Natural Language and Universal Grammar: Volume 1

Natural Language and Universal Grammar: Volume 1
Author: John Lyons
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 176
Release: 1991-09-12
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN: 9780521246965

Essays by one of the most influential scholars in modern linguistics, including previously unpublished pieces.

Meaning and Universal Grammar

Meaning and Universal Grammar
Author: Cliff Goddard
Publisher: John Benjamins Publishing
Total Pages: 355
Release: 2002-01-01
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN: 9027230633

Volume one of a set of studies that is founded on the idea that universal grammar is based on - indeed, inseparable from - meaning. The theoretical framework is the natural semantic metalanguage (NSM) approach originated by Anna Wierzbicka and developed in collaboration with Cliff Goddard.

Chomsky's Universal Grammar

Chomsky's Universal Grammar
Author: Vivian Cook
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
Total Pages: 338
Release: 2014-03
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN: 9788126517473

This new edition introduces the reader to Noam Chomsky's theory of language by setting the specifics of syntactic analysis in the framework of his general ideas. It explains its fundamental concepts and provides an overview and history of the theory.

Universal Grammar and American Sign Language

Universal Grammar and American Sign Language
Author: D.C. Lillo-Martin
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Total Pages: 274
Release: 1991-09-30
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN: 9780792314196

AMERICAN SIGN LANGUAGE American Sign Language (ASL) is the visual-gestural language used by most of the deaf community in the United States and parts of Canada. On the surface, this language (as all signed languages) seems radically different from the spoken languages which have been used to formulate theories of linguistic princi ples and parameters. However, the position taken in this book is that when the surface effects of modality are stripped away, ASL will be seen to follow many of the patterns proposed as universals for human language. If these theoretical constructs are meant to hold for language in general, then they should hold for natural human language in any modality; and ifASL is such a natural human language, then it too must be accounted for by any adequate theory of Universal Grammar. For this rea son, the study of ASL can be vital for proposed theories of Universal Grammar. Recent work in several theoretical frameworks of syntax as well as phonology have argued that indeed, ASL is such a lan guage. I will assume then, that principles of Universal Gram mar, and principles that derive from it, are applicable to ASL, and in fact that ASL can serve as one of the languages which test Universal Grammar. There is an important distinction to be drawn, however, be tween what is called here 'American Sign Language', and other forms of manual communication.

Meaning and Universal Grammar

Meaning and Universal Grammar
Author: Cliff Goddard
Publisher: John Benjamins Publishing
Total Pages: 356
Release: 2002-05-31
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN: 9027281874

This book develops a bold new approach to universal grammar, based on research findings of the natural semantic metalanguage (NSM) program. The key idea is that universal grammar is constituted by the inherent grammatical properties of some 60 empirically established semantic primes, which appear to have concrete exponents in all languages. For six typologically divergent languages (Mangaaba-Mbula, Mandarin Chinese, Lao, Malay, Spanish and Polish), contributors identify exponents of the primes and work through a substantial set of hypotheses about their combinatorics, valency properties, complementation options, etc. Each study can also be read as a semantically-based typological profile. Four theoretical chapters by the editors describe the NSM approach and its application to grammatical typology. As a study of empirical universals in grammar, this book is unique for its rigorous semantic orientation, its methodological consistency, and its wealth of cross-linguistic detail.

The Oxford Handbook of Universal Grammar

The Oxford Handbook of Universal Grammar
Author: Ian G. Roberts
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 673
Release: 2017
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN: 0199573778

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. Part I considers the implications of Universal Grammar for philosophy of mind and the philosophy of language, and examines the history of the theory. Part II focuses on linguistic theory, looking at topics such as explanatory adequacy and how phonology and semantics fit into Universal Grammar. Parts III and IV look respectively at the insights derived from UG-inspired research on language acquisition, and at comparative syntax and language typology, while part V considers the evidence for Universal Grammar in phenomena such as creoles, language pathology, and sign language. The book will be a vital reference for linguists, philosophers, and cognitive scientists.

Tome 1 Philosophie du langage, Logique philosophique / Volume 1 Philosophy of language, Philosophical logic

Tome 1 Philosophie du langage, Logique philosophique / Volume 1 Philosophy of language, Philosophical logic
Author: Guttorm Fløistad
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Total Pages: 407
Release: 2012-12-06
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 9400983565

The present publication is a continuation of two earlier series of chronicles, Philosophy in the Mid-Century (Firenze 1958/59) and Contemporary Philosophy (Firenze 1968), edited by Raymond KJibansky. As with the earlier series the present chronicles purport to give a survey of significant trends in contemporary philosophi cal discussion. The time space covered by the present series is (approximately) 1966-1978. The need for such surveys has, I believe, increased rather than decreased over the last years. The philosophical scene appears, for various reasons, more complex than ever before. The continuing process of specialization in most branches, the emergence of new schools of thought, particularly in philosophical logic and the philosophy of language, the convergence of interest (though not necessarily of opinion) of different traditions upon certain prob lems, and the increasing attention being paid to the history of philosophy in discussions of contemporary problems are the most important contributory factors. Surveys of the present kind are a valuable source of knowledge of this complexity and may as such be an assistance in renewing the understanding of one's own philosophical problems. The surveys, it is to be hoped, may also help to strengthen the Socratic element of modem philosophy, the dialogue or Kommu nikationsgemeinschajt. So far, four volumes have been prepared for the new series. The present chronicles in the Philosophy of Language and Philosophi cal Logic (Vol. I), are followed by chronicles in the Philosophy of Science (Vol. II), and Philosophy of Action (Vol.

Investigations in Universal Grammar

Investigations in Universal Grammar
Author: Stephen Crain
Publisher: MIT Press
Total Pages: 362
Release: 2000
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN: 9780262531801

This introductory guide to language acquisition research is presented within the framework of Universal Grammar, a theory of the human faculty for language. The authors focus on two experimental techniques for assessing children's linguistic competence: the Elicited Production task, a production task, and the Truth Value Judgment task, a comprehension task. Their methodologies are designed to overcome the numerous obstacles to empirical investigation of children's language competence. They produce research results that are more reproducible and less likely to be dismissed as an artifact of improper experimental procedure. In the first section of the book, the authors examine the fundamental assumptions that guide research in this area; they present both a theory of linguistic competence and a model of language processing. In the following two sections, they discuss in detail their two experimental techniques.

As Time Goes by

As Time Goes by
Author: Norbert Hornstein
Publisher: MIT Press
Total Pages: 260
Release: 1993
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN: 9780262581295

How do humans acquire, at a very early age and from fragmentary and haphazard data, the complex patterns of their native language? This is the logical problem of language acquisition, and it is the question that directs the search for an innate universal grammar. As Time Goes By extends the search by proposing a theory of natural-language tense that will be responsive to the problem of language acquisition. The clearly written discussion proceeds step-by-step from simple observations and principles to far-reaching conclusions involving complex data carefully selected and persuasively presented. Throughout, Hornstein focuses on the logical problem of language acquisition, highlighting the importance of explanatory adequacy and the role of syntactic representations in determining intricate properties of semantic interpretation.