1. Building trees, building bridges: compositionality in inquisitive semantics and syntactic cartography.
- Author
-
Bianchi, Valentina and Cruschina, Silvio
- Subjects
- *
SEMANTICS , *CARTOGRAPHY , *NATURAL languages , *GENERATIVE grammar , *LINGUISTICS - Abstract
This sequence of elements is also compatible with R&D's proposal that the wh-phrase is in the Specifier of Foc, and Foc encodes the ! As a matter of fact, we had to assume that one morpheme, the declarative complementizer, is located in different syntactic positions and, at least in one case, it does not have the expected compositional import (examples (9)); moreover, we noticed that the interrogative complementizer, which by hypothesis corresponds to the ? R&D single out the special role of Foc in wh-questions by stipulating that "... a Foc head can only associate with wh-phrases if it is dominated by Int" (p. 58, discussion following [79]). Note that the anaphoric relation between Foc and the wh-phrase can be long-distance, as is the case in the extraction from a complement clause: (2) HT
a. [Extracted from the article] - Published
- 2023
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
2. Islands, expressiveness, and the theory/formalism confusion.
- Author
-
Chaves, Rui P. and Putnam, Michael T.
- Subjects
- *
ISLANDS , *PSYCHOLINGUISTICS , *PROGRAMMING languages , *GENERATIVE grammar , *LINGUISTICS , *RUMOR - Abstract
I Subregular linguistics: bridging theoretical linguistics and formal grammar i (henceforth SL) argues that Subregular Linguistics (the application of very restricted subclasses of finite-state machinery to natural language) offers many profitable insights to theoretical linguistics, such as providing a unified view of phonology, morphology, and syntax, leveraging learnability considerations for informing the derivation of typological restrictions, and deriving island constraints from the computational nature of movement. 3.2 Restrictive formalisms and island phenomena SL's goal of seeking ever more restrictive metalanguages for the description of syntax ultimately stems from a research program introduced long ago, which is similarly intent on explaining away islands as syntactic phenomena. We believe that SL's goal is misguided - as is previous work in a similar vein discussed in Section 3.2 below - in that it assumes a kind of I native grammatical realism i : grammar formalisms are taken to be real in some cognitive sense, and to bear some deep relation to the psychology of language. 4 Conclusion The research program that SL builds on assumes that the ideal grammar formalism should impose restrictive expressiveness on the theory. [Extracted from the article]
- Published
- 2022
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
3. On doing theoretical linguistics.
- Author
-
Adger, David
- Subjects
- *
LINGUISTICS , *VOCABULARY , *UNIVERSAL language , *LINGUISTIC typology , *GENERATIVE grammar , *NATURALISM , *LANGUAGE acquisition - Abstract
I don't think that this is the only way to do linguistics, I don't think that it should have any particular priority, epistemologically or sociologically, over other ways to do linguistics, but I do think that it is an important approach and that we can learn much about FL/L by pursuing it. 3 On the "theoretical" in theoretical linguistics It will be clear from the discussion in the last section that I have a very different view of what theoretical linguistics is from that in GLU. I do have some quibbles about GLU's terminological proposal, that generative grammar is a "Natural Kinds Programme", mainly because I think the terminology is inexact. Haspelmath's 2021 target paper, I General linguistics must be based on universals (or nonconventional aspects of language) i (which I'll abbreviate here as GLU) seeks to address the question of how linguistics should deal with what he sees as a paradox at the heart of the enterprise, his General Linguistics Paradox in (1). [Extracted from the article]
- Published
- 2021
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
4. Syntactic, semantic and methodological aspects of an expanded ontology in the modal and attitudinal domain.
- Author
-
Arsenijević, Boban
- Subjects
- *
GENERATIVE grammar , *NATURAL languages , *LINGUISTICS , *PROPOSITIONAL attitudes , *NOUNS , *ONTOLOGIES (Information retrieval) - Abstract
Her general preference is for simplex items over complex representations: truthmakers over clauses specifying truth conditions, attitudinal and modal objects over possible-world predicates, attitudinal-and-modal-object predicates over orderings and divisions among possible worlds as attitudinal and modal bases. The clause in the complement of this head is a predicate over situations, in line with the standard view of clauses and propositional meanings. If the noun emerging through raising refers in the domain of special types of objects, then already the item in the specifier of the respective functional projection, the one that derives a complement clause by moving out of it, may be of this type: a predicate over attitudinal or modal objects. These data indicate that the complement clause effects maximization: there cannot be two beliefs that disinfectants cure from viruses, there cannot be two claims that the earth is concave - unless the noun is interpreted to refer to an event of claiming rather than to the content expressed by a clause, where only the latter is relevant for our discussion. [Extracted from the article]
- Published
- 2020
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
5. Focus and contrastive topic: More questions, and answers.
- Author
-
Kamali, Beste and Krifka, Manfred
- Subjects
- *
QUESTIONING , *DISCOURSE markers , *GENERATIVE grammar , *PREDICATE (Logic) - Published
- 2020
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
6. Exhaustivity of focus and anti-exhaustivity of contrastive topic.
- Author
-
Tomioka, Satoshi
- Subjects
- *
RELATIVE clauses , *GENERATIVE grammar - Published
- 2020
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
7. Banning the disjunction of speech acts.
- Author
-
Reich, Ingo
- Subjects
- *
PLAYING cards , *SPEECH , *GENERATIVE grammar - Published
- 2020
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
8. The language system is abstract but cannot be understood without its social functions.
- Author
-
Haspelmath, Martin
- Subjects
- *
ABSTRACT thought , *IDEOLOGY , *LINGUISTICS , *GENERATIVE grammar , *GRAMMAR , *RHETORIC - Abstract
The author comments on the paper "Abstractions and Idealisations: The Construction of Modern Linguistics," by Martin Stokhof and Michiel van Lambalgen in which they argue that generative linguistics of the Chomskyan type crucially works with idealizations. He identifies some basic concepts that are not clear in the paper such as the concept of natural as opposed to cultural and that of an object of study. He explains why he cannot view an approach to grammatical structure that makes no use of abstractions as effective. He argues that the appearance of failure or of increasing diversity of approaches must be due to the rhetoric and presentation style of generative grammar.
- Published
- 2011
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
9. Taking a broader view: Abstraction and idealization.
- Author
-
Blutner, Reinhard
- Subjects
- *
ABSTRACT thought , *IDEOLOGY , *LINGUISTICS , *NATURALISM , *LANGUAGE & languages , *PHYSICS , *GENERATIVE grammar - Abstract
The author comments on the paper "Abstractions and Idealisations: The Construction of Modern Linguistics," by Martin Stokhof and Michiel van Lambalgen. It discusses the way modern linguistics constructs its proper objects, the scientific criteria for characterizing its success or failure and the role of naturalism. He argues that a broader view of modern linguistics calls for a reconsideration of the role of abstraction and idealization. Some aspects deemed essential for constituting the generativist approach including innateness hypothesis, explicit inaccessible rule view and distinction between competence and performance are proposed. He opposes the suggestion that physics make exclusive use of abstraction and that abstraction is the only useful research tool within a naturalist setting.
- Published
- 2011
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
10. In defense of idealizations: A commentary on Stokhof and van Lambalgen.
- Author
-
Krifka, Manfred
- Subjects
- *
ABSTRACT thought , *IDEOLOGY , *LINGUISTICS , *GENERATIVE grammar , *PERFORMANCE , *ALGORITHMS , *NEURAL circuitry - Abstract
The author comments on the article "Abstractions and Idealisations: The Construction of Modern Linguistics," by Martin Stokhof and Michiel van Lambalgen which deals with the flawed assumptions of modern linguistics. He believes that some of the arguments in the article are based on an understanding of linguistics that is limited to generative grammar. He considers the justification of distinguishing between competence and performance. He argues further that idealizations can realized by specific algorithms and in the neural circuitry.
- Published
- 2011
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
11. The logic of parametric theories.
- Author
-
LOHNDAL, TERJE and URIAGEREKA, JUAN
- Subjects
- *
MINIMALIST theory (Linguistics) , *SCANDINAVIAN languages , *LANGUAGE & languages , *LANGUAGE acquisition , *GENERATIVE grammar - Abstract
The article examines the paper "Parameters in Minimalist Theory: The Case of Scandinavian," by Anders Holmberg. The authors negate the notion that parameters in minimalist theory (PMT) make the case for a deep parameter. They cite agreement differences as the cause of a variation between Insular Scandinavian (ISc) and Mainland Scandinavian (MSc) languages in terms of unvalued number (uNr) and unvalued person number (uPn). They note the discussion of the logical problem of language acquisition in Holmberg's paper. They stress the significance of PMT to the debate on the nature of parameters.
- Published
- 2010
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
12. Parameters in minimalist theory: The case of Scandinavian.
- Author
-
HOLMBERG, ANDERS
- Subjects
- *
MINIMALIST theory (Linguistics) , *SCANDINAVIAN languages , *GENERATIVE grammar , *GRAMMAR , *FRAMES (Linguistics) , *SEMANTICS (Philosophy) - Abstract
The P&P theory of UG has come under heavy criticism, lately, from outside but also from inside generative grammar. The claim is that the search for 'deep parameters' underlying clusters of properties across languages has led nowhere, and should be given up. I have revisited a theory, now two decades old, which explained ten syntactic differences between Insular and Mainland Scandinavian as the effects of a single parametric difference (in a series of works by C. Platzack and A. Holmberg). The theory is shown to be fundamentally right, descriptively and theoretically. Later developments in generative theory only serve to sharpen the formulations, adding another layer of explanatory depth to the earlier theory. The conclusion is that there are parameters of the traditional kind. The problems encountered when the theory is tested on more distantly related languages is discussed on the basis of facts from Finnish. P&P theory is perfectly consistent with the minimalist approach to UG and variation when parameters are seen as points of under-specification in UG, and restrictions on variation are seen as, in part, third factor effects, in the sense of Chomsky (Linguistic Inquiry 36: 1-22, 2005). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2010
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
13. Reply.
- Author
-
Featherston, Sam
- Subjects
- *
GENERATIVE grammar , *SYNTAX (Grammar) , *EMPIRICAL research , *DATA quality , *LINGUISTIC analysis , *GRAMMATICALITY (Linguistics) - Abstract
The article is a reply to those who commented on the target article "Data in generative grammar: The stick and the carrot," by Sam Featherston, which is in this issue of "Theoretical Linguistics." The author focuses on two points--the concept of well-formedness in syntactical research and on the value of types of judgments in linguistic analysis. Featherston's views on the constraining factors in grammatical constructions and the terms "grammaticality" and "acceptability" are discussed. Relative, categorical, and string-technical judgments are mentioned. Data quality in empirical research is also mentioned.
- Published
- 2007
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
14. As a matter of facts comments on Featherston's sticks and carrots.
- Author
-
Haider, Hubert
- Subjects
- *
GENERATIVE grammar , *DATA quality , *LINGUISTIC analysis , *STANDARDS , *COMPLEMENT (Grammar) , *GERMAN language , *GRAMMATICALITY (Linguistics) , *SYNTAX (Grammar) - Abstract
The article refers to "Data in generative grammar: The stick and the carrot," by Sam Featherston, and focuses on data quality in linguistic research. The commentary suggests that more emphasis on standards for syntactic well-formedness, observational adequacy, and descriptive adequacy will improve data assessment in theoretical grammar. Examples are given of "that-t effect," "nicht XP/XP nicht tags," subject and object extractions, constraints in the German language, and grammaticality in sentences that relates to ease of comprehension.
- Published
- 2007
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
15. Data and grammar: Means and individuals.
- Author
-
Den Dikken, Marcel, Bernstein, Judy B, Tortora, Christina, and Zanuttini, Raffaella
- Subjects
- *
GENERATIVE grammar , *DATA quality , *LINGUISTIC analysis , *EMPIRICAL research , *STATISTICAL reliability , *THEORY-practice relationship , *CORPORA , *VARIATION in language - Abstract
The article refers to "Data in generative grammar: The stick and the carrot," by Sam Featherston, and to syntactic theory based on an individual's intuitive judgment. The commentary focuses on Featherston's view that a golden mean is needed in corpus-based research and linguistic analysis to improve data quality. The opposing argument is based on principles in Chomskian linguistics, the perspectives of the individual speaker and hearer in terms of I-language, and the E-language of the community of a native speaker. Empirical research methods in linguistics, the attitude of generative syntacticians, and the noise factor or language variation are mentioned.
- Published
- 2007
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
16. Data in generative grammar: The stick and the carrot.
- Author
-
Featherston, Sam
- Subjects
- *
GENERATIVE grammar , *DATA quality , *LINGUISTIC analysis , *SYNTAX (Grammar) , *EMPIRICAL research , *THEORY-practice relationship , *CORPORA , *JUDGMENT (Logic) - Abstract
This paper is intended to lay out for broader discussion some arguments for the importance of data in work in generative syntax. These are accepted by many linguists, but a significant number of others still seem reluctant to accept them. The basic claim is that it is no longer tenable for syntactic theories to be constructed on the evidence of a single person's judgements, and that real progress can only be made when syntacticians begin to think more carefully about the empirical basis of their work and apply the minimum standards we propose. We advance two groups of reasons for syntacticians to do this, negative and positive. The negative stick group concerns the inadequacy of current practice. We argue that linguists are producing unsatisfactory work with these methods. Data quality is a limiting factor: a theory can only ever be as good as its data base. The positive carrot group concerns the descriptive and theoretical advantages which become available with more empirically adequate data. We hope to tempt linguists to adopt new methods by showing them the insights which better data makes available. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2007
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
17. Commentary on Sam Featherston, Data in generative grammar: The stick and the carrot.
- Author
-
Newmeyer, Frederick J
- Subjects
- *
GENERATIVE grammar , *DATA quality , *EMPIRICAL research , *CORPORA , *SYNTAX (Grammar) , *PSYCHOLINGUISTICS , *LINGUISTIC analysis - Abstract
The article refers to "Data in generative grammar: The stick and the carrot," by Sam Featherston, and to the quality of data presented in cognitive and functional linguistics. The commentary focuses on the standard practice of using one person's intuition or judgment as data on which to base syntactic theories. The idea of replacing standard practice with controlled experiments and multiple informants is discussed. The binary model of well-formedness in psycholinguistic research, extraneous influences in grammaticality, and three ways of testing the acceptability of a sentence are mentioned.
- Published
- 2007
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
18. Empirical evidence and theoretical reasoning in generative grammar.
- Author
-
Grewendorf, Gnther
- Subjects
- *
GENERATIVE grammar , *DATA quality , *EMPIRICAL research , *THEORY-practice relationship , *EXTRACTION (Linguistics) , *SYNTAX (Grammar) ,COMPARATIVE English grammar -- German ,GERMAN-English comparative grammar - Abstract
The article refers to "Data in generative grammar: The stick and the carrot," by Sam Featherston, and to data quality in empirical research. The commentary criticizes Featherston's views on syntactic reasoning and focuses on the practice of generative linguists who use intuitive judgments to prove a syntactic hypothesis. The binary model of well-formedness and variations in the judgments of the study participants are mentioned. Linguistic extractions in English and German which make it difficult to contrast the two languages or make generalizations are also mentioned. Examples include the Weak Crossover effect.
- Published
- 2007
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
19. Carrots perfect as vegetables, but please not as a main dish.
- Author
-
Fanselow, Gisbert
- Subjects
- *
GERMAN language , *GENERATIVE grammar , *EMPIRICAL research , *VARIATION in language , *LINGUISTIC models , *PSYCHOLINGUISTICS , *SOCIOLINGUISTICS , *SYNTAX (Grammar) - Abstract
The article refers to "Data in generative grammar: The stick and the carrot," by Sam Featherston, and to generative syntax in the German language. The commentary focuses on syntax from psycholinguistic and sociolinguistic perspectives. The issues in empirical research are the roles of intuitive judgments and native speakers in linguistic analysis, generalizations made from conflicting data, and the acceptability of grammatical models. The long wh-movement, position of objects in sentence construction, nominative antecedents, third-person subjects, and dialectical variation are mentioned.
- Published
- 2007
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
20. What does comparative markedness explain, what should it explain, and how?
- Author
-
McCarthy, John J.
- Subjects
- *
MARKEDNESS (Linguistics) , *GENERATIVE grammar , *LINGUISTICS -- Methodology , *LINGUISTIC analysis , *THEORY , *LANGUAGE & languages , *COMPARATIVE grammar , *PHILOLOGY - Abstract
The author of this article comments on some concerns addressed by the seven commentaries in the 2003, volume 29 issue of the journal "Theoretical Linguistics." The author notes that the seven commentaries treat a wide range of topics in interesting and insightful ways. Several main themes emerge that transcend the individual commentaries. They include alternatives to the comparative markedness theory, possible counterexamples, comparative markedness on other dimensions of correspondence, and questions about the authenticity of opaque phonological processes.
- Published
- 2003
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
21. Local conjunction and comparative markedness.
- Author
-
Łubowicz, Ania
- Subjects
- *
MARKEDNESS (Linguistics) , *COMPARATIVE grammar , *GENERATIVE grammar , *GRAMMAR , *LINGUISTICS -- Methodology , *LINGUISTIC analysis - Abstract
It is said that in classic Optimality Theory in linguistics, markedness constraints evaluate output well-formedness, whereas faithfulness constraints evaluate input-output disparity. Thus, markedness constraints have access to the output while faithfulness constraints view both the input and the output. In this article, the author seeks a parallel between comparative markedness and local conjunction, both of which propose constraints that infringe on the territory of markedness and faithfulness.
- Published
- 2003
22. Comparative markedness and derived environments.
- Author
-
Mascaró, Joan
- Subjects
- *
PHONETICS , *MARKEDNESS (Linguistics) , *COMPARATIVE grammar , *GENERATIVE grammar , *GRAMMAR , *LINGUISTICS -- Methodology , *LINGUISTIC analysis - Abstract
The author of this article comments on some issues concerning the Comparative Markedness (CM) theory in linguistics. As noted by the author, the observation that some processes apply in derived environments but fail to appear in noderived ones is an old one. Traditionally, the distinction was made between morphologically derived environments and rule derived. The author illustrates in this article that some cases of derived environment effects pose a serious problem for CM.
- Published
- 2003
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
23. Comparative markedness.
- Author
-
McCarthy, John J.
- Subjects
- *
MARKEDNESS (Linguistics) , *COMPARATIVE grammar , *GENERATIVE grammar , *GRAMMAR , *LINGUISTICS -- Methodology , *LINGUISTIC analysis - Abstract
The markedness constraints of classic Optimality Theory assign violation-marks to output candidates without reference to the input or to other candidates. This article explores an alternative conception of markedness: markedness constraints compare the candidate under evaluation with another candidate, the most faithful one. Comparative constraints distinguish two situations: the candidate under evaluation contains an instance of a marked structure that is also present in the fully faithful candidate; or it contains an instance of a marked structure that is not present in the fully faithful candidate. Empirical consequences of comparative markedness are explored, including grandfather effects, derived environment effects, non-iterating processes, and counter-feeding opacity. Comparative markedness is found to have some advantages and some disadvantages in comparison with classic OT and alternatives like local conjunction, stratal OT, sympathy, and targeted constraints. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2003
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
24. Looking through opacity.
- Author
-
Mielke, Jeff, Armstrong, Mike, and Hume, Elizabeth
- Subjects
- *
PHONETICS , *MARKEDNESS (Linguistics) , *OPTIMALITY theory (Linguistics) , *COMPARATIVE grammar , *GENERATIVE grammar , *GRAMMAR , *LINGUISTICS -- Methodology , *LINGUISTIC analysis - Abstract
The author of this article comments on some phonological issues concerning the Comparative Markedness theory and Optimality Theory in linguistics. The author argues against a theoretical approach in which all surface forms are generated by the grammar in the form of rules or constraints. It has been suggested that at least some observable sound patterns are not generated by the grammar. Rather, the alternations are memorized as less abstract forms and stored in the lexicon as such. In this approach, the distinction between grammar and lexicon basically amounts to a distinction between productive phonological processes and memorized lexical alternations, a not uncommon assumption in traditional generative phonology.
- Published
- 2003
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
25. Some real and not-so real consequences of comparative markedness.
- Author
-
Yip, Moira
- Subjects
- *
LINGUISTICS , *LANGUAGE & languages , *PHILOLOGY , *MARKEDNESS (Linguistics) , *GENERATIVE grammar , *COMPARATIVE grammar , *DISTINCTIVE features (Linguistics) - Abstract
The author of this article shares insights into the theory of comparative markedness in linguistics. The author notes that while it is appealing to use feature co-occurrence markedness statements to capture target conditions on processes, in many such cases, there does not seem to be a conclusive argument for comparative markedness versus undifferentiated "perpetual markedness." And while comparative markedness may be needed for a sub-set of grandfather effects, caution must be used when constructing arguments for its necessity.
- Published
- 2003
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
26. Comparative markedness and identity effects in reduplication.
- Author
-
Crowhurst, Megan
- Subjects
- *
MARKEDNESS (Linguistics) , *GENERATIVE grammar , *LINGUISTICS , *DISTINCTIVE features (Linguistics) , *FOREIGN language education , *LANGUAGE & education , *PHONETICS , *PHILOLOGY - Abstract
This article examines the theory of Comparative Markedness (CM) in linguistics. Whether a markedness violation is "old" or "new" is determined by comparing the candidate under evaluation with a "fully faithful candidate" (FFC). Revising the evaluation of markedness constraints so that an FFC is placed in the central arbitrating role prescribed by CM means that it should be possible to extend CM to comparisons with FFC selected based on any corresponding relation. In this article, the author uses the example of nasal copying in Malay. In unreduplicated forms of Malay, segments in an unbroken sequence of vocoids following a nasal consonant are nasalized. It is noted that a CM analysis is less restrictive than one using classical markedness constraints. Whether the additional power of CM constraints is a benefit or a liability will be an empirical issue.
- Published
- 2003
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
27. Comparative markedness and containment.
- Author
-
Van Oostendorp, Marc
- Subjects
- *
MARKEDNESS (Linguistics) , *GENERATIVE grammar , *LINGUISTICS , *DISTINCTIVE features (Linguistics) , *FOREIGN language education , *LANGUAGE & education , *PHONETICS , *PHILOLOGY - Abstract
The Comparative Markedness (CM) theory in linguistics tries among other things to characterize the notion "possible constraint" in Optimality Theory (OT) and in this way to both extend and constrain the scope of the theory. In this article, the author examines the formalization of CM constraints and the way in which morphologically derived environment effects are treated. The author argues that comparative markedness theory is not logically dependent on the correspondence theory of input-output relations. A variant of CM could be formulated in terms of the classical containment model of OT. Such a variant of CM is already present in the standard literature and that it may deal with at least some morphologically derived environment effects more effectively than correspondence-based comparative markedness.
- Published
- 2003
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
Catalog
Books, media, physical & digital resourcesDiscovery Service for Jio Institute Digital Library
For full access to our library's resources, please sign in.