scholarly journals The ecology of languages

2007 ◽  
Vol 23 (spe) ◽  
pp. 17-41 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Lightfoot
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle ◽  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Universal Grammar ◽  
Verb Movement ◽  
Linguistic Data ◽  
History Of

This paper discusses the life-cycle of languages: languages die, new languages are born, and languages undergo radical changes in form and structure. This paper considers three changes in the history of English: loss of split genitives, introduction of new inflectional categories, and loss of verb movement. The proposal is that these changes are the result of children's reanalysis during language acquisition, based on the interaction between primary linguistic data and universal grammar. These processes of I-language reanalysis lead to the gradual emergence of new E-languages.

On the Emergence of Personal Infinitives in the History of Spanish

Diachronica ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 36-64 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ioanna Sitaridou
Keyword(s):  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Empirical Evidence ◽  
Linguistic Data ◽  
History Of

The aim of this article is twofold: (a) To evaluate the learned source for the rise of personal infinitives in the history of Spanish, and (b) to address the issue of the origin of personal infinitives from the perspective of language acquisition. It is argued, by means of novel empirical evidence derived from the Corpus del Español, that the Latin Accusativus cum Infinitivo source is responsible for the personal infinitive in complement position in Old Castilian (in line with Pountain 1998). However, this learned source is not the source of the Modern Spanish personal infinitive in adjunct position. For the latter, an acquisitional scenario is put forward whereby changes in the primary linguistic data (cf. Lightfoot 1999) made adjunct personal infinitives possible.

Phonology in Universal Grammar

2016 ◽  
pp. 152-182
Author(s):  
Brett Miller ◽  
Neil Myler ◽  
Bert Vaux
Keyword(s):  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Recent Literature ◽  
Universal Grammar ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Computational System ◽  
Initial State ◽  
Linguistic Data ◽  
Artificial Languages ◽  
Acquisition Device ◽  
The Mind

This chapter draws a distinction between Universal Grammar (the initial state of the computational system that underwrites the human capacity for language) and the Language Acquisition Device (the complex of components of the mind/brain involved in constructing grammar+lexicon pairs upon exposure to primary linguistic data). It then considers whether there are any substantive phonological components of Universal Grammar strictu sensu. Two of the strongest empirical arguments for the existence of such phonological content in UG have been (i) apparent constraints on the space of variation induced from the typological record, and (ii) apparently universal dispreferences against certain phonological configurations (known as markedness). The chapter examines these arguments in the light of recent literature, concluding that the phenomena submit at least as well to historical, phonetic, or other non-UG explanations. We suggest that language acquisition experiments, involving natural and artificial languages, may be a more fruitful domain for future research into these questions.

HANDBOOK OF SECOND LANGUAGE ACQUISITION.William C. Ritchie & Tej K. Bhatia (Eds.). San Diego: Academic Press, 1996. Pp. vii + 758. $69.95 cloth.

1998 ◽  
Vol 20 (3) ◽  
pp. 429-430
Author(s):  
Carolyn G. Madden
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Contact ◽  
Universal Grammar ◽  
First Language ◽  
Academic Press ◽  
History Of ◽  
Work Done ◽  
Theoretical Issues

Handbook of Second Language Acquisition is what its title suggests, a very thorough guide through the field of SLA. Indeed, the first chapter, an overview, is quite extensive in summarizing the history of SLA and the current issues in SLA. In addition to the lengthy overview, the handbook is divided into seven major sections: I. Research and theoretical issues in second language acquisition, II. Issues of maturation and modularity in second language acquisition, III. Second language speech and the influence of the first language, IV. Research methodology and applications, V. Modality and the linguistic environment in second language acquisition, VI. The neuropsychology of second language acquisition and use, and VII. Language contact and its consequences. These sections are thorough, well researched, and accessible. Section I includes one chapter by Gregg, which sets the tone and bias of the text with his claim that theoretical considerations that are central to SLA are those that address the issue of knowledge; that is, competence within the Chomskyan framework of Universal Grammar. Gregg makes it clear that he is not suggesting that other theories of acculturation or variation are uninteresting but rather that what is central to developing a theory of SLA is a theory that explains competence as the work done within the principles and parameter framework, not, for example, one that explains communicative competence. Section II, the core of the text, consists of six chapters on the various models, approaches, and frameworks of SLA. The first two chapters, by White and Flynn, support the principles and parameters framework for SLA and are followed by a well-reasoned challenge by Schachter.

scholarly journals Problems with variable properties in syntax

2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 01-19
Author(s):  
David Lightfoot
Keyword(s):  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Change ◽  
Syntactic Structure ◽  
Universal Grammar ◽  
Logical Form ◽  
Variable Properties ◽  
Generative Capacity ◽  
History Of ◽  
Evaluation Metric

Like those birds born to chirp, humans are born to parse; children are predisposed to assign linguistic structures to the amorphous externalization of the thoughts that we encounter. This yields a view of variable properties quite different from one based on parameters defined at Universal Grammar (UG). Our approach to language acquisition makes two contributions to Minimalist thinking. First, in accordance with general Minimalist goals, we minimize the pre-wired components of internal languages, dispensing with three separate, central entities: parameters, an evaluation metric for rating the generative capacity of grammars, and any independent parsing mechanism. Instead, children use their internal grammar to parse the ambient external language they experience. UG is “open,” consistent with what children learn through parsing. Second, our understanding of language acquisition yields a new view of variable properties, properties that occur only in certain languages. Under this open UG vision, specific elements of I-languages arise in response to new parses. Both external and internal languages play crucial, interacting roles:  unstructured, amorphous external language is parsed and a structured internal language system results. My Born to parse (Lightfoot 2020) explores case studies that show innovative parses of external language shaping the history of languages. I discuss 1) how children learn through parsing, 2) the role of parsing at the two interfaces between syntactic structure and the externalization system (sound or sign) and logical form, 3) language change, and 4) variable linguistic properties seen through the lens of an open UG. This, in turn, yields a view of variable properties akin to that of evolutionary biologists working on Darwin’s finches; see section 7.

Rites of Passage

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Axel Michaels
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle ◽  
Old Age ◽  
Sexual Maturity ◽  
Rites Of Passage ◽  
Life And Death ◽  
Transformational Process ◽  
Local Contexts ◽  
Vulnerable Community ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Individual

This chapter examines the classical Hindu life-cycle rites, the term saṃskāra and its history, and the main sources (Gṛhyasūtras and Dharma texts). It presents a history of the traditional saṃskāras and variants in local contexts, especially in Nepal. It describes prenatal, birth and childhood, initiation, marriage, old-age, death, and ancestor rituals. Finally, it analyzes the transformational process of these life-cycle rituals in the light of general theories on rites of passage. It proposes, in saṃskāras, man equates himself with the unchangeable and thus seems to counteract the uncertainty of the future, of life and death, since persons are confronted with their finite existence. For evidently every change, whether social or biological, represents a danger for the cohesion of the vulnerable community of the individual and society. These rituals then become an attempt of relegating the effects of nature or of mortality: birth, teething, sexual maturity, reproduction, and dying.

Universal Grammar and Language Acquisition

2021 ◽  
pp. 348-363
Author(s):  
Stephen Crain ◽  
Rosalind Thornton
Keyword(s):  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Universal Grammar

Universal Grammar and the critical age

1998 ◽  
Vol 21 (4) ◽  
pp. 611-612
Author(s):  
Julia Herschensohn
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Universal Grammar ◽  
Differences Of Opinion ◽  
Central Argument ◽  
Critical Age

Differences of opinion between Epstein, Flynn & Martohardjono (1996) and some commentators can be traced to different interpretations of Universal Grammar (UG) form or strategy. Potential full access to the form of linguistic universals in second language acquisition may be distinguished from access to UG strategy, but Epstein et al.'s dismissal of the Critical Age Hypothesis clouds their central argument.

Parameters or cues?

2004 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 35-36 ◽  
Author(s):  
BRIAN MACWHINNEY
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Hebbian Learning ◽  
Universal Grammar ◽  
Back Propagation ◽  
Parameter Setting ◽  
Functional Categories ◽  
The Core ◽  
Over Time

Truscott and Sharwood Smith (henceforth T&SS) attempt to show how second language acquisition can occur without any learning. In their APT model, change depends only on the tuning of innate principles through the normal course of processing of L2. There are some features of their model that I find attractive. Specifically, their acceptance of the concepts of competition and activation strength brings them in line with standard processing accounts like the Competition Model (Bates and MacWhinney, 1982; MacWhinney, 1987, in press). At the same time, their reliance on parameters as the core constructs guiding learning leaves this model squarely within the framework of Chomsky's theory of Principles and Parameters (P&P). As such, it stipulates that the specific functional categories of Universal Grammar serve as the fundamental guide to both first and second language acquisition. Like other accounts in the P&P framework, this model attempts to view second language acquisition as involving no real learning beyond the deductive process of parameter-setting based on the detection of certain triggers. The specific innovation of the APT model is that changes in activation strength during processing function as the trigger to the setting of parameters. Unlike other P&P models, APT does not set parameters in an absolute fashion, allowing their activation weight to change by the processing of new input over time. The use of the concept of activation in APT is far more restricted than its use in connectionist models that allow for Hebbian learning, self-organizing features maps, or back-propagation.

The acquisition of preposition stranding by second language learners and parametric variation

1985 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 18-46 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul van Buren ◽  
Michael Sharwood Smith
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Learning Strategies ◽  
Universal Grammar ◽  
Target System ◽  
Binding Theory ◽  
Pilot Studies ◽  
Preposition Stranding ◽  
Government Binding

This paper discusses the application of Government Binding Theory to second language acquisition in the context of a project which is looking into the acquisition of preposition stranding in English and Dutch. The bulk of the discussion focuses on the theoretical problems involved. Firstly, the potential value of Government Binding Theory in principle is considered both in terms of the formulation of linguistic questions per se and also in terms of more specifically acquisitional questions having to do with the speed and order of acquisition. Secondly, some results in the pilot studies conducted so far in Utrecht are examined with respect to the theoretical usefulness of the framework adopted. The potential of the framework to generate sophisticated linguistic research questions is found to be undeniable. The acquisitional aspects need to be elaborated and adapted to cope with the special features of second, as opposed to first, language acquisition. This involves an elaboration of scenarios to be investigated: one in which the learner's initial assumption is that the unmarked setting of a given parameter of Universal Grammar holds for the target system, one in which the settings of parameters shared by the target and native systems are assumed to be identical, the second being a 'cross linguistic' scenario. These possibilities are considered in the light of the nature of evidence derived from the input and in the light of a set of possible learning strategies derived from the scenarios. The scenarios, the types of evidence and the strategies are spelled out in terms of the specific problem of preposition stranding in Universal Grammar, in Dutch and in English.

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