Craig Speelman and Kim Kirsner
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- January 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780198570417
- eISBN:
- 9780191708657
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198570417.001.0001
- Subject:
- Psychology, Cognitive Psychology
For years now, learning has been at the heart of research within cognitive psychology. How do we acquire new knowledge and new skills? Are the principles underlying skill acquisition unique to ...
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For years now, learning has been at the heart of research within cognitive psychology. How do we acquire new knowledge and new skills? Are the principles underlying skill acquisition unique to learning, or similar to those underlying other behaviours? Is the mental system essentially modular, or is the mental system a simple product of experience, a product that, inevitably, reflects the shape of the external world with all of its specialisms and similarities? This book takes the view that learning is a major influence on the nature of the processes and representations that fill our minds. Throughout, the book reviews and considers the areas of skill acquisition and lexical representation to illustrate the effects that practice can have on cognitive processes. It also draws parallels between theories in physical and biological domains to propose not only a new theory of mental function, but also demonstrate that the mind is essentially subject to the same natural laws as the physical world. In so doing, this book presents a new perspective on psychology — one that identifies universal principles underlying all behaviours and one which contrasts markedly from the current focus on highly specific behaviours.Less
For years now, learning has been at the heart of research within cognitive psychology. How do we acquire new knowledge and new skills? Are the principles underlying skill acquisition unique to learning, or similar to those underlying other behaviours? Is the mental system essentially modular, or is the mental system a simple product of experience, a product that, inevitably, reflects the shape of the external world with all of its specialisms and similarities? This book takes the view that learning is a major influence on the nature of the processes and representations that fill our minds. Throughout, the book reviews and considers the areas of skill acquisition and lexical representation to illustrate the effects that practice can have on cognitive processes. It also draws parallels between theories in physical and biological domains to propose not only a new theory of mental function, but also demonstrate that the mind is essentially subject to the same natural laws as the physical world. In so doing, this book presents a new perspective on psychology — one that identifies universal principles underlying all behaviours and one which contrasts markedly from the current focus on highly specific behaviours.
Malka Rappaport Hovav, Edit Doron, and Ivy Sichel
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- May 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199544325
- eISBN:
- 9780191720536
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199544325.003.0001
- Subject:
- Linguistics, Historical Linguistics
This chapter introduces the volume by outlining the general themes explored and describing the structure of the book. The chapters all address aspects of the same basic research programme: ...
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This chapter introduces the volume by outlining the general themes explored and describing the structure of the book. The chapters all address aspects of the same basic research programme: determining the division of labour between the lexicon, (morpho)syntax, and compositional semantics in the encoding of what can broadly be construed as event structure, encompassing event participants and the temporal properties associated with the linguistic representation of events.Less
This chapter introduces the volume by outlining the general themes explored and describing the structure of the book. The chapters all address aspects of the same basic research programme: determining the division of labour between the lexicon, (morpho)syntax, and compositional semantics in the encoding of what can broadly be construed as event structure, encompassing event participants and the temporal properties associated with the linguistic representation of events.
Vyvyan Evans
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- February 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199234660
- eISBN:
- 9780191715495
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199234660.003.0005
- Subject:
- Linguistics, Semantics and Pragmatics
This chapter provides a brief overview of the nature and structure of the symbolic unit, as developed in constructional accounts of the linguistic system in cognitive linguistics. In LCCM Theory, the ...
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This chapter provides a brief overview of the nature and structure of the symbolic unit, as developed in constructional accounts of the linguistic system in cognitive linguistics. In LCCM Theory, the symbolic unit is the representation type that is held to populate the linguistic system, and hence crucial to the account of lexical representation and semantic composition developed.Less
This chapter provides a brief overview of the nature and structure of the symbolic unit, as developed in constructional accounts of the linguistic system in cognitive linguistics. In LCCM Theory, the symbolic unit is the representation type that is held to populate the linguistic system, and hence crucial to the account of lexical representation and semantic composition developed.
Lutz Marten
- Published in print:
- 2002
- Published Online:
- January 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199250639
- eISBN:
- 9780191719479
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199250639.001.0001
- Subject:
- Linguistics, Semantics and Pragmatics, Syntax and Morphology
This book develops a new analysis of the interpretation of verb phrases and VP adjunction by arguing that the lexical subcategorization information of verbs is systematically underspecified and is ...
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This book develops a new analysis of the interpretation of verb phrases and VP adjunction by arguing that the lexical subcategorization information of verbs is systematically underspecified and is only resolved when verb phrases are built in context, with recourse to pragmatic knowledge. This idea is formally implemented in the framework Dynamic Syntax by introducing an underspecified semantic type into the logical system. This provides an account of how verb phrases are built on-line and how verbs can be used with a different array of complements on each occasion of use. Under this dynamic view, the interpretation of verbs is argued to be essentially pragmatic, making use of the notion of ad hoc concept formation developed in Relevance theory. The approach is illustrated in detail by a case study of Swahili applied verbs. The study brings together results from dynamic approaches to syntax and Relevance theoretic pragmatics, and charts the stretch of the syntax-pragmatic interface where lexical information from verbs and contextual concept formation meet.Less
This book develops a new analysis of the interpretation of verb phrases and VP adjunction by arguing that the lexical subcategorization information of verbs is systematically underspecified and is only resolved when verb phrases are built in context, with recourse to pragmatic knowledge. This idea is formally implemented in the framework Dynamic Syntax by introducing an underspecified semantic type into the logical system. This provides an account of how verb phrases are built on-line and how verbs can be used with a different array of complements on each occasion of use. Under this dynamic view, the interpretation of verbs is argued to be essentially pragmatic, making use of the notion of ad hoc concept formation developed in Relevance theory. The approach is illustrated in detail by a case study of Swahili applied verbs. The study brings together results from dynamic approaches to syntax and Relevance theoretic pragmatics, and charts the stretch of the syntax-pragmatic interface where lexical information from verbs and contextual concept formation meet.
NOMI ERTESCHIK-SHIR and TOVA RAPOPORT
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- January 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199280445
- eISBN:
- 9780191712845
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199280445.003.0001
- Subject:
- Linguistics, Syntax and Morphology
How much of variations in verbal meaning, aspectual (Aktionsart) interpretation, and thematic information are actually contributed by the syntactic structure itself? And if all this information can ...
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How much of variations in verbal meaning, aspectual (Aktionsart) interpretation, and thematic information are actually contributed by the syntactic structure itself? And if all this information can be derived in the syntax, what is the role of the lexical representation of the verb? The editors' aim in this volume is the construction of a theory of the lexicon–syntax connection that will address these questions. Approaches to this issue can be roughly divided into two: the ‘lexicon-driven’ and the ‘syntax-driven’. In the former, all of a verb's meanings are listed in the lexicon, from which the various syntactic frames are projected. Differences in both structure and interpretation are attributed to differences in meaning, or lexical representation, of a verb or verbs. In the latter, the syntax-driven approach, much of a verb's meaning is derived from the syntactic structure in which it is projected. Differences in interpretation, whether related to aspectual classification or to argument number and type, are attributable to differences in the structural representation itself. The editors' conclusion is that this structure, whether lexical or syntactic, whether projected by the verb root or by functional or overt morphology, can indeed yield all and more of the information which was once considered to be in the domain of the lexicon. And yet the lexicon's role is still seen to be crucial: the determination of the lexical entry that will account for (in)compatibility with syntactic structure is a vital part of any research into the syntax of aspect.Less
How much of variations in verbal meaning, aspectual (Aktionsart) interpretation, and thematic information are actually contributed by the syntactic structure itself? And if all this information can be derived in the syntax, what is the role of the lexical representation of the verb? The editors' aim in this volume is the construction of a theory of the lexicon–syntax connection that will address these questions. Approaches to this issue can be roughly divided into two: the ‘lexicon-driven’ and the ‘syntax-driven’. In the former, all of a verb's meanings are listed in the lexicon, from which the various syntactic frames are projected. Differences in both structure and interpretation are attributed to differences in meaning, or lexical representation, of a verb or verbs. In the latter, the syntax-driven approach, much of a verb's meaning is derived from the syntactic structure in which it is projected. Differences in interpretation, whether related to aspectual classification or to argument number and type, are attributable to differences in the structural representation itself. The editors' conclusion is that this structure, whether lexical or syntactic, whether projected by the verb root or by functional or overt morphology, can indeed yield all and more of the information which was once considered to be in the domain of the lexicon. And yet the lexicon's role is still seen to be crucial: the determination of the lexical entry that will account for (in)compatibility with syntactic structure is a vital part of any research into the syntax of aspect.
Andrea Krott
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- September 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780199547548
- eISBN:
- 9780191720628
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199547548.003.0006
- Subject:
- Linguistics, Psycholinguistics / Neurolinguistics / Cognitive Linguistics, Computational Linguistics
This chapter summarizes research on the production, interpretation, and acquisition of noun-noun compounds. Analogical generalizations can systematically govern a whole category of words across ...
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This chapter summarizes research on the production, interpretation, and acquisition of noun-noun compounds. Analogical generalizations can systematically govern a whole category of words across different languages and language families. The same kinds of analogical generalizations are in evidence in different domains of languages processing, from language acquisition, to visual word processing.Less
This chapter summarizes research on the production, interpretation, and acquisition of noun-noun compounds. Analogical generalizations can systematically govern a whole category of words across different languages and language families. The same kinds of analogical generalizations are in evidence in different domains of languages processing, from language acquisition, to visual word processing.
Mark Liberman
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- January 2019
- ISBN:
- 9780226562452
- eISBN:
- 9780226562599
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226562599.003.0009
- Subject:
- Linguistics, Phonetics / Phonology
The traditional organization of phonological theories involves a crucial redundancy, and serious consideration of this redundancy suggests a radical simplification of the theory. In technical terms, ...
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The traditional organization of phonological theories involves a crucial redundancy, and serious consideration of this redundancy suggests a radical simplification of the theory. In technical terms, allophonic variation can be treated in at least two different ways: first, as a mapping from symbols to symbols, via phonological rules or constraints; or second, as a mapping from symbols to signals, via principles of phonetic realization. Careful examination of specific cases of allophonic variation generally suggests (and never seems to refute) a mode of description of the second type, in which structured phonological representations are mapped onto classes of phonetic trajectories. We should therefore consider the null hypothesis: a theory that entirely eliminates the symbolic treatment of allophonic variation, and makes post-lexical representations subject to direct phonetic interpretation, without any intervening symbol-manipulation, whether by rules or by constraints.Less
The traditional organization of phonological theories involves a crucial redundancy, and serious consideration of this redundancy suggests a radical simplification of the theory. In technical terms, allophonic variation can be treated in at least two different ways: first, as a mapping from symbols to symbols, via phonological rules or constraints; or second, as a mapping from symbols to signals, via principles of phonetic realization. Careful examination of specific cases of allophonic variation generally suggests (and never seems to refute) a mode of description of the second type, in which structured phonological representations are mapped onto classes of phonetic trajectories. We should therefore consider the null hypothesis: a theory that entirely eliminates the symbolic treatment of allophonic variation, and makes post-lexical representations subject to direct phonetic interpretation, without any intervening symbol-manipulation, whether by rules or by constraints.
Guido Vanden Wyngaerd
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- June 2018
- ISBN:
- 9780190876746
- eISBN:
- 9780190876784
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780190876746.003.0011
- Subject:
- Linguistics, Syntax and Morphology
This paper examines multidimensional paradigms, i.e. paradigms involving more than one feature dimension. I examine the concrete case of pronominal paradigms, which involve (at least) the dimensions ...
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This paper examines multidimensional paradigms, i.e. paradigms involving more than one feature dimension. I examine the concrete case of pronominal paradigms, which involve (at least) the dimensions of person and number. The problem that arises in such paradigms is that syncretisms may be observed in each dimension, i.e. they may occur both vertically (cross-person) and horizontally (cross-number). While classical nanosyntax embodies a theory of syncretism that can account for one dimension, it requires an extension to account for syncretisms in the other dimension(s). I discuss two such extensions, one making use of pointers, and another in terms of a revision of the Superset Principle. I show that both approaches make subtly different empirical predictions.Less
This paper examines multidimensional paradigms, i.e. paradigms involving more than one feature dimension. I examine the concrete case of pronominal paradigms, which involve (at least) the dimensions of person and number. The problem that arises in such paradigms is that syncretisms may be observed in each dimension, i.e. they may occur both vertically (cross-person) and horizontally (cross-number). While classical nanosyntax embodies a theory of syncretism that can account for one dimension, it requires an extension to account for syncretisms in the other dimension(s). I discuss two such extensions, one making use of pointers, and another in terms of a revision of the Superset Principle. I show that both approaches make subtly different empirical predictions.
Sandra Kotzor, Allison Wetterlin, and Aditi Lahiri
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- June 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780198754930
- eISBN:
- 9780191816420
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780198754930.003.0009
- Subject:
- Linguistics, Phonetics / Phonology, Theoretical Linguistics
Bengali has a robust medial geminate/singleton contrast across oral stops and nasals in five places of articulation. This chapter presents a synchronic account of the phonological system involving ...
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Bengali has a robust medial geminate/singleton contrast across oral stops and nasals in five places of articulation. This chapter presents a synchronic account of the phonological system involving the consonantal length contrast, which supports an asymmetric moraic representation of geminates. Based on these representational assumptions, two EEG and two behavioural experiments were conducted to investigate the processing of this geminate/singleton contrast by Bengali native speakers. The results reveal a processing asymmetry for the duration contrast: the processing of the duration contrast is indeed asymmetric: a geminate mispronunciation is accepted for a singleton real word, while the reverse is not the case. This provides evidence that the lexical representation of the duration contrast must be asymmetric and thus privative rather than equipollent.Less
Bengali has a robust medial geminate/singleton contrast across oral stops and nasals in five places of articulation. This chapter presents a synchronic account of the phonological system involving the consonantal length contrast, which supports an asymmetric moraic representation of geminates. Based on these representational assumptions, two EEG and two behavioural experiments were conducted to investigate the processing of this geminate/singleton contrast by Bengali native speakers. The results reveal a processing asymmetry for the duration contrast: the processing of the duration contrast is indeed asymmetric: a geminate mispronunciation is accepted for a singleton real word, while the reverse is not the case. This provides evidence that the lexical representation of the duration contrast must be asymmetric and thus privative rather than equipollent.
Hiroto Uchihara
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- May 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780198739449
- eISBN:
- 9780191802393
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198739449.003.0007
- Subject:
- Linguistics, Language Families, Phonetics / Phonology
A glottal stop is the source of one type of high tone, H1. First, §7.1 discusses evidence for the analysis that H1 comes from a glottal stop, and argues that there is sufficient phonological evidence ...
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A glottal stop is the source of one type of high tone, H1. First, §7.1 discusses evidence for the analysis that H1 comes from a glottal stop, and argues that there is sufficient phonological evidence to posit the glottal stop. It is not the case that a glottal stop is always accompanied by H1, which complicates the analysis, but such cases can be accounted for by the OCP (§6.2) and by morphological factors, discussed in §7.2. That H1 comes from a glottal stop further supports my claim that H1 spreading is leftward (§7.3). Since in some cases positing a glottal stop, along with the tones it has induced, is admittedly abstract, I do consider alternatives. §7.4 concludes, giving language internal and external evidence and argue that the lexical representations should include a glottal stop, as well as the tone it has induced.Less
A glottal stop is the source of one type of high tone, H1. First, §7.1 discusses evidence for the analysis that H1 comes from a glottal stop, and argues that there is sufficient phonological evidence to posit the glottal stop. It is not the case that a glottal stop is always accompanied by H1, which complicates the analysis, but such cases can be accounted for by the OCP (§6.2) and by morphological factors, discussed in §7.2. That H1 comes from a glottal stop further supports my claim that H1 spreading is leftward (§7.3). Since in some cases positing a glottal stop, along with the tones it has induced, is admittedly abstract, I do consider alternatives. §7.4 concludes, giving language internal and external evidence and argue that the lexical representations should include a glottal stop, as well as the tone it has induced.
