Parametric Syntax
Parametric Syntax

Author: Hagit Borer

Publisher: Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG

Published: 2014-10-08

Total Pages: 272

ISBN-13: 3110808501

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The architecture of the human language faculty has been one of the main foci of the linguistic research of the last half century. This branch of linguistics, broadly known as Generative Grammar, is concerned with the formulation of explanatory formal accounts of linguistic phenomena with the ulterior goal of gaining insight into the properties of the 'language organ'. The series comprises high quality monographs and collected volumes that address such issues. The topics in this series range from phonology to semantics, from syntax to information structure, from mathematical linguistics to studies of the lexicon.

Parametric Variation
Parametric Variation

Author: Theresa Biberauer

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2010

Total Pages: 375

ISBN-13: 0521886953

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Parametric variation in linguistic theory refers to the systematic grammatical variation permitted by the human language faculty. This book is a defence of the parametric approach to linguistic variation, set within the framework of the Minimalist Program.

Microparametric Syntax and Dialect Variation
Microparametric Syntax and Dialect Variation

Author: James R. Black

Publisher: John Benjamins Publishing

Published: 1996-11-07

Total Pages: 289

ISBN-13: 9027276226

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Richard Kayne’s introduction to this volume stresses that comparative work on the syntax of very closely related languages and dialects is a research tool promising to provide both a broad understanding of parameters at their finest-grained and an approach to the question of the minimal units of syntactic variation. The 11 articles in this collection demonstrate the use of this tool in analyzing microparametric variation, principally with reference to Chomsky’s Minimalist program, in a variety of languages. Topics include se/si constructions, hypothetical infinitives and adverbial quantifiers in French and other Romance languages; that-trace variation, Scandinavian possessive constructions, reflexives and subject-verb agreement in Icelandic & Faroese, and verb clusters in continental West Germanic dialects; anaphoric agreement in Labrador Inuttut; negative particle questions in Chinese; imperative inversion in Belfast English; and the second person singular interrogative in the traditional vernacular of Bolton.

The Oxford Handbook of Universal Grammar
The Oxford Handbook of Universal Grammar

Author: Ian G. Roberts

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2017

Total Pages: 673

ISBN-13: 0199573778

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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.

Parameter Hierarchies and Universal Grammar
Parameter Hierarchies and Universal Grammar

Author: Ian Roberts

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2019-06-20

Total Pages: 800

ISBN-13: 0192526790

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This book develops a minimalist approach to cross-linguistic morphosyntactic variation. Ian Roberts argues that the essential insight of the principles-and-parameters approach to variation can be maintained - albeit in a somewhat different guise - in the context of the minimalist programme for linguistic theory. The central idea is to organize the parameters of Universal Grammar (UG) into hierarchies that define the ways in which properties of individually variant categories and features may act in concert. A further leading idea, which is consistent with the overall goal of the minimalist programme to reduce the content of UG, is that the parameter hierarchies are not directly determined by UG, and are instead emergent properties stemming from the interaction of the three factors in language design. Cross-linguistic variation in word order, null subjects, incorporation, verb-movement, case/alignment, wh-movement, and negation are all analysed in the light of this approach. This book represents a significant new contribution to the formal study of cross-linguistic morphosyntactic variation on both the empirical and theoretical levels, and will appeal to researchers and students in all areas of theoretical linguistics and comparative syntax.

Theoretical Comparative Syntax
Theoretical Comparative Syntax

Author: Naoki Fukui

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2006-04-18

Total Pages: 433

ISBN-13: 1134326661

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1. Specifiers and projection -- 2. LF extraction of naze : some theoretical implications -- 3. Strong and weak barriers : remarks on the proper characterization of barriers -- 4. Parameters and optionality -- 5. A note on improper movement -- 6. The principles-and-parameters approach : a comparative syntax of English and Japanese -- 7. Symmetry in syntax : merge and demerge -- 8. Order in phrase structure and movement -- 9. An A-over-A perspective on locality -- 10. The uniqueness parameter -- 11. Nominal structure : an extension of the Symmetry Principle -- 12. Phrase structure -- 13. The Visibility Guideline for functional categories : verb-raising in Japanese and related issues.

The Cambridge Handbook of Historical Syntax
The Cambridge Handbook of Historical Syntax

Author: Adam Ledgeway

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2017-03-09

Total Pages: 1321

ISBN-13: 1316720586

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Change is an inherent feature of all aspects of language, and syntax is no exception. While the synchronic study of syntax allows us to make discoveries about the nature of syntactic structure, the study of historical syntax offers even greater possibilities. Over recent decades, the study of historical syntax has proven to be a powerful scientific tool of enquiry with which to challenge and reassess hypotheses and ideas about the nature of syntactic structure which go beyond the observed limits of the study of the synchronic syntax of individual languages or language families. In this timely Handbook, the editors bring together the best of recent international scholarship on historical syntax. Each chapter is focused on a theme rather than an individual language, allowing readers to discover how systematic descriptions of historical data can profitably inform and challenge highly diverse sets of theoretical assumptions.

Rethinking Parameters
Rethinking Parameters

Author: Luis Eguren

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2016-01-15

Total Pages: 403

ISBN-13: 0190461756

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Parameters of linguistic variation were originally conceived, within the chomskyan Principles and Parameters Theory, as UG-determined options that were associated with grammatical principles and had a rich deductive structure. This characterization of parametric differences among languages has changed significantly over the years, especially so with the advent of Minimalism. This book collects a representative sample of current generative research on the status, origin and size of parameters. Often taking diverging views, the papers in the volume address some or all of the main debated topics in parametric syntax: i.e. are parameters provided by UG, or do they constitute emergent properties arising from points of underspecification?; in which component(s) of the language faculty are parameters to be found?; do clustering effects actually hold across languages?; do macroparameters exist alongside microparameters?; are there parameter hierarchies?; which is the origin and role of parameters in the process of language acquisition? The volume is organized into two parts. Part I ("The nature of variation and parameters") brings together studies whose main goal is to discuss general issues related to parameters (or variation more generally). Part II ("Parameters in the analysis of language variation: case studies") includes a number of works that deal with the empirical basis and proper formulation of well-known particular parameters: the Null Subject Parameter, the NP/DP Parameter, the Compounding Parameter, the Wh-Parameter and the Analyticity Parameter.

Applying Language Science to Language Pedagogy
Applying Language Science to Language Pedagogy

Author: José Manuel Igoa

Publisher: Cambridge Scholars Publishing

Published: 2011-12-08

Total Pages: 360

ISBN-13: 1443835927

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This book establishes a bridge between current research in Linguistics and Psycholinguistics and language pedagogy in the classroom. It reformulates the debates about teaching approaches by calling the reader’s attention to discoveries about the structure of grammar, the universals of language, mind processes while comprehending, producing and storing language, and facts about learning. The popularization of L2 teaching brought with it a need to find efficient teaching methods. Debates have hinged mainly around the alleged advantages of communicative vs. traditional methods. However, most approaches have their roots in linguistic and psychological theories that have been questioned by language researchers. Some language teachers are probably unaware of these advances and to that extent, continue to adhere to teaching approaches mainly based on intuitions. Consequently, evaluating materials may be often performed in rather uninformed circumstances. The book contains chapters on relevant issues by leading researchers, classified into three main areas. The editors contribute a chapter to each of these sections about the implications for second language teaching. This book facilitates an approximation between researchers in the theoretical and experimental fields of language and those responsible for innovation in language teaching. It is designed so that L2 teachers can adopt and adjust the knowledge drawn from the book to their particular environment and group of students.