Aspects of a theory of language acquisition

1980 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 157-179 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anne Erreich ◽  
Virginia Valian ◽  
Judith Winzemer
Keyword(s):  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Phrase Structure ◽  
Methodological Issues ◽  
The Third ◽  
Hypothesis Space ◽  
Linguistic Evidence ◽  
Syntax Acquisition ◽  
Testing Theory ◽  
Initial Hypothesis ◽  
Theory Of Language

ABSTRACTThis paper presents a hypothesis-testing theory of syntax acquisition. The first section presents our model. We claim that: (1) children learn a transformational grammar, including a set of phrase structure and transformational rules; (2) linguistic universals and Occam's razor constrain the initial hypothesis space available to the device; (3) hypotheses tested by the device consist of candidate phrase structure and transformational rules; (4) linguistic evidence confirms or disconfirms hypotheses. Specific examples of incorrect phrase structure and transformational hypotheses are presented.The second section briefly surveys other approaches to language acquisition – both syntactic and non-syntactic – and compares them to our model. In the third section, we address several methodological issues: (1) the relevance of linguistic theory to the model; (2) how the model is tested; (3) the domain of the theory.

Sentence First, Arguments Afterward

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lila Gleitman
Keyword(s):  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Specific Language ◽  
Noam Chomsky ◽  
Theory Of Language ◽  
Developmental Psycholinguistics

This book collects the most significant papers written by Lila R. Gleitman, spanning 50 years of research on language and its acquisition. The book traces the roots of developmental psycholinguistics while presenting empirically driven arguments in favor of a rationalist theory of language acquisition. Gleitman’s work simultaneously shows how learners acquire knowledge richer than what can be found in the environment and how they use their input to acquire a specific language. The book also includes a foreword by Noam Chomsky and an introductory chapter by Jeffrey Lidz contextualizing Gleitman’s work in the transition from structuralism to mentalist architectures in linguistics.

scholarly journals Semantic analysis of body parts in emotion terminology: Avoiding the exoticisms of “obstinate monosemy” and “online extension”

2002 ◽  
Vol 10 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 85-106 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Semantic Analysis ◽  
Linguistic Meaning ◽  
Body Parts ◽  
Conceptual Category ◽  
Methodological Issues ◽  
Central Concern ◽  
Emotion Experience ◽  
Linguistic Evidence ◽  
Established Fact ◽  
Is Failure

Investigation of the emotions entails reference to words and expressions conventionally used for the description of emotion experience. Important methodological issues arise for emotion researchers, and the issues are of similarly central concern in linguistic semantics more generally. I argue that superficial and/or inconsistent description of linguistic meaning can have seriously misleading results. This paper is firstly a critique of standards in emotion research for its tendency to underrate and ill-understood linguistic semantics. It is secondly a critique of standards in some approaches to linguistic semantics itself. Two major problems occur. The first is failure to distinguish between conceptually distinct meanings of single words, neglecting the well-established fact that a single phonological string can signify more than one conceptual category (i.e., that words can be polysemous). The second error involves failure to distinguish between two kinds of secondary uses of words: (1) those which are truly active “online” extensions, and (2) those which are conventionalised secondary meanings and not active (qua “extensions”) at all. These semantic considerations are crucial to conclusions one may draw about cognition and conceptualisation based on linguistic evidence.

scholarly journals Epigraphic Squeezes: Digitisation, Publication, and Enhancement

2020 ◽  
Vol 65 (1) ◽  
pp. 5-16
Author(s):  
Eloisa Paganoni
Keyword(s):  
Relational Database ◽  
Web Application ◽  
Initial Phase ◽  
Current Phase ◽  
Methodological Issues ◽  
The Third ◽  
Research And Teaching ◽  
Database Architecture ◽  
Set Up ◽  
Greek Epigraphy

"Epigraphic squeezes are a key tool for research and teaching. They also have historical and documentary value. They are reliable copies of inscribed text and become the only evidence that remains if inscriptions are lost or destroyed. This paper describes the Venice Squeeze Project for the preservation and enhancement of epigraphic squeezes in the Department of Humanities at Ca’ Foscari University of Venice. For the initial phase of the project, the Ca’ Foscari University collection of epigraphic squeezes was published in the digital ektypotheke E-stampages. The current phase involves developing a web application to digitise epigraphic squeezes according to the metadata architecture of E-stampages. The first part of this paper describes the background of the Venice Squeeze Project and methodological issues, which fostered the partnership with E-stampages. The second part describes the relational database that was set up to digitise the Ca’ Foscari collection. The third part introduces the project initiatives to promote a network of Italian institutions interested in digitizing their collections of epigraphic squeezes. Keywords: Greek epigraphy, squeezes, database architecture"

The child's lexical representation: the ‘puzzle-puddle-pickle’ evidence

1980 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-17 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marlys A. Macken
Keyword(s):  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Detailed Analysis ◽  
Lexical Representation ◽  
Surface Form ◽  
Phonological Development ◽  
Mapping System ◽  
Theory Of Language ◽  
Formal Properties ◽  
Phonological Change ◽  
Do So

Smith (1973) presents a detailed analysis of his son's phonological development between the ages of two and four.1 The book is impressive, not only for the care with which the analysis was done but also, and more importantly, for the clarity with which central acquisition issues were stated. The analysis of the child's productions was done in two ways: first as a mapping from the adult system and second as a self-contained system. In his introduction, Smith raises seven issues that any theory of language acquisition must address; one of these concerns the nature of phonological change. Smith states that when changes occur in the child's output, they do so in an ‘across-the-board’ fashion. On the basis of this (and other) evidence, Smith concludes that the child must have the adult surface form as his underlying lexical representation. The implication is clear: the child must thus perceive in an adult-like fashion and the deviance of his/her output is due to the articulatory difficulty of certain sounds and sound sequences (and in some cases to certain formal properties of his mapping system).

Translating

2019 ◽  
pp. 225-278
Keyword(s):  
Meaning Making ◽  
Biblical Hebrew ◽  
Speech Sounds ◽  
The Third ◽  
The Bible ◽  
Section Deal ◽  
Theory Of Language

The three texts of this section deal with translation, a field where Meschonnic is of particular influence and importance. Meschonnic’s own experience of translating the Bible, and a very particular understanding of meaning-making procedures in biblical Hebrew, establishes in fact the basis for his theory. The exposure to the semantic accent system of biblical Hebrew allowed Meschonnic to develop a theory of language which saw meaning as residing not only in linguistic reference but in what he called a ‘serial semantics’: motivated forms of verbal patterning, chains of signifiers, prosodic contours, distributions of and connections between speech sounds and motifs across a longer text. He posits that, more than what a text says, it is what a text does that is to be translated: its force. The third text on translation then offers a demonstration of how Meschonnic applies the continuous of his theory of language to a text.

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