Noam Chomsky
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- September 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780262527347
- eISBN:
- 9780262327282
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- The MIT Press
- DOI:
- 10.7551/mitpress/9780262527347.001.0001
- Subject:
- Linguistics, Theoretical Linguistics
In his foundational book published in 1995, the author offered a significant contribution to the generative tradition in linguistics. This twentieth-anniversary edition reissues this classic work ...
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In his foundational book published in 1995, the author offered a significant contribution to the generative tradition in linguistics. This twentieth-anniversary edition reissues this classic work with a new preface by the author. The author attempts to situate linguistic theory in the broader cognitive sciences, with the chapters formulating and progressively developing the minimalist approach to linguistic theory. Building on the theory of principles and parameters and, in particular, on principles of economy of derivation and representation, the minimalist framework takes Universal Grammar as providing a unique computational system, with derivations driven by morphological properties, to which the syntactic variation of languages is also restricted. Within this theoretical framework, linguistic expressions are generated by optimally efficient derivations that must satisfy the conditions that hold on interface levels, the only levels of linguistic representation. The interface levels provide instructions to two types of performance systems, articulatory-perceptual and conceptual-intentional. All syntactic conditions, then, express properties of these interface levels, reflecting the interpretive requirements of language and keeping to very restricted conceptual resources. In the preface to this edition, the author emphasizes that the minimalist approach developed in the book and in subsequent work “is a program, not a theory.” With this book, the author has built on pursuits from the earliest days of generative grammar to formulate a new research program that had far-reaching implications for the field.Less
In his foundational book published in 1995, the author offered a significant contribution to the generative tradition in linguistics. This twentieth-anniversary edition reissues this classic work with a new preface by the author. The author attempts to situate linguistic theory in the broader cognitive sciences, with the chapters formulating and progressively developing the minimalist approach to linguistic theory. Building on the theory of principles and parameters and, in particular, on principles of economy of derivation and representation, the minimalist framework takes Universal Grammar as providing a unique computational system, with derivations driven by morphological properties, to which the syntactic variation of languages is also restricted. Within this theoretical framework, linguistic expressions are generated by optimally efficient derivations that must satisfy the conditions that hold on interface levels, the only levels of linguistic representation. The interface levels provide instructions to two types of performance systems, articulatory-perceptual and conceptual-intentional. All syntactic conditions, then, express properties of these interface levels, reflecting the interpretive requirements of language and keeping to very restricted conceptual resources. In the preface to this edition, the author emphasizes that the minimalist approach developed in the book and in subsequent work “is a program, not a theory.” With this book, the author has built on pursuits from the earliest days of generative grammar to formulate a new research program that had far-reaching implications for the field.
Howard Lasnik
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- September 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780262527347
- eISBN:
- 9780262327282
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- The MIT Press
- DOI:
- 10.7551/mitpress/9780262527347.003.0001
- Subject:
- Linguistics, Theoretical Linguistics
This chapter discusses the kinds of work being pursued within the general principles-and-parameters model as well as some of the thinking that underlies and guides it. The theory of principles and ...
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This chapter discusses the kinds of work being pursued within the general principles-and-parameters model as well as some of the thinking that underlies and guides it. The theory of principles and parameters is a particular approach to classical problems of the study of language, guided by certain leading ideas that had been taking shape since the origins of modern generative grammar some forty years ago. The study of generative grammar has been guided by several fundamental problems, each with a traditional flavor. This chapter considers the two states of the language faculty, grammar and Universal Grammar (UG), the distinction between linguistic competence and linguistic performance, and the notion of “infinite use” in relation to competence and performance. It also describes structural descriptions (SDs), an infinite range of symbolic objects specified by a language, the conditions of descriptive adequacy and explanatory adequacy, and the levels of Phonetic Form, Logical Form, and D-Structure. Finally, it examines some properties of the lexicon, with particular emphasis on derivations and representations.Less
This chapter discusses the kinds of work being pursued within the general principles-and-parameters model as well as some of the thinking that underlies and guides it. The theory of principles and parameters is a particular approach to classical problems of the study of language, guided by certain leading ideas that had been taking shape since the origins of modern generative grammar some forty years ago. The study of generative grammar has been guided by several fundamental problems, each with a traditional flavor. This chapter considers the two states of the language faculty, grammar and Universal Grammar (UG), the distinction between linguistic competence and linguistic performance, and the notion of “infinite use” in relation to competence and performance. It also describes structural descriptions (SDs), an infinite range of symbolic objects specified by a language, the conditions of descriptive adequacy and explanatory adequacy, and the levels of Phonetic Form, Logical Form, and D-Structure. Finally, it examines some properties of the lexicon, with particular emphasis on derivations and representations.
Wolfram Hinzen and Michelle Sheehan
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- January 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780199654833
- eISBN:
- 9780191747977
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199654833.003.0005
- Subject:
- Linguistics, Theoretical Linguistics, Psycholinguistics / Neurolinguistics / Cognitive Linguistics
One Cartesian reason for taking thought to be independent of language—or to have its own ‘Language of thought’—is that language is subject to massive cross-linguistic variation, while thought is not. ...
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One Cartesian reason for taking thought to be independent of language—or to have its own ‘Language of thought’—is that language is subject to massive cross-linguistic variation, while thought is not. So Chapter 5 addresses the issue of cross-linguistic variation: its dimensions, and its extent. Does it provide a challenge for our account of universal grammar? Not inasmuch as the primary dimension of variation is the organization of language at a lexical and morphological level; not, if what have traditionally been thought of as syntactic parameters actually reduce to variation in modes of externalization.Less
One Cartesian reason for taking thought to be independent of language—or to have its own ‘Language of thought’—is that language is subject to massive cross-linguistic variation, while thought is not. So Chapter 5 addresses the issue of cross-linguistic variation: its dimensions, and its extent. Does it provide a challenge for our account of universal grammar? Not inasmuch as the primary dimension of variation is the organization of language at a lexical and morphological level; not, if what have traditionally been thought of as syntactic parameters actually reduce to variation in modes of externalization.
Noam Chomsky
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- September 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780262527347
- eISBN:
- 9780262327282
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- The MIT Press
- DOI:
- 10.7551/mitpress/9780262527347.003.0002
- Subject:
- Linguistics, Theoretical Linguistics
This chapter discusses the principles underlying the economy of derivation and representation. It begins by considering a range of assumptions concerning language design, with particular emphasis on ...
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This chapter discusses the principles underlying the economy of derivation and representation. It begins by considering a range of assumptions concerning language design, with particular emphasis on the Extended Standard Theory (EST) framework, understood in the sense of the principles-and-parameters model. It distinguishes the lexicon from the language's computational system, the syntax in a broad sense (including phonology). It assumes that the syntax provides three fundamental levels of representation, each constituting an “interface” of the grammatical system with some other system of the mind/brain: D-Structure, Phonetic Form, and Logical Form. In accordance with the general EST framework, the three levels are assumed to be related to one another not directly, but only through the intermediary level of S-Structure. The chapter also examines some of the properties of verbal inflection, the separate syntactic status of Tense and Agreement, and whether both derivations and representations are subject to a certain form of “least effort” condition.Less
This chapter discusses the principles underlying the economy of derivation and representation. It begins by considering a range of assumptions concerning language design, with particular emphasis on the Extended Standard Theory (EST) framework, understood in the sense of the principles-and-parameters model. It distinguishes the lexicon from the language's computational system, the syntax in a broad sense (including phonology). It assumes that the syntax provides three fundamental levels of representation, each constituting an “interface” of the grammatical system with some other system of the mind/brain: D-Structure, Phonetic Form, and Logical Form. In accordance with the general EST framework, the three levels are assumed to be related to one another not directly, but only through the intermediary level of S-Structure. The chapter also examines some of the properties of verbal inflection, the separate syntactic status of Tense and Agreement, and whether both derivations and representations are subject to a certain form of “least effort” condition.
Noam Chomsky
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- September 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780262527347
- eISBN:
- 9780262327282
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- The MIT Press
- DOI:
- 10.7551/mitpress/9780262527347.003.0003
- Subject:
- Linguistics, Theoretical Linguistics
This chapter describes a Minimalist Program for linguistic theory that builds on the principles-and-parameters model and, in particular, on principles of economy of derivation and representation. It ...
More
This chapter describes a Minimalist Program for linguistic theory that builds on the principles-and-parameters model and, in particular, on principles of economy of derivation and representation. It begins with an overview of some general considerations, such as the assumption that language is part of the natural world before turning to a discussion of language faculty and one of its components, a generative procedure that generates structural descriptions (SDs). It then considers Universal Grammar in relation to lexicon and a computational system, along with X-bar theory and the notions that enter into a Minimalist Program. It also looks at the level of D-Structure, the internal interface between the lexicon and the computational system, and the concept of S-Structure and its conditions. The chapter concludes by expounding on the economy principles as they apply to both representations and derivations.Less
This chapter describes a Minimalist Program for linguistic theory that builds on the principles-and-parameters model and, in particular, on principles of economy of derivation and representation. It begins with an overview of some general considerations, such as the assumption that language is part of the natural world before turning to a discussion of language faculty and one of its components, a generative procedure that generates structural descriptions (SDs). It then considers Universal Grammar in relation to lexicon and a computational system, along with X-bar theory and the notions that enter into a Minimalist Program. It also looks at the level of D-Structure, the internal interface between the lexicon and the computational system, and the concept of S-Structure and its conditions. The chapter concludes by expounding on the economy principles as they apply to both representations and derivations.
Robert Freidin, Carlos P. Otero, and Maria Luisa Zubizarreta (eds)
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- August 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780262062787
- eISBN:
- 9780262273152
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- The MIT Press
- DOI:
- 10.7551/mitpress/9780262062787.001.0001
- Subject:
- Linguistics, Theoretical Linguistics
Jean-Roger Vergnaud’s work on the foundational issues in linguistics has proved influential over the past three decades. At MIT in 1974, Vergnaud (now holder of the Andrew W. Mellon Professorship in ...
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Jean-Roger Vergnaud’s work on the foundational issues in linguistics has proved influential over the past three decades. At MIT in 1974, Vergnaud (now holder of the Andrew W. Mellon Professorship in Humanities at the University of Southern California) made a proposal in his PhD thesis that has since become, in somewhat modified form, the standard analysis for the derivation of relative clauses. He later integrated the proposal within a broader theory of movement and abstract case. These topics have remained central to theoretical linguistics. This book attests to the importance of Vergnaud’s contributions to linguistics. The chapters first discuss issues in syntax, documenting important breakthroughs in the development of the principles and parameters framework and including a famous letter (unpublished until recently) from Vergnaud to Noam Chomsky and Howard Lasnik commenting on the first draft of their 1977 paper “Filters and Controls.” Vergnaud’s writings on phonology (which, the editors write, “take a definite syntactic turn”) have also been influential, and the book concludes with two contributions to that field. The chapters, rewarding from both theoretical and empirical perspectives, not only offer insight into Vergnaud’s impact on the field but also describe current work on the issues he introduced into the scholarly debate.Less
Jean-Roger Vergnaud’s work on the foundational issues in linguistics has proved influential over the past three decades. At MIT in 1974, Vergnaud (now holder of the Andrew W. Mellon Professorship in Humanities at the University of Southern California) made a proposal in his PhD thesis that has since become, in somewhat modified form, the standard analysis for the derivation of relative clauses. He later integrated the proposal within a broader theory of movement and abstract case. These topics have remained central to theoretical linguistics. This book attests to the importance of Vergnaud’s contributions to linguistics. The chapters first discuss issues in syntax, documenting important breakthroughs in the development of the principles and parameters framework and including a famous letter (unpublished until recently) from Vergnaud to Noam Chomsky and Howard Lasnik commenting on the first draft of their 1977 paper “Filters and Controls.” Vergnaud’s writings on phonology (which, the editors write, “take a definite syntactic turn”) have also been influential, and the book concludes with two contributions to that field. The chapters, rewarding from both theoretical and empirical perspectives, not only offer insight into Vergnaud’s impact on the field but also describe current work on the issues he introduced into the scholarly debate.
Noam Chomsky
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- September 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780262527347
- eISBN:
- 9780262327282
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- The MIT Press
- DOI:
- 10.7551/mitpress/9780262527347.003.0005
- Subject:
- Linguistics, Theoretical Linguistics
This book proposes a minimalist approach to linguistic theory that builds on the theory of principles and parameters and, in particular, on principles of economy of derivation and representation. The ...
More
This book proposes a minimalist approach to linguistic theory that builds on the theory of principles and parameters and, in particular, on principles of economy of derivation and representation. The minimalist framework takes Universal Grammar as providing a unique computational system, with derivations driven by morphological properties, to which the syntactic variation of languages is also restricted. This book explores the general conditions that the human language faculty should be expected to satisfy and the extent to which the language faculty is determined by these conditions, without special structure that lies beyond them. It also examines the conditions that are imposed on the language faculty by virtue of its place within the array of cognitive systems of the mind/brain, and discusses the general considerations of conceptual naturalness that have some independent plausibility, such as simplicity, economy, symmetry, and nonredundancy.Less
This book proposes a minimalist approach to linguistic theory that builds on the theory of principles and parameters and, in particular, on principles of economy of derivation and representation. The minimalist framework takes Universal Grammar as providing a unique computational system, with derivations driven by morphological properties, to which the syntactic variation of languages is also restricted. This book explores the general conditions that the human language faculty should be expected to satisfy and the extent to which the language faculty is determined by these conditions, without special structure that lies beyond them. It also examines the conditions that are imposed on the language faculty by virtue of its place within the array of cognitive systems of the mind/brain, and discusses the general considerations of conceptual naturalness that have some independent plausibility, such as simplicity, economy, symmetry, and nonredundancy.
Neil Myler
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- May 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780262034913
- eISBN:
- 9780262336130
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- The MIT Press
- DOI:
- 10.7551/mitpress/9780262034913.001.0001
- Subject:
- Linguistics, Theoretical Linguistics
A major question for linguistic theory concerns how the structure of sentences relates to their meaning. There is broad agreement in the field that there is some regularity in the way that lexical ...
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A major question for linguistic theory concerns how the structure of sentences relates to their meaning. There is broad agreement in the field that there is some regularity in the way that lexical semantics and syntax are related, so that thematic roles are predictably associated with particular syntactic positions. This book examines the syntax and semantics of possession sentences, which are infamous for appearing to diverge dramatically from this broadly regular pattern. On the one hand, possession sentences have too many meanings: in a given language, the construction used to express archetypal possessive meanings (such as personal ownership) is also often used to express other apparently unrelated notions (body parts, kinship relations, and many others). On the other hand, possession sentences have too many surface structures: languages differ markedly in the argument structures used to convey the same possessive meanings, with some employing a transitive verb HAVE, and others using a variety of constructions based around an intransitive verb BE. Examining and synthesizing ideas from the literature and drawing on data from many languages (including some understudied Quechua dialects), this book presents a novel way to understand the apparent irregularity of possession sentences while preserving existing explanations for the general cross-linguistic regularities we observe in argument structure.Less
A major question for linguistic theory concerns how the structure of sentences relates to their meaning. There is broad agreement in the field that there is some regularity in the way that lexical semantics and syntax are related, so that thematic roles are predictably associated with particular syntactic positions. This book examines the syntax and semantics of possession sentences, which are infamous for appearing to diverge dramatically from this broadly regular pattern. On the one hand, possession sentences have too many meanings: in a given language, the construction used to express archetypal possessive meanings (such as personal ownership) is also often used to express other apparently unrelated notions (body parts, kinship relations, and many others). On the other hand, possession sentences have too many surface structures: languages differ markedly in the argument structures used to convey the same possessive meanings, with some employing a transitive verb HAVE, and others using a variety of constructions based around an intransitive verb BE. Examining and synthesizing ideas from the literature and drawing on data from many languages (including some understudied Quechua dialects), this book presents a novel way to understand the apparent irregularity of possession sentences while preserving existing explanations for the general cross-linguistic regularities we observe in argument structure.
Paola Benincà and Nicola Munaro
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- May 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199740376
- eISBN:
- 9780199895304
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199740376.003.0001
- Subject:
- Linguistics, Syntax and Morphology
This introduction addresses the theme of grammatical description, mainly trying to clarify the notion of ‘redundacy’ in language; the discussion aims at justifying the fundamental assumptions of the ...
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This introduction addresses the theme of grammatical description, mainly trying to clarify the notion of ‘redundacy’ in language; the discussion aims at justifying the fundamental assumptions of the cartographic program and in particular the large number of functional projections, whose hosts are assumed to lexicalize different basic features of language crosslinguisticallyLess
This introduction addresses the theme of grammatical description, mainly trying to clarify the notion of ‘redundacy’ in language; the discussion aims at justifying the fundamental assumptions of the cartographic program and in particular the large number of functional projections, whose hosts are assumed to lexicalize different basic features of language crosslinguistically
RenÉe Lambert-BrÉtiÈre and Claire Lefebvre
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- November 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780199945290
- eISBN:
- 9780190201203
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199945290.003.0004
- Subject:
- Linguistics, Sociolinguistics / Anthropological Linguistics
By its very nature, relabeling takes place in the lexical component of the grammar. By hypothesis, different theories of the lexicon should make different predictions as to the nature of the lexical ...
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By its very nature, relabeling takes place in the lexical component of the grammar. By hypothesis, different theories of the lexicon should make different predictions as to the nature of the lexical items that are pertinent for relabeling. The aim of this chapter is to test this hypothesis by comparing the predictions of two different approaches to the lexicon—the Principles and Parameters (P&P) framework and the Radical Construction Grammar (RCxG) framework—for a relabeling-based account of creole genesis, on the basis of data drawn from a subset of Caribbean creoles and their contributing languages. The analysis shows that, for all the constructions studied in this chapter, the RCxG approach to the lexicon presents clear advantages over the P&P model with respect to the relabeling-based account of creole genesis.Less
By its very nature, relabeling takes place in the lexical component of the grammar. By hypothesis, different theories of the lexicon should make different predictions as to the nature of the lexical items that are pertinent for relabeling. The aim of this chapter is to test this hypothesis by comparing the predictions of two different approaches to the lexicon—the Principles and Parameters (P&P) framework and the Radical Construction Grammar (RCxG) framework—for a relabeling-based account of creole genesis, on the basis of data drawn from a subset of Caribbean creoles and their contributing languages. The analysis shows that, for all the constructions studied in this chapter, the RCxG approach to the lexicon presents clear advantages over the P&P model with respect to the relabeling-based account of creole genesis.
