the derivation is a resolution of conflicting demands that yield an equilibrium found in nature more generally.
Bridget D. Samuels
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199694358
- eISBN:
- 9780191731891
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199694358.003.0001
- Subject:
- Linguistics, Phonetics / Phonology, Psycholinguistics / Neurolinguistics / Cognitive Linguistics
‘Introduction’ provides an introduction to biolinguistics and a roadmap of the topics to be discussed in the remainder of the work.
‘Introduction’ provides an introduction to biolinguistics and a roadmap of the topics to be discussed in the remainder of the work.
Bridget D. Samuels
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199694358
- eISBN:
- 9780191731891
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199694358.003.0007
- Subject:
- Linguistics, Phonetics / Phonology, Psycholinguistics / Neurolinguistics / Cognitive Linguistics
‘Conclusions’ summarizes the work and suggests directions for future research.
‘Conclusions’ summarizes the work and suggests directions for future research.
Nomi Erteschik-Shir and Lisa Rochman (eds)
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- May 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199556861
- eISBN:
- 9780191722271
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199556861.001.0001
- Subject:
- Linguistics, Syntax and Morphology, Phonetics / Phonology
In this book leading scholars address the issues surrounding the syntax‐phonology interface. These principally concern whether the phonological component can influence syntax and if so how far and in ...
More
In this book leading scholars address the issues surrounding the syntax‐phonology interface. These principally concern whether the phonological component can influence syntax and if so how far and in what ways: such questions are a prominent component of current work on the biolinguistics of speech production and reception. The problematic relationship between syntax and phonology has long piqued the interest of syntacticians and phonologists: the connections between sound and structure have played a key role in generative grammar from its inception, initially relating to focus and the prosodic marking of constituent structure and more recently to word‐order constraints. This book advances this work in a series of critical and interlinked presentations of the latest thinking and research. In doing so it draws on data from a wide range of languages, evidence from disordered language, and related work in language acquisition.Less
In this book leading scholars address the issues surrounding the syntax‐phonology interface. These principally concern whether the phonological component can influence syntax and if so how far and in what ways: such questions are a prominent component of current work on the biolinguistics of speech production and reception. The problematic relationship between syntax and phonology has long piqued the interest of syntacticians and phonologists: the connections between sound and structure have played a key role in generative grammar from its inception, initially relating to focus and the prosodic marking of constituent structure and more recently to word‐order constraints. This book advances this work in a series of critical and interlinked presentations of the latest thinking and research. In doing so it draws on data from a wide range of languages, evidence from disordered language, and related work in language acquisition.
Elly van Gelderen
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- May 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199545872
- eISBN:
- 9780191720369
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199545872.003.0012
- Subject:
- Linguistics, Sociolinguistics / Anthropological Linguistics, Psycholinguistics / Neurolinguistics / Cognitive Linguistics
Estimates about the origin of modern human language range from 50,000 to 150,000 years ago. These estimates are based on archeological findings, the presence of tools and beads in e.g. the Blombos ...
More
Estimates about the origin of modern human language range from 50,000 to 150,000 years ago. These estimates are based on archeological findings, the presence of tools and beads in e.g. the Blombos cave at 70,000 years ago, and mutations in a gene connected to speech (FOXP2) at about 120,000 years ago. Genetics and archeology work well together and suggest a homeland for modern humans in Africa. What can linguistics contribute to this picture? This chapter shows that a biolinguistic approach has much to offer. The chapter is organized as follows. Section 12.2 presents a very general picture of the Minimalist Program, and in particular its biolinguistic focus. This framework is elaborated on in Section 12.3, especially where the operation Merge is concerned. Sections 12.4 and 12.5 focus on grammaticalization, discussing how it follows from economy and how it is relevant to language evolution; Section 12.6 concludes.Less
Estimates about the origin of modern human language range from 50,000 to 150,000 years ago. These estimates are based on archeological findings, the presence of tools and beads in e.g. the Blombos cave at 70,000 years ago, and mutations in a gene connected to speech (FOXP2) at about 120,000 years ago. Genetics and archeology work well together and suggest a homeland for modern humans in Africa. What can linguistics contribute to this picture? This chapter shows that a biolinguistic approach has much to offer. The chapter is organized as follows. Section 12.2 presents a very general picture of the Minimalist Program, and in particular its biolinguistic focus. This framework is elaborated on in Section 12.3, especially where the operation Merge is concerned. Sections 12.4 and 12.5 focus on grammaticalization, discussing how it follows from economy and how it is relevant to language evolution; Section 12.6 concludes.
Andrea Moro
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- May 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780262034890
- eISBN:
- 9780262335621
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- The MIT Press
- DOI:
- 10.7551/mitpress/9780262034890.001.0001
- Subject:
- Linguistics, Psycholinguistics / Neurolinguistics / Cognitive Linguistics
Understanding the nature and the structure of human language coincides with capturing the constraints which make a conceivable language possible or, equivalently, with discovering whether there can ...
More
Understanding the nature and the structure of human language coincides with capturing the constraints which make a conceivable language possible or, equivalently, with discovering whether there can be any impossible languages at all. This book explores these related issues, paralleling the effort of a biologist who attempts at describing the class of impossible animals. In biology, one can appeal for example to physical laws of nature (such as entropy or gravity) but when it comes to language the path becomes intricate and difficult for the physical laws cannot be exploited. In linguistics, in fact, there are two distinct empirical domains to explore: on the one hand, the formal domain of syntax, where different languages are compared trying to understand how much they can differ; on the other, the neurobiological domain, where the flow of information through the complex neural networks and the electric code exploited by neurons is uncovered and measured. By referring to the most advanced experiments in Neurolinguistics the book in fact offers an updated descriptions of modern linguistics and allows the reader to formulate new and surprising questions. Moreover, since syntax - the capacity to generate novel structures (sentences) by recombining a finite set of elements (words) - is the fingerprint of all and only human languages this books ultimately deals with the fundamental questions which characterize the search for our origins.Less
Understanding the nature and the structure of human language coincides with capturing the constraints which make a conceivable language possible or, equivalently, with discovering whether there can be any impossible languages at all. This book explores these related issues, paralleling the effort of a biologist who attempts at describing the class of impossible animals. In biology, one can appeal for example to physical laws of nature (such as entropy or gravity) but when it comes to language the path becomes intricate and difficult for the physical laws cannot be exploited. In linguistics, in fact, there are two distinct empirical domains to explore: on the one hand, the formal domain of syntax, where different languages are compared trying to understand how much they can differ; on the other, the neurobiological domain, where the flow of information through the complex neural networks and the electric code exploited by neurons is uncovered and measured. By referring to the most advanced experiments in Neurolinguistics the book in fact offers an updated descriptions of modern linguistics and allows the reader to formulate new and surprising questions. Moreover, since syntax - the capacity to generate novel structures (sentences) by recombining a finite set of elements (words) - is the fingerprint of all and only human languages this books ultimately deals with the fundamental questions which characterize the search for our origins.
Wolfram Hinzen and Michelle Sheehan
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- January 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780199654833
- eISBN:
- 9780191747977
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199654833.001.0001
- Subject:
- Linguistics, Theoretical Linguistics, Psycholinguistics / Neurolinguistics / Cognitive Linguistics
What is grammar? Why is it there? What difference, if any, does it make to the organization of meaning? This book seeks to give principled answers to these questions. Since grammar is universal in ...
More
What is grammar? Why is it there? What difference, if any, does it make to the organization of meaning? This book seeks to give principled answers to these questions. Since grammar is universal in human populations, its topic is ‘universal’ grammar—or the grammatical as such. But while modern generative grammar stands in the tradition of ‘Cartesian linguistics’ as emerging in the seventeenth century, this book re-addresses the question of the grammatical in a broader historical frame, taking inspiration from Modistic and Ancient Indian philosopher-linguists to formulate a different and ‘Un-Cartesian’ programme in linguistic theory. The core claim of this programme is that the organization of the grammar is not distinct from the organization of human thought—a sapiens-specific mode of thought, that is. This mode is uniquely propositional: grammar, therefore, organizes propositional forms of reference and makes knowledge possible. An explanatory programme emerges from this, which regards the grammaticalization of the hominin brain as critical to the emergence of our mind and our speciation. A thoroughly interdisciplinary endeavour, the book seeks to systematically integrate the philosophy of language and linguistic theory. It casts a fresh look at core issues that any philosophy of (universal) grammar will need to address, such as the distinction between lexical and grammatical meaning, the significance of part of speech distinctions, the grammar of reference and deixis, the relation between language and reality, and the dimensions of cross-linguistic and biolinguistic variation.Less
What is grammar? Why is it there? What difference, if any, does it make to the organization of meaning? This book seeks to give principled answers to these questions. Since grammar is universal in human populations, its topic is ‘universal’ grammar—or the grammatical as such. But while modern generative grammar stands in the tradition of ‘Cartesian linguistics’ as emerging in the seventeenth century, this book re-addresses the question of the grammatical in a broader historical frame, taking inspiration from Modistic and Ancient Indian philosopher-linguists to formulate a different and ‘Un-Cartesian’ programme in linguistic theory. The core claim of this programme is that the organization of the grammar is not distinct from the organization of human thought—a sapiens-specific mode of thought, that is. This mode is uniquely propositional: grammar, therefore, organizes propositional forms of reference and makes knowledge possible. An explanatory programme emerges from this, which regards the grammaticalization of the hominin brain as critical to the emergence of our mind and our speciation. A thoroughly interdisciplinary endeavour, the book seeks to systematically integrate the philosophy of language and linguistic theory. It casts a fresh look at core issues that any philosophy of (universal) grammar will need to address, such as the distinction between lexical and grammatical meaning, the significance of part of speech distinctions, the grammar of reference and deixis, the relation between language and reality, and the dimensions of cross-linguistic and biolinguistic variation.
Bridget D. Samuels
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199694358
- eISBN:
- 9780191731891
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199694358.001.0001
- Subject:
- Linguistics, Phonetics / Phonology, Psycholinguistics / Neurolinguistics / Cognitive Linguistics
This volume endeavors to bridge one of the gaps between linguistic theory and the biological sciences by presenting a comprehensive view of phonology which simultaneously addresses linguists and ...
More
This volume endeavors to bridge one of the gaps between linguistic theory and the biological sciences by presenting a comprehensive view of phonology which simultaneously addresses linguists and those who from other fields who would like to make contact with phonological theory. It proposes a new theory of phonological computation using representations and operations informed by a broader biolinguistic perspective, breaking the human language externalization system into component parts and investigating their possible origins in cognitive abilities found throughout the animal kingdom. Issues discussed include phonology in evolutionary perspective, the role of phonology within a Minimalist conception of the language faculty, phonological operations and representations, arguments for parallel cyclicity across linguistic modules, the order of operations at the syntax/phonology interface, diachronic phonology, the role of language acquisition in language change, and the sources of linguistic variation.Less
This volume endeavors to bridge one of the gaps between linguistic theory and the biological sciences by presenting a comprehensive view of phonology which simultaneously addresses linguists and those who from other fields who would like to make contact with phonological theory. It proposes a new theory of phonological computation using representations and operations informed by a broader biolinguistic perspective, breaking the human language externalization system into component parts and investigating their possible origins in cognitive abilities found throughout the animal kingdom. Issues discussed include phonology in evolutionary perspective, the role of phonology within a Minimalist conception of the language faculty, phonological operations and representations, arguments for parallel cyclicity across linguistic modules, the order of operations at the syntax/phonology interface, diachronic phonology, the role of language acquisition in language change, and the sources of linguistic variation.
Bridget D. Samuels
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199694358
- eISBN:
- 9780191731891
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199694358.003.0003
- Subject:
- Linguistics, Phonetics / Phonology, Psycholinguistics / Neurolinguistics / Cognitive Linguistics
‘Phonology in Evolutionary Perspective’ discusses the evolution of language, the properties of phonological computation, and the linguistic externalization system, using animal cognition studies to ...
More
‘Phonology in Evolutionary Perspective’ discusses the evolution of language, the properties of phonological computation, and the linguistic externalization system, using animal cognition studies to identify which components of phonology may not be unique to humans and/or to language. It demonstrates on the basis of behavioral and physiological studies on primates, songbirds, and a wide variety of other species that the cognitive abilities underlying human phonological representations and operations are present in creatures other than humans and in domains other than language.Less
‘Phonology in Evolutionary Perspective’ discusses the evolution of language, the properties of phonological computation, and the linguistic externalization system, using animal cognition studies to identify which components of phonology may not be unique to humans and/or to language. It demonstrates on the basis of behavioral and physiological studies on primates, songbirds, and a wide variety of other species that the cognitive abilities underlying human phonological representations and operations are present in creatures other than humans and in domains other than language.
Bridget D. Samuels
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199694358
- eISBN:
- 9780191731891
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199694358.003.0005
- Subject:
- Linguistics, Phonetics / Phonology, Psycholinguistics / Neurolinguistics / Cognitive Linguistics
‘Representations & Primitive Operations’ begins with a discussion of the organization of phonological structures such as features, segments, and syllables. It then presents a theory of phonological ...
More
‘Representations & Primitive Operations’ begins with a discussion of the organization of phonological structures such as features, segments, and syllables. It then presents a theory of phonological rule application and morphological concatenation based on formalization of the primitive operations search, copy, and delete, illustrated with examples of affixation, reduplication, harmony, and other phonological rules. The possible evolutionary origins of these primitive operations are also discussed.Less
‘Representations & Primitive Operations’ begins with a discussion of the organization of phonological structures such as features, segments, and syllables. It then presents a theory of phonological rule application and morphological concatenation based on formalization of the primitive operations search, copy, and delete, illustrated with examples of affixation, reduplication, harmony, and other phonological rules. The possible evolutionary origins of these primitive operations are also discussed.
Juan Uriagereka
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199593521
- eISBN:
- 9780191731402
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199593521.003.0001
- Subject:
- Linguistics, Psycholinguistics / Neurolinguistics / Cognitive Linguistics, Syntax and Morphology
This introductory chapter outlines the overall argument that the book will deploy. It starts by reflecting on the derivational approach to syntax, and then moves into considering different ways in ...
More
This introductory chapter outlines the overall argument that the book will deploy. It starts by reflecting on the derivational approach to syntax, and then moves into considering different ways in which computational theories for language have been interpreted. When the matter is seen from a biolinguistic perspective, interesting issues arise about whether syntactic computations are to be taken as biologically real, and ultimately what this might mean. The issue is particularly puzzling once it is assumed, as is customary within syntax and reviewed in Section 3, that derivations work their way ‘bottom-up’, while of course processing is ‘from-before-to-after’. Section 4 suggests that derivational cycles can be rationalized in terms of addressing this orthogonality (between syntax and processing), an idea that recalls traditional concerns of the Analysis-by-Synthesis sort, from a contemporary perspective coloured by minimalism. From the minimalist viewpoint one of the central questions, addressed in Section 5, is what one might mean by ‘structural’ conditions — in current parlance, ‘3rd factor’ considerations. Noam Chomsky has rationalized these in terms of issues arising via ‘computational complexity’, but this way of thinking is not traditional within computational linguistics, which as Section 6 shows has led to much debate. The present work suggests, in Sections 7 and 8, a different take on these matters, which coalesces into the sketch of a model of grammar in Section 9, to be developed at the end of the book. Section 10 outlines some questions that this approach poses — which go beyond linguistics — whereas Section 11 centres the discussion in more familiar terms.Less
This introductory chapter outlines the overall argument that the book will deploy. It starts by reflecting on the derivational approach to syntax, and then moves into considering different ways in which computational theories for language have been interpreted. When the matter is seen from a biolinguistic perspective, interesting issues arise about whether syntactic computations are to be taken as biologically real, and ultimately what this might mean. The issue is particularly puzzling once it is assumed, as is customary within syntax and reviewed in Section 3, that derivations work their way ‘bottom-up’, while of course processing is ‘from-before-to-after’. Section 4 suggests that derivational cycles can be rationalized in terms of addressing this orthogonality (between syntax and processing), an idea that recalls traditional concerns of the Analysis-by-Synthesis sort, from a contemporary perspective coloured by minimalism. From the minimalist viewpoint one of the central questions, addressed in Section 5, is what one might mean by ‘structural’ conditions — in current parlance, ‘3rd factor’ considerations. Noam Chomsky has rationalized these in terms of issues arising via ‘computational complexity’, but this way of thinking is not traditional within computational linguistics, which as Section 6 shows has led to much debate. The present work suggests, in Sections 7 and 8, a different take on these matters, which coalesces into the sketch of a model of grammar in Section 9, to be developed at the end of the book. Section 10 outlines some questions that this approach poses — which go beyond linguistics — whereas Section 11 centres the discussion in more familiar terms.
Sergio Balari and Guillermo Lorenzo
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- January 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780199665464
- eISBN:
- 9780191746116
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199665464.003.0001
- Subject:
- Linguistics, Psycholinguistics / Neurolinguistics / Cognitive Linguistics, Historical Linguistics
There exists a gap between linguistics and biology, in that the degree of resolution of observations coming from the latter are completely mismatched relative to the extremely detailed analyses of ...
More
There exists a gap between linguistics and biology, in that the degree of resolution of observations coming from the latter are completely mismatched relative to the extremely detailed analyses of the former. Besides, linguistic analyses usually contain complex technicalities motivated by theory-internal reasons, which have very little to do with an explication of the Faculty of Language (FL) from a true naturalistic stance. The impact of these considerations on the evolutionary study of language is clear: how could such a complex and intricate system as FL, with no obvious connections with the cognition of other species, have evolved and in such little time as language seems to have been around? The starting point of this book is the identification of a level of analysis that the authors consider “neutral” between those traditionally considered by linguists and biologists and that can favor the development of biolinguistics as a fruitful discipline.Less
There exists a gap between linguistics and biology, in that the degree of resolution of observations coming from the latter are completely mismatched relative to the extremely detailed analyses of the former. Besides, linguistic analyses usually contain complex technicalities motivated by theory-internal reasons, which have very little to do with an explication of the Faculty of Language (FL) from a true naturalistic stance. The impact of these considerations on the evolutionary study of language is clear: how could such a complex and intricate system as FL, with no obvious connections with the cognition of other species, have evolved and in such little time as language seems to have been around? The starting point of this book is the identification of a level of analysis that the authors consider “neutral” between those traditionally considered by linguists and biologists and that can favor the development of biolinguistics as a fruitful discipline.
Noam Chomsky
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780190464783
- eISBN:
- 9780190464806
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780190464783.003.0002
- Subject:
- Psychology, Cognitive Psychology, Cognitive Neuroscience
This chapter examines the nature of modularity of language from two perspectives: as an input system, in Fodor’s sense, with mechanisms dedicated to parsing sentence structure; and as a “central” ...
More
This chapter examines the nature of modularity of language from two perspectives: as an input system, in Fodor’s sense, with mechanisms dedicated to parsing sentence structure; and as a “central” system, dedicated to grammatical representations and computations yielding structural descriptions for both input and output systems. Arguments against the first and in favor of the second perspective are developed. The postulation of the language module as a central system appears to be immune to some of Fodor’s criticisms of central systems as holistic and dedicated to belief fixation. If the approach outlined here is on the right track, considerable rethinking of the nature and use of language is in order.Less
This chapter examines the nature of modularity of language from two perspectives: as an input system, in Fodor’s sense, with mechanisms dedicated to parsing sentence structure; and as a “central” system, dedicated to grammatical representations and computations yielding structural descriptions for both input and output systems. Arguments against the first and in favor of the second perspective are developed. The postulation of the language module as a central system appears to be immune to some of Fodor’s criticisms of central systems as holistic and dedicated to belief fixation. If the approach outlined here is on the right track, considerable rethinking of the nature and use of language is in order.
Nirmalangshu Mukherji
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- August 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780262014052
- eISBN:
- 9780262280310
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- The MIT Press
- DOI:
- 10.7551/mitpress/9780262014052.001.0001
- Subject:
- Linguistics, Sociolinguistics / Anthropological Linguistics
This book explores in detail human language theories according to Noam Chomsky. It states that human languages are complex, porous, and moldable systems for the purpose of sociocultural development, ...
More
This book explores in detail human language theories according to Noam Chomsky. It states that human languages are complex, porous, and moldable systems for the purpose of sociocultural development, and are similar to institutions that promote legal and political systems. It discusses subjects such as biolinguistics, linguistic theories, grammar and logic, words and concepts, language and music, and a joint of nature, including principles of efficient computation (PCE) as “laws of nature.” Chomsky suggests that language as a study of an aspect of the human mind is starting to have the “feel of scientific inquiry”. He said: “[I]t seems obvious, when you think about it, that the notion of language is a much more abstract notion than the notion of grammar...grammars have to have a real existence...But there is nothing in the real world corresponding to language. In fact, it could very well turn out that there is no intelligible notion of language.” The book presents biolinguistics as not merely a coverage of data or syntax research on language, but rather a search for invariants in nature and other perspectives on the organization of language and the architecture of the mind. It argues that grammars consist of mind/brain schematic and computational aspects, and its principles compute over symbols or representations that are useful to express thoughts and emotions.Less
This book explores in detail human language theories according to Noam Chomsky. It states that human languages are complex, porous, and moldable systems for the purpose of sociocultural development, and are similar to institutions that promote legal and political systems. It discusses subjects such as biolinguistics, linguistic theories, grammar and logic, words and concepts, language and music, and a joint of nature, including principles of efficient computation (PCE) as “laws of nature.” Chomsky suggests that language as a study of an aspect of the human mind is starting to have the “feel of scientific inquiry”. He said: “[I]t seems obvious, when you think about it, that the notion of language is a much more abstract notion than the notion of grammar...grammars have to have a real existence...But there is nothing in the real world corresponding to language. In fact, it could very well turn out that there is no intelligible notion of language.” The book presents biolinguistics as not merely a coverage of data or syntax research on language, but rather a search for invariants in nature and other perspectives on the organization of language and the architecture of the mind. It argues that grammars consist of mind/brain schematic and computational aspects, and its principles compute over symbols or representations that are useful to express thoughts and emotions.
Andrea Moro
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- May 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780262034890
- eISBN:
- 9780262335621
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- The MIT Press
- DOI:
- 10.7551/mitpress/9780262034890.003.0005
- Subject:
- Linguistics, Psycholinguistics / Neurolinguistics / Cognitive Linguistics
One of the major discoveries of modern linguistics is that languages do not vary arbitrarily: for example, all syntactic rules must be based on hierarchical structure generated by recursive procedure ...
More
One of the major discoveries of modern linguistics is that languages do not vary arbitrarily: for example, all syntactic rules must be based on hierarchical structure generated by recursive procedure rather than linear order. Neuroimaging techniques have shown that these formal restrictions constituting the boundaries of Babel are in fact represented in the brain for people who learn non-recursive artificially designed rules do not involve those neural circuits that underpin language computation. The boundaries of Babels cannot be cultural and arbitrary.Less
One of the major discoveries of modern linguistics is that languages do not vary arbitrarily: for example, all syntactic rules must be based on hierarchical structure generated by recursive procedure rather than linear order. Neuroimaging techniques have shown that these formal restrictions constituting the boundaries of Babel are in fact represented in the brain for people who learn non-recursive artificially designed rules do not involve those neural circuits that underpin language computation. The boundaries of Babels cannot be cultural and arbitrary.
John Bolender
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- August 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780262014441
- eISBN:
- 9780262289238
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- The MIT Press
- DOI:
- 10.7551/mitpress/9780262014441.003.0007
- Subject:
- Neuroscience, Research and Theory
This chapter argues that the relational models are not brain states resulting from self-organization in neural activity but are, rather, abstract objects akin to numbers and sets. However, even if ...
More
This chapter argues that the relational models are not brain states resulting from self-organization in neural activity but are, rather, abstract objects akin to numbers and sets. However, even if this turns out to be true, it would not invalidate the naturalism of earlier chapters. This chapter addresses the compatibility of biophysical approach and Platonism. It considers the empirical approach for discrete infinity of social structures. It illustrates that the relational models constitute an infinite collection of abstract objects. It also suggests that Platonist linguistics corresponds to the deepest level of necessity, with regard to the study of language. Biolinguistics corresponds to a somewhat more shallow level of necessity.Less
This chapter argues that the relational models are not brain states resulting from self-organization in neural activity but are, rather, abstract objects akin to numbers and sets. However, even if this turns out to be true, it would not invalidate the naturalism of earlier chapters. This chapter addresses the compatibility of biophysical approach and Platonism. It considers the empirical approach for discrete infinity of social structures. It illustrates that the relational models constitute an infinite collection of abstract objects. It also suggests that Platonist linguistics corresponds to the deepest level of necessity, with regard to the study of language. Biolinguistics corresponds to a somewhat more shallow level of necessity.
Nirmalangshu Mukherji
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- August 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780262014052
- eISBN:
- 9780262280310
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- The MIT Press
- DOI:
- 10.7551/mitpress/9780262014052.003.0001
- Subject:
- Linguistics, Sociolinguistics / Anthropological Linguistics
This chapter introduces the important yet complex subject of biolinguistics and the state of language research based on the theories of Chomsky, which explains classical issues and traditions that ...
More
This chapter introduces the important yet complex subject of biolinguistics and the state of language research based on the theories of Chomsky, which explains classical issues and traditions that were under study, as well as the specific limitations of cognitive inquiry. It also delves into the enterprise called biolinguistics, the overview of the subject, the seemingly connection of language and biology, and related body of doctrines. It also discusses mind-internal system, a science that extends human understanding of some aspect of the world in general. It also presents, if not briefly, studies by Plato, Descartes, and Russell, among others on the subject. This chapter presents the intellectual reflections of Chomsky after a decade of painstaking work in the principles-and-parameters framework.Less
This chapter introduces the important yet complex subject of biolinguistics and the state of language research based on the theories of Chomsky, which explains classical issues and traditions that were under study, as well as the specific limitations of cognitive inquiry. It also delves into the enterprise called biolinguistics, the overview of the subject, the seemingly connection of language and biology, and related body of doctrines. It also discusses mind-internal system, a science that extends human understanding of some aspect of the world in general. It also presents, if not briefly, studies by Plato, Descartes, and Russell, among others on the subject. This chapter presents the intellectual reflections of Chomsky after a decade of painstaking work in the principles-and-parameters framework.
Cedric Boeckx and Juan Uriagereka
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- August 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780262201742
- eISBN:
- 9780262295246
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- The MIT Press
- DOI:
- 10.7551/mitpress/9780262201742.003.0013
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Philosophy of Science
This chapter focuses on biolinguistics and how it seeks to uncover the laws that determine the nature of the faculty of language, the principles behind its development, and the ways in which it is ...
More
This chapter focuses on biolinguistics and how it seeks to uncover the laws that determine the nature of the faculty of language, the principles behind its development, and the ways in which it is put to use. The main goal of biolinguists is to contribute to our understanding of how such a capacity is realized in neural terms, and even how it evolved in the species. In biolinguistic terms, language can be referred to as “I-language,” where I- signifies individual, internalist, and intensional. Individual and internalist, because the faculty of language obviously resides inside someone’s head. Intensional, because one of the key, and still very surprising, properties of human language is a kind of infinity—our faculty of language makes it possible to produce and understand an unbounded range of expressions, in principle.Less
This chapter focuses on biolinguistics and how it seeks to uncover the laws that determine the nature of the faculty of language, the principles behind its development, and the ways in which it is put to use. The main goal of biolinguists is to contribute to our understanding of how such a capacity is realized in neural terms, and even how it evolved in the species. In biolinguistic terms, language can be referred to as “I-language,” where I- signifies individual, internalist, and intensional. Individual and internalist, because the faculty of language obviously resides inside someone’s head. Intensional, because one of the key, and still very surprising, properties of human language is a kind of infinity—our faculty of language makes it possible to produce and understand an unbounded range of expressions, in principle.
Cedric Boeckx
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- September 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780198702894
- eISBN:
- 9780191772382
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198702894.003.0008
- Subject:
- Linguistics, Theoretical Linguistics, Psycholinguistics / Neurolinguistics / Cognitive Linguistics
This chapter claims that some of the most deeply‐embedded tenets of the Principles and Parameters approach, and in particular the idea of Parameter (in the classical sense), have outlived their ...
More
This chapter claims that some of the most deeply‐embedded tenets of the Principles and Parameters approach, and in particular the idea of Parameter (in the classical sense), have outlived their usefulness. It offers strong evidence to back up its claim that if minimalism and biolinguistics are taken seriously, the notion of Parameter should be abandoned, the more so given its diminishing empirical validity.Less
This chapter claims that some of the most deeply‐embedded tenets of the Principles and Parameters approach, and in particular the idea of Parameter (in the classical sense), have outlived their usefulness. It offers strong evidence to back up its claim that if minimalism and biolinguistics are taken seriously, the notion of Parameter should be abandoned, the more so given its diminishing empirical validity.
Robert C. Berwick and Edward P. Stabler
- Published in print:
- 2019
- Published Online:
- November 2019
- ISBN:
- 9780198795087
- eISBN:
- 9780191836459
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780198795087.003.0001
- Subject:
- Linguistics, Psycholinguistics / Neurolinguistics / Cognitive Linguistics, Computational Linguistics
Studies of parsing inspired by the Minimalist Program have various goals. They flesh out and unify proposals in syntax; they define properties of fundamental structure-building mechanisms; and they ...
More
Studies of parsing inspired by the Minimalist Program have various goals. They flesh out and unify proposals in syntax; they define properties of fundamental structure-building mechanisms; and they provide mechanisms for psycholinguistic models. In this brief overview, some historical antecedents are noted, and then foundational perspectives underpinning some recent work in this tradition are outlined, with associated basic results on locality and efficiency. Finally, a comparative guide to some notational differences is presented.Less
Studies of parsing inspired by the Minimalist Program have various goals. They flesh out and unify proposals in syntax; they define properties of fundamental structure-building mechanisms; and they provide mechanisms for psycholinguistic models. In this brief overview, some historical antecedents are noted, and then foundational perspectives underpinning some recent work in this tradition are outlined, with associated basic results on locality and efficiency. Finally, a comparative guide to some notational differences is presented.