Semantics in generative grammar

2019 ◽  
Vol 42 (2) ◽  
pp. 134-185
Author(s):  
Enrico Cipriani
Keyword(s):  
Universal Grammar ◽  
Formal Semantics ◽  
Generative Grammar ◽  
Minimalist Program ◽  
Linguistic Theory ◽  
Critical Survey ◽  
Primary Role ◽  
Binding Theory ◽  
Minimalist Approach

Abstract I provide a critical survey of the role that semantics took in the several models of generative grammar, since the 1950s until the Minimalist Program. I distinguish four different periods. In the first section, I focus on the role of formal semantics in generative grammar until the 1970s. In Section 2 I present the period of linguistic wars, when the role of semantics in linguistic theory became a crucial topic of debate. In Section 3 I focus on the formulation of conditions on transformations and Binding Theory in the 1970s and 1980s, while in the last Section I discuss the role of semantics in the minimalist approach. In this section, I also propose a semantically-based model of generative grammar, which fully endorses minimalism and Chomsky’s later position concerning the primary role of the semantic interface in the Universal Grammar modelization (Strong Minimalist Thesis). In the Discussion, I point out some theoretical problems deriving from Chomsky’s internalist interpretation of model-theoretic semantics.

Child Second Language Acquisition of Syntax

1995 ◽  
Vol 17 (3) ◽  
pp. 301-329 ◽  
Author(s):  
Usha Lakshmanan
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Universal Grammar ◽  
Linguistic Theory ◽  
Direct Access ◽  
L2 Acquisition ◽  
Syntactic Theory ◽  
L2 Learners

Recent advances in linguistic theory within the principles and parameters framework have exerted considerable influence on the field of second language acquisition. SLA researchers working within this framework of syntactic theory have investigated the extent to which developing second language grammars are constrained by principles of Universal Grammar (UG). Much of the UG-based SLA research in the 1980s focused on adult L2 acquisition, but the role of UG principles in child L2 acquisition remained largely unexplored. More recently, however, this state of affairs has begun to change as SLA researchers are becoming more and more interested in child second language syntactic development. In this paper, I review recent and current developments in UG-based child SLA research, and I argue that child SLA has a valuable role to play in enabling us to arrive at a better understanding of the role of biological factors in language acquisition and in strengthening the links between SLA and linguistic theory. Specifically, I discuss the findings of child SLA studies with respect to the following issues: the role of UG parameters in child SLA, the status of functional categories and their projections in child SLA, and the nature of the evidence available to and used by child L2 learners. The overall picture emerging from these studies suggests that child L2 developing grammars are indeed constrained by Universal Grammar. While it is not fully clear at the present time whether the child L2 learners& knowledge is a result of direct access to UG or indirect access to UG (i.e., through the mediation of the L1), the evidence indicates that L1 transfer (at least in certain syntactic domains) cannot be entirely ruled out.

Second Language Acquisition and Universal Grammar

1990 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 121-133 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lydia White
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Potential Role ◽  
Mother Tongue ◽  
Universal Grammar ◽  
First Language ◽  
Generative Grammar ◽  
L2 Acquisition

In this article, the motivation for Universal Grammar (UG), as assumed in the principles and parameters framework of generative grammar (Chomsky, 1981a, 1981b), is discussed, particular attention being paid to thelogical problemof first language acquisition. The potential role of UG in second language (L2) acquisition is then considered. Three different positions are reviewed: (a) the claim that UG is not available to L2 learners; (b) the claim that UG is fully available; and (c) the claim that the L2 learner's access to UG is mediated by the mother tongue. This raises the issue of what kind of evidence can be used to decide between these three positions. Recent experimental research which argues for one or another of these positions by investigating the L2 status of the Subjacency Principle is reviewed, and the implications of this research are discussed.

scholarly journals Verb movement and interrogatives

Linguistica ◽  
2002 ◽  
Vol 42 (1) ◽  
pp. 161-176
Author(s):  
Gašper Ilc ◽  
Milena Milojević Sheppard
Keyword(s):  
Generative Grammar ◽  
Lexical Item ◽  
Minimalist Program ◽  
Binding Theory ◽  
Verb Movement ◽  
Clausal Structure ◽  
Lexical Categories ◽  
Base Position ◽  
General Terms ◽  
Feature Checking

Verb movement is a phenomenon that has been studied extensively withintheframework of Chomskyan generative grammar. The pioneering work by Pollock(1989) has been followed by a number of studies involving various languages, whichhas provided an important insight both into the language-specific andlanguage-uni­versal properties of verb movement. In most general terms, verb movement canbedefined as movement of the verb from its base position in the (V)erb (P)hrase tosomeposition higher in the clausal structure. In Government & Binding theory verbmove­ment was motivated by the need of the bare lexical verb to associate with theinflec­tional affixes hosted by the functional heads (Pollock 1989, Belletti 1990). Bycontrast,the Minimalist Program (Chomsky 1995) claims that all types of movement aretrig­ gered by feature-checking requirements. In this system, items from lexical categories are fully inflected in the lexicon.Thus the verb is inserted into its base position with all its inflectional affixes and associated inflectional features. Functional heads donotcontain any inflectional material; they carry only abstract features, which arecheckedagainst the corresponding features on the lexical items. In order for feature-checkingto take place the lexical item (e.g. the verb) must raise to the relevantfunctionalhead(s).

scholarly journals شرۆڤەكردنى ڕستەى زمانى كوردى لە ڕوانگەى تيۆرى دەسەڵات و بەستنەوەدا

2017 ◽  
Vol 3 (4) ◽  
pp. 128
Author(s):  
Abubakir Omar Qadir
Keyword(s):  
Noun Phrase ◽  
Turning Point ◽  
Universal Grammar ◽  
Generative Grammar ◽  
Binding Theory ◽  
Empty Categories ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Theta Role ◽  
Government Binding ◽  
Principles And Parameters

This study tries to analyze the Kurdish language, using Chomsky’s (1981) Government Binding theory, which is by itself regarded as a turning point in Chomsky’s Transformational Generative Grammar related to Universal Grammar. This approach will answer the diversity occurs in different languages according to Principles and Parameters. First, Universal Grammar and its principles have been mentioned in this study. Later on, interpretations are given to the sub-theories of GB with which sentences in central Kurdish are analyzed. Besides, the level and method of the theory a long with the optional and obligatory movements are shown. Interpretations are given to different cases of noun phrase. The difference between grammatical case and theta role is indicated through examples.Again, indicating economy in expression, movement and null-constituents whose places can be filled by PRO/ pro are discussed. The distribution of pronouns to personal and demonstrative which refer back to the empty categories reveals the activeness of Kurdish as a pro-drop language.

April McMahon (2000). Change, chance, and optimality. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Pp. x+201.

Phonology ◽  
2001 ◽  
Vol 18 (3) ◽  
pp. 427-433 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert Kirchner
Keyword(s):  
Theoretical Analysis ◽  
Recent Work ◽  
Optimality Theory ◽  
Universal Grammar ◽  
Linguistic Theory ◽  
The Other ◽  
Oxford University ◽  
General Constraints ◽  
Formal Rules

It is generally acknowledged, by both its proponents and detractors, that Optimality Theory has provoked a reexamination, in recent years, of the role of functional considerations, and their typological reflexes, in phonological theory. April McMahon's Change, chance, and optimality attempts an in-depth examination of this issue, particularly from the perspective of the relation between synchrony and diachrony in linguistic theory. The issue, and OT's general stance towards it, are summarised by Prince & Smolensky (1993: 198):One might feel compelled to view a grammar as a more-or-less arbitrary assortment of formal rules, where the principles that the rules subserve (the ‘laws’) are placed entirely outside the grammar, beyond the purview of formal or theoretical analysis, inert but admired. It is not unheard of to conduct phonology in this fashion. We urge a reassessment of this essentially formalist position. If phonology is separated from the principles of well-formedness (the ‘laws’) that drive it, the resulting loss of constraint and theoretical depth will mark as major defeat for the enterprise. The danger, therefore, lies in the other direction: clinging to a conception of Universal Grammar as little more than a loose organizing framework for grammars. A much stronger stance, in accord with the thrust of recent work, is available. When the scalar and the gradient are recognized and brought within the purview of theory, Universal Grammar can supply the very substance from which grammars are built: a set of highly general constraints which, through ranking, interact to produce the elaborate particularity of individual languages.

The PF Disjunction Theorem to Southern Min/Mandarin code-switching

2016 ◽  
Vol 21 (5) ◽  
pp. 541-558 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sung-Lan Wang
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Language Production ◽  
Research Question ◽  
Generative Grammar ◽  
Code Switching ◽  
Minimalist Program ◽  
Language Faculty ◽  
Minimalist Approach ◽  
Southern Min ◽  
Language And Cognition

Aim and research question: The aim of this study is to test Macswan’s ((1999). A minimalist approach to intrasentential code switching. New York, NY: Garland; (2000). The architecture of the bilingual language faculty: Evidence from intrasentential code-switching. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 3, 37–54; (2005). Codeswitching and generative grammar: A critique of the MLF model and some remarks on “modified minimalism”. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 8, 1–22.) PF Disjunction Theorem (PFDT), which was proposed based on Chomsky’s ((1995). The minimalist program. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.) minimalist programme, to answer the following question: Is code-switching (CS) behaviour governed by CS-specific grammar or an innate mechanism that produces monolingual and bilingual utterances in our language faculty? Methodology: A quantitative approach was adopted to test the PFDT with the Southern Min/Mandarin CS data. Data and analysis: 811 lexical items extracted from 343 bilingual clauses in my Southern Min/Mandarin CS corpus, and almost no violation against this model (i.e., a word-internal switch) was found, except one example that was regarded as the informant’s slip of tongue. Findings/conclusions: The results of this study confirm the prediction of the PFDT that phonological systems cannot be mixed within a word. Originality: Although the morphosyntactic structures and in some cases the pronunciations of morphemes are identical, tonal differences of these two languages still prohibit word-internal switches. Significance/implications: This study thus supports the PFDT and argues that CS behaviour is governed by a single innate mechanism that governs both monolingual and bilingual language production and that the so-called CS-specific grammar/mechanism is not necessary.

Sports Photography and Historical Development

2018 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 93-115
Author(s):  
Miloš Stamenković
Keyword(s):  
Historical Development ◽  
Emotional Reaction ◽  
Main Role ◽  
Primary Role

SummarySports photography undoubtedly has a significant place in sports press and publicism. It’s main and primary role is to present sports to the readers as art, which it is. Sport is characterized by dynamic and varied movements, and the main role of sports photography is reflected in the fact that it is in this way that sport shows its essence. Having in mind that photography tells more than a thousand words it sends a clear message to the reader as well to people who are informed about events via sports portals. Sports photography is a multidimensional art for many reasons. When we say “multi”, it primarily refers to a wider range that sports photography has to offer, which means sports photography is not only directed at presenting athletes on the move and the main actors who contribute to achieving the results by their engagement – it also has the role of sports “psychophotography” which is an analysis and capture of the emotional reaction of an athlete after winning or losing from the opposing team.

OBOLESCENCE AND THE DIFFUSION OF INNOVATIONS

2020 ◽  
pp. 113-130
Author(s):  
A.V. GOLUBEV ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Diffusion Of Innovations ◽  
Time Lag ◽  
Practical Implementation ◽  
Primary Role ◽  
Innovation Development ◽  
Scientific Hypothesis ◽  
Scientific Papers ◽  
The Moment ◽  
Sociological Studies

The diffusion of innovations is described as a process in a number of scientific papers. At the same time, the causes of this process have not been sufficiently studied. The author’s goal is to consider the main regularities, under which the life cycle of innovations begins, and propose measures to enhance diffusion in modern conditions. As a scientific hypothesis, the author accepts the postulate about the primary role of the obolescence of attracted innovations in this process. The analysis revealed not only the economic proportions that initiate the start of innovation promotion, but also the influence on the diffusion rate of the obsolescence degree of innovations and the market share occupied by the new product. Methodological approaches have been developed to determine economic efficiency depending on the moment of technological change-over, as well as to determine the absolute and relative speed of innovation diffusion. Sociological studies were conducted to determine the state of innovation development and the time lag between obtaining information about an innovation and its practical implementation. The author presents his “Agroopyt” information system developed to disseminate knowledge in the agricultural sphere and ensure technology transfer in agriculture. Digital methods provide for significant accelerateion of the diffusion of innovations and expand its scope.

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