Principles and Parameters in Comparative Grammar

Principles and Parameters in Comparative Grammar PDF Author: Robert Freidin
Publisher: MIT Press
ISBN: 9780262061407
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 492

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Book Description
These essays by an outstanding group of linguists present case studies in contemporary comparative grammar, illustrating the rich and varied ways in which the principles and parameters framework of generative grammar can provide explanations for both the underlying universal properties of the world's languages and the ways in which they differ. The final essay by Noam Chomsky offers a new perspective on the principles and parameters approach to comparative grammar. In his introduction, Freidin describes the historical background of current work in comparative grammar and compares this work to the comparative studies of the nineteenth century. He notes how the current approach traces the fundamental unity of all languages to the language faculty, in contrast to that of the nineteenth century which was primarily concerned with the ancestral relations among languages. The essays that follow convey the wide scope of the interaction between current theory and crosslinguistic studies. Topics include the relevance of binding theory for crosslinguistic studies; the interaction between the syntax/lexical semantics interface and the theory of UG; the role of phrase structure and levels of representation in accounting or syntactic variation; crosslinguistic variation in word order phenomena; and the ways in which the study of comparative grammar can itself contribute to the understanding of UG. Contributors Joseph Aoun. Adriana Belletti. Noam Chomsky. Robert Freidin. Wayne Harbert. Norbert Hornstein. C.-T. James Huang. Anthony S. Kroch. Howard Lasnik. Yen-hui Audrey Li. David Lightfoot. Luigi Rizzi. Ken Safir. Beatrice Santorini. Rex A. Sprouse. Timothy Stowell. Tarald Taraldsen. Lisa deMena Travis. Edwin Williams

Principles and Parameters in Comparative Grammar

Principles and Parameters in Comparative Grammar PDF Author: Robert Freidin
Publisher: MIT Press
ISBN: 9780262061407
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 492

Get Book

Book Description
These essays by an outstanding group of linguists present case studies in contemporary comparative grammar, illustrating the rich and varied ways in which the principles and parameters framework of generative grammar can provide explanations for both the underlying universal properties of the world's languages and the ways in which they differ. The final essay by Noam Chomsky offers a new perspective on the principles and parameters approach to comparative grammar. In his introduction, Freidin describes the historical background of current work in comparative grammar and compares this work to the comparative studies of the nineteenth century. He notes how the current approach traces the fundamental unity of all languages to the language faculty, in contrast to that of the nineteenth century which was primarily concerned with the ancestral relations among languages. The essays that follow convey the wide scope of the interaction between current theory and crosslinguistic studies. Topics include the relevance of binding theory for crosslinguistic studies; the interaction between the syntax/lexical semantics interface and the theory of UG; the role of phrase structure and levels of representation in accounting or syntactic variation; crosslinguistic variation in word order phenomena; and the ways in which the study of comparative grammar can itself contribute to the understanding of UG. Contributors Joseph Aoun. Adriana Belletti. Noam Chomsky. Robert Freidin. Wayne Harbert. Norbert Hornstein. C.-T. James Huang. Anthony S. Kroch. Howard Lasnik. Yen-hui Audrey Li. David Lightfoot. Luigi Rizzi. Ken Safir. Beatrice Santorini. Rex A. Sprouse. Timothy Stowell. Tarald Taraldsen. Lisa deMena Travis. Edwin Williams

Comparative Grammar

Comparative Grammar PDF Author: Victoria Roberts
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780415341998
Category : Grammar, Comparative and general
Languages : en
Pages : 2543

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Book Description
The study of comparative grammar has long been a concern of linguistic theory. To the extent that, by studying the aspects of grammar which vary, we might arrive at an idea of what does not vary, this study can be seen as one way of studying universals of grammar. Although it has antecedents in the Middle Ages, comparative grammar was not systematically studied until the nineteenth century, and then purely from a historical perspective. In the past forty years, however, two important approaches have emerged: Greenbergian language typology and the Chomskyan programme based on the idea of the interaction of the principles and parameters of universal grammar. In recent years, these two approaches have to a degree converged. Our notion of how grammatical systems vary and our ability to provide detailed, sophisticated analyses of this variation across a range of languages and grammatical phenomena is probably greater than it has been at any time in the past. Concentrating on principles-and-parameters theory, this new Routledge Major Work presents a general, detailed and critical overview of what has been achieved. Aside from the first and last volumes, each one is devoted to a particular aspect of grammatical variation which has been identified as underlying important differences among languages. The first volume presents some of the most important work prior to the formulation of the principles-and-parameters approach in approximately 1980, including Greenberg's seminal early paper on language typology, while the last volume, in addition to considering further aspects of variation, briefly illustrates how the principles-and-parameters approach has been applied to first-language acquisition and syntactic change. With comprehensive introductions to each volume, newly written by the editor, which place the collected material in its historical and intellectual context, Comparative Grammar is an essential work of reference and is destined to be valued by linguistics scholars and students as a vital research resource.

Current Issues in Comparative Grammar

Current Issues in Comparative Grammar PDF Author: R. Freidin
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 9400901356
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 395

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Book Description
Current Issues in Comparative Grammar illustrates the diversity and productivity of research within the principles and parameters framework of generative grammar. In combination, the papers in this volume address a rich and varied set of issues in the study of comparative grammar, including the theories of binding, case and government, the parametric effects of inflection, the syntactic properties of infinitival constructions, the analysis of expletives and of clitics, and the interpretation of anaphoric properties at the level of Logical Form. The collection employs several different research strategies, ranging from a broad survey of related constructions in a wide range of languages to the close analysis of an unusual construction in a single language and its consequences for the theory of Universal Grammar. Some of the papers collected here are commentaries on others, or responses to commentaries.

Comparative Grammar: Head-complement order

Comparative Grammar: Head-complement order PDF Author: Ian G. Roberts
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780415342025
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 2543

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Book Description
The study of comparative grammar has been a concern of linguistic theory. Our notion of how grammatical systems vary and our ability to provide sophisticated analyses of this variation is greater than it has been at any time in the past. Concentrating on principles-and-parameters theory, this work presents an overview of what has been achieved.

Comparative Grammar: The null-subject parameter

Comparative Grammar: The null-subject parameter PDF Author: Ian G. Roberts
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780415342018
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 2543

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Book Description
The study of comparative grammar has been a concern of linguistic theory. Our notion of how grammatical systems vary and our ability to provide sophisticated analyses of this variation is greater than it has been at any time in the past. Concentrating on principles-and-parameters theory, this work presents an overview of what has been achieved.

Comparative Grammar: Further issues

Comparative Grammar: Further issues PDF Author: Ian G. Roberts
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780415342056
Category : Grammar, Comparative and general
Languages : en
Pages : 384

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Book Description
The study of comparative grammar has been a concern of linguistic theory. Our notion of how grammatical systems vary and our ability to provide sophisticated analyses of this variation is greater than it has been at any time in the past. Concentrating on principles-and-parameters theory, this work presents an overview of what has been achieved.

The Oxford Handbook of Universal Grammar

The Oxford Handbook of Universal Grammar PDF Author: Ian G. Roberts
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0199573778
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 673

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Book Description
''This handbook provides a critical guide to the most central proposition in modern linguistics: the notion, generally known as universal grammar, that a universal set of structural principles underlies the grammatical diversity of the world's languages. It will be a vital reference for linguists, philosophers, and cognitive scientists.''--

Parameter Hierarchies and Universal Grammar

Parameter Hierarchies and Universal Grammar PDF Author: Ian Roberts
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN: 0198804636
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 730

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Book Description
This book develops a minimalist approach to cross-linguistic morphosyntactic variation. Ian Roberts argues that the essential insight of the principles-and-parameters approach to variation can be maintained - albeit in a somewhat different guise - in the context of the minimalist program for linguistic theory. The central idea is to organize the parameters of Universal Grammar (UG) into hierarchies that define the ways in which properties of individually variant categories and features may act in concert. A further leading idea, which is consistent with the overall goal of the minimalist programme to reduce the content of UG, is that the parameter hierarchies are not directly determined by UG, and are instead emergent properties stemming from the interaction of the three factors in language design. Cross-linguistic variation in word order, null subjects, incorporation, verb-movement, case/alignment, wh-movement, and negation are all analyzed in the light of this approach. This book represents a significant new contribution to the formal study of cross-linguistic morphosyntactic variation on both the empirical and theoretical levels, and will appeal to researchers and students in all areas of theoretical linguistics and comparative syntax.

Comparative Grammar: Verb movement

Comparative Grammar: Verb movement PDF Author: Ian G. Roberts
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780415342049
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 496

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Book Description
The study of comparative grammar has been a concern of linguistic theory. Our notion of how grammatical systems vary and our ability to provide sophisticated analyses of this variation is greater than it has been at any time in the past. Concentrating on principles-and-parameters theory, this work presents an overview of what has been achieved.

Principles and Parameters of Syntactic Saturation

Principles and Parameters of Syntactic Saturation PDF Author: Gert Webelhuth
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0195361385
Category : Foreign Language Study
Languages : en
Pages : 254

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Book Description
This work represents the first full-scale attempt to provide a restrictive theory of parameters--the nature and limits of syntactic variation. Focusing on syntactic saturation, Webelhuth hypothesizes that in natural language these phenomena are subject to the "Saturation Condition." He explains the principles behind this condition and demonstrates how it imposes strong constraints on what counts as a possible parameter in natural language. Webelhuth goes on to test this theory against empirical evidence from seven modern Germanic languages: German, Dutch, English, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, and Icelandic.