Download or read book Foundational Issues in Linguistic Theory written by Robert Freidin and published by MIT Press. This book was released on 2008-05-09 with total page 425 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Essays by leading theoretical linguists—including Noam Chomsky, B. Elan Dresher, Richard Kayne, Howard Lasnik, Morris Halle, Norbert Hornstein, Henk van Riemsdijk, and Edwin Williams—reflect on Jean-Roger Vergnaud's influence in the field and discuss current theoretical issues 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 Ph.D. thesis that has since become, in somewhat modified form, the standard analysis for the derivation of relative clauses. Vergnaud later integrated the proposal within a broader theory of movement and abstract case. These topics have remained central to theoretical linguistics. In this volume, essays by leading theoretical linguists attest to the importance of Jean-Roger Vergnaud's contributions to linguistics. The essays 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important breakthroughs in the development of the principles and parameters framework and including a famous letter (unpublished until recently) from Vergnaud to Noam Chomsky and Howard Lasnik commenting on the first draft of their 1977 paper “Filters and Controls.”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 volume concludes with two contributions to that field. The essays, 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. Contributors Joseph Aoun, Elabbas Benmamoun, Cedric Boeckx, Noam Chomsky, B. Elan Dresher, Robert Freidin, Morris Halle, Norbert Hornstein, Richard S. Kayne, Samuel Jay Keyser, Howard Lasnik, Yen-hui Audrey Li, M. Rita Manzini, Karine Megerdoomian, David Michaels, Henk van Riemsdijk, Alain Rouveret, Leonardo M. Savoia, Jean-Roger Vergnaud, Edwin Williams

Download or read book Current Issues in Linguistic Theory written by Noam Chomsky and published by Walter de Gruyter. This book was released on 2011-05-02 with total page 121 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this paper,(1) I will restrict the term ""linguistic theory"" to systems of hypotheses concerning the general features of human language put forth in an attempt to account for a certain range of linguistic phenomena. I will not be concerned with systems of terminology or methods of investigation (analytic procedures). The central fact to which any significant linguistic theory must address itself is this: a mature speaker can produce a new sentence of his language on the appropriate occasion, and other speakers can understand it immediately, though it is equally new to them. Most of our li.

Download or read book Aspects of the Theory of Syntax written by Noam Chomsky and published by MIT Press. This book was released on 1969-03-15 with total page 276 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Chomsky proposes a reformulation of the theory of transformational generative grammar that takes recent developments in the descriptive analysis of particular languages into account. Beginning in the mid-fifties and emanating largely form MIT, an approach was developed to linguistic theory and to the study of the structure of particular languages that diverges in many respects from modern linguistics. Although this approach is connected to the traditional study of languages, it differs enough in its specific conclusions about the structure and in its specific conclusions about the structure of language to warrant a name, "generative grammar." Various deficiencies have been discovered in the first attempts to formulate a theory of transformational generative grammar and in the descriptive analysis of particular languages that motivated these formulations. At the same time, it has become apparent that these formulations can be extended and deepened.The major purpose of this book is to review these developments and to propose a reformulation of the theory of transformational generative grammar that takes them into account. The emphasis in this study is syntax; semantic and phonological aspects of the language structure are discussed only insofar as they bear on syntactic theory.

Download or read book Foundational Issues in Linguistic Theory written by Robert Freidin and published by MIT Press (MA). This book was released on 2008 with total page 424 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Essays by leading theoretical linguists--including Noam Chomsky, B. Elan Dresher, Richard Kayne, Howard Lasnik, Morris Halle, Norbert Hornstein, Henk van Riemsdijk, and Edwin Williams--reflect on Jean-Roger Vergnaud's influence in the field and discuss current theoretical issues

Download or read book Semantics Foundational issues written by Javier Gutiérrez-Rexach and published by Taylor & Francis. This book was released on 2003 with total page 400 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Foundations of Language written by Ray Jackendoff and published by OUP Oxford. This book was released on 2002-01-24 with total page 498 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: How does human language work? How do we put ideas into words that others can understand? Can linguistics shed light on the way the brain operates? Foundations of Language puts linguistics back at the centre of the search to understand human consciousness. Ray Jackendoff begins by surveying the developments in linguistics over the years since Noam Chomsky's Aspects of the Theory of Syntax. He goes on to propose a radical re-conception of how the brain processes language. This opens up vivid new perspectives on every major aspect of language and communication, including grammar, vocabulary, learning, the origins of human language, and how language relates to the real world. Foundations of Language makes important connections with other disciplines which have been isolated from linguistics for many years. It sets a new agenda for close cooperation between the study of language, mind, the brain, behaviour, and evolution.

Download or read book Romance Linguistics 2009 written by Sonia Colina and published by John Benjamins Publishing. This book was released on 2010-11-25 with total page 442 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume contains a selection of twenty-four peer-reviewed papers from the 39th annual Linguistic Symposium on Romance Languages (LSRL) held at the University of Arizona in 2009. Contributions cover a wide variety of topics in the areas of phonology, phonetics, syntax, morphology, and diachronic Romance linguistics, with an emphasis on language variation and change. Among the languages and varieties of Romance analyzed are Spanish, French, Italian, Portuguese, Romanian, Catalan, Old French, Old Occitan, and Hispano-Romance.The research in this volume points to a cohesiveness in Romance linguistics that lies in the integration of up-to-date linguistic research with a comparative tradition and the in-depth study of a language family. The work presented will be of interest to scholars of Romance linguistics and of linguistics alike.

Download or read book Reflections on Psycholinguistic Theories written by Nigel Duffield and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2018-01-25 with total page 415 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In a work that is part memoir, part monograph, Nigel Duffield offers a set of lyrical reflections on theories of Psycholinguistics, which is concerned with how speakers use the languages they control, as well as with how such control is acquired in the first place. Written for professionals and enthusiastic amateurs alike, this book offers a 'well-tempered' examination of the conceptual and empirical foundations of the field. In developing his ideas, the author draws on thirty years of direct professional experience of psycholinguistic theory and practice, across various sub-disciplines, including theoretical linguistics, cognitive psychology, philosophy, and philology. The author's personal experience as a language learner - more importantly, as the father of three bilingual children - also plays a crucial role in shaping the discussion. Using examples from popular literature, song, poetry, and comedy, the work examines many of the foundational questions that divide researchers from different intellectual traditions: these include the nature of 'linguistic competence', the arbitrariness of language, and the theoretical implications of variation between speakers and across languages.

Download or read book Syntax written by Robert Freidin and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2012-08-09 with total page 301 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Syntax: Basic Concepts and Applications provides a systematic introduction to core topics in syntax, focusing on how the basic concepts apply in the analysis of sentences. Assuming no background in linguistic analysis, the book gives students a working knowledge of syntactic analysis from a minimalist perspective. Step by step it explains the fundamentals of phrase structure, movement and deletion. Well-placed exercises throughout reinforce and extend the concepts and analyses presented in the text, allowing readers to gain understanding of progressively complex issues at a comfortable pace. Much of the data comes from English, but crucial examples are also drawn from a range of other languages, including Russian, Chinese, Japanese, French, Italian, Spanish, Irish, Welsh and Greek.

Download or read book Language Prescription written by Don Chapman and published by Multilingual Matters. This book was released on 2020-09-21 with total page 279 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book is a detailed examination of social connections to language evaluation with a specific focus on the values associated with both prescriptivism and descriptivism. The chapters, written by authors from many different linguistic and national backgrounds, use a variety of approaches and methods to discuss values in linguistic prescriptivism. In particular, the chapters break down the traditional binary approaches that characterize prescriptive discourse to create a view of the complex phenomena associated with prescriptivism and the values of those who practice it. Most importantly, this volume continues serious academic conversations about prescriptivism and lays the foundation for continued exploration.

Download or read book The Routledge Handbook of North American Languages written by Daniel Siddiqi and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2019-09-25 with total page 598 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Routledge Handbook of North American Languages is a one-stop reference for linguists on those topics that come up the most frequently in the study of the languages of North America (including Mexico). This handbook compiles a list of contributors from across many different theories and at different stages of their careers, all of whom are well-known experts in North American languages. The volume comprises two distinct parts: the first surveys some of the phenomena most frequently discussed in the study of North American languages, and the second surveys some of the most frequently discussed language families of North America. The consistent goal of each contribution is to couch the content of the chapter in contemporary theory so that the information is maximally relevant and accessible for a wide range of audiences, including graduate students and young new scholars, and even senior scholars who are looking for a crash course in the topics. Empirically driven chapters provide fundamental knowledge needed to participate in contemporary theoretical discussions of these languages, making this handbook an indispensable resource for linguistics scholars.

Download or read book Romance Linguistics 2007 written by Pascual José Masullo and published by John Benjamins Publishing. This book was released on 2009 with total page 373 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The present volume includes a selection of twenty-one peer-reviewed and revised papers from the 37th annual Linguistic Symposium on Romance Languages (LSRL) held at the University of Pittsburgh in 2007. The papers cover a range of topics in morphology, syntax, phonology and language acquisition. A number of languages and varieties are also analyzed, including Italian, Spanish, Judeo-Spanish, Old Spanish, French, Old French, and Romanian. Contributions include papers from three of the invited speakers, Heles Contreras, Javier Gutierrez-Rexach and Julia Herschensohn. This volume highlights theoretical issues under current debate in Romance linguistics."

Download or read book Recursion written by David J. Lobina and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2017-07-21 with total page 288 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book provides a comprehensive account of the role of recursion in language in two distinct but interconnected ways. First, David J. Lobina examines how recursion applies at different levels within a full description of natural language. Specifically, he identifies and evaluates recursion as: a) a central property of the computational system underlying the faculty of language; b) a possible feature of the derivations yielded by this computational system; c) a global characteristic of the structures generated by the language faculty; and d) a probable factor in the parsing operations employed during the processing of recursive structures. Second, the volume orders these different levels into a tripartite explanatory framework. According to this framework, the investigation of any particular cognitive domain must begin by first outlining what sort of mechanical procedure underlies the relevant capacity (including what sort of structures it generates). Only then, the author argues, can we properly investigate its implementation, both at the level of abstract computations typical of competence-level analyses, and at the level of the real-time processing of behaviour.

Download or read book Second Language Learning Theories written by Rosamond Mitchell and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2019-01-21 with total page 452 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Written by a team of leading experts working in different SLA specialisms, this fourth edition is a clear and concise introduction to the main theories of second language acquisition (SLA) from multiple perspectives, comprehensively updated to reflect the very latest developments SLA research in recent years. The book covers all the main theoretical perspectives currently active in SLA and sets each chapter within a broader framework. Each chapter examines the claims and scope of each theory and how each views language, the learner and the acquisition process, supplemented by summaries of key studies and data examples from a variety of languages. Chapters end with an evaluative summary of the theories discussed. Key features to this fourth edition include updated accounts of developments in cognitive approaches to second language (L2) learning, the implications of advances in generative linguistics and the "social turn" in L2 research, with re-worked chapters on functional, sociocultural and sociolinguistic perspectives, and an entirely new chapter on theory integration, in addition to updated examples using new studies. Second Language Learning Theories continues to be an essential resource for graduate students in second language acquisition.

Download or read book Understanding Minimalism written by Norbert Hornstein and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2005-12-15 with total page 375 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Understanding Minimalism, first published in 2005, is an introduction to the Minimalist Program - the model of syntactic theory within generative linguistics. Accessibly written, it presents the basic principles and techniques of the minimalist program, looking firstly at analyses within Government and Binding Theory (the Minimalist Program's predecessor), and gradually introducing minimalist alternatives. Minimalist models of grammar are presented in a step-by-step fashion, and the ways in which they contrast with GB analyses are clearly explained. Spanning a decade of minimalist thinking, this textbook will enable students to develop a feel for the sorts of questions and problems that minimalism invites, and to master the techniques of minimalist analysis. Over 100 exercises are provided, encouraging them to put these skills into practice. Understanding Minimalism will be an invaluable text for intermediate and advanced students of syntactic theory, and will set a solid foundation for further study and research within Chomsky's minimalist framework.

Download or read book Contemporary Linguistic Parameters written by Antonio Fabregas and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2015-11-19 with total page 341 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Parameters have lain at the core of linguistic research in the generative tradition for decades. The theoretical questions they have raised are deep and broad: this reference text investigates how contemporary linguistics has best tried to answer them. This book looks at how parameters might be properly defined and what their locus might be :lexical information, functional heads, the computational system, the phonological branch of the grammar. What kind of data forms trigger acquisition of a parameter? Are parameters necessary or can we study languages without making reference to them? The questions looked at are not just theoretical: how can a theory of parameters be used to help understand second language acquisition, and what contributions can it make to the study of language typology? This is the right time to gather all this information, dispersed in many different kinds of publications by single authors and groups, into one comprehensive volume.

Download or read book The Wiley Blackwell Companion to Syntax 8 Volume Set written by Martin Everaert and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2017-12-26 with total page 5254 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An invaluable reference tool for students and researchers in theoretical linguistics, The Wiley Blackwell Companion to Syntax, Second Edition has been updated to incorporate the last 10 years of syntactic research and expanded to include a wider array of important case studies in the syntax of a broad array of languages. A revised and expanded edition of this invaluable reference tool for students and researchers in linguistics, now incorporating the last 10 years of syntactic research Contains over 120 chapters that explain, analyze, and contextualize important empirical studies within syntax over the last 50 years Charts the development and historiography of syntactic theory with coverage of the most important subdomains of syntax Brings together cutting-edge contributions from a global group of linguists under the editorship of two esteemed syntacticians Provides an essential and unparalleled collection of research within the field of syntax, available both online and across 8 print volumes This work is also available as an online resource at www.companiontosyntax.com