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Modularity in Language

Author: Etsuyo Yuasa

Publisher: Walter de Gruyter

Published: 2009-02-26

Total Pages: 225

ISBN-13: 3110197529

In Modularity in Language, Etsuyo Yuasa investigates exceptions and idiosyncrasies in various complex clauses in Japanese and English within the framework of multi-modular approaches to grammar. She proposes original analyses of various complex clauses in Japanese and English, which deviate from the norms of other complex clauses in the same language or in other languages, and shows how these cases of syntax-semantics mismatch justify the independence (or 'autonomy') of different levels of grammatical structures. Yuasa's significant contribution is the incorporation of the notion of 'construction' from Construction Grammar into multi-modular approaches to grammar. She claims that the idiosyncratic cases examined in this study are instances of constructional and categorial mismatches where a syntactic representation of a prototypical construction is paired with a semantic representation of another prototypical construction. Modularity in Language is aimed at those interested in grammatical theories in general, the parallel architecture of grammar (including Lexical-Functional Grammar, Autolexical Grammar, Representational Modularity), Constructional Grammar, syntax/semantics interface, and Japanese linguistics.

Gesture and the Nature of Language

Author: David F. Armstrong

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 1995-03-16

Total Pages: 276

ISBN-13: 9780521467728

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This book proposes a radical alternative to dominant views of the evolution of language, in particular the origins of syntax. The authors draw on evidence from areas such as primatology, anthropology, and linguistics to present a groundbreaking account of the notion that language emerged through visible bodily action. Written in a clear and accessible style, Gesture and the Nature of Language will be indispensable reading for all those interested in the origins of language.

The Multilingual Mind

Author: Michael Sharwood Smith

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2014-02-06

Total Pages: 429

ISBN-13: 1107729602

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Language lies at the heart of the way we think, communicate and view the world. Most people on this planet are in some sense multilingual. The Multilingual Mind explores, within a processing perspective, how languages share space and interact in our minds. The mental architecture proposed in this volume permits research across many domains in cognitive science to be integrated and explored within one explanatory framework, recasting compatible insights and findings in terms of a common set of terms and concepts. The MOGUL framework has already proven effective for shedding light on the relationship between processing and learning, metalinguistic knowledge, consciousness, optionality, crosslinguistic influence, the initial state, 'UG access', ultimate attainment, input enhancement, and even language instruction. This groundbreaking work will be essential reading for linguists working in language acquisition, multilingualism, and language processing, as well as for those working in related areas of psychology, neurology and cognitive science.

Phi-features and the Modular Architecture of Language

Author: Milan Rezac

Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media

Published: 2010-11-12

Total Pages: 337

ISBN-13: 9048196981

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This monograph investigates the modular architecture of language through the nature of "uninterpretable" phi-features: person, number, gender, and Case. It provides new tools and evidence for the modular architecture of the human language faculty, a foundational topic of linguistic research. At the same time it develops a new theory for one of the core issues posed by the Minimalist Program: the relationship of syntax to its interfaces and the nature of uninterpretable features. The work sets out to establish a new cross-linguistic phenomenon to study the foregoing, person-governed last-resort repairs, which provides new insights into the nature of ergative/accusative Case and of Case licensing itself. This is the first monograph that explicitly addresses the syntactic vs. morphological status of uninterpretable phi-features and their relationship to interface systems in a similar way, drawing on person-based interactions among arguments as key data-base.

Chomsky's Modularity Hypothesis - Is There an Innate Language Module?

Author: Gabriele Grenkowski

Publisher: GRIN Verlag

Published: 2012-03

Total Pages: 41

ISBN-13: 3656145997

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Seminar paper from the year 2012 in the subject English Language and Literature Studies - Linguistics, grade: 1,3, RWTH Aachen University (Institut für Anglistik der RWTH Aachen), course: Proseminar Language Acquisition, language: English, abstract: This term paper deals with Noam Chomsky's Modularity or rather Innateness Hypothesis, particularly with the question if there might be an innate language module in people's minds. To discuss and maybe answer this question, I will first give a short summary of the Modularity Hypothesis as found in works of Chomsky and also of Jerry Fodor. After that, I will summarize Chomsky's theory of innateness, in connection with his belief that there exists a "Universal Grammar", which is responsible for people's ability to acquire language.

A Companion to Chomsky

Author: Nicholas Allott

Publisher: John Wiley & Sons

Published: 2021-04-30

Total Pages: 644

ISBN-13: 1119598680

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A COMPANION TO CHOMSKY Widely considered to be one of the most important public intellectuals of our time, Noam Chomsky has revolutionized modern linguistics. His thought has had a profound impact upon the philosophy of language, mind, and science, as well as the interdisciplinary field of cognitive science which his work helped to establish. Now, in this new Companion dedicated to his substantial body of work and the range of its influence, an international assembly of prominent linguists, philosophers, and cognitive scientists reflect upon the interdisciplinary reach of Chomsky's intellectual contributions. Balancing theoretical rigor with accessibility to the non-specialist, the Companion is organized into eight sections—including the historical development of Chomsky's theories and the current state of the art, comparison with rival usage-based approaches, and the relation of his generative approach to work on linguistic processing, acquisition, semantics, pragmatics, and philosophy of language. Later chapters address Chomsky's rationalist critique of behaviorism and related empiricist approaches to psychology, as well as his insistence upon a "Galilean" methodology in cognitive science. Following a brief discussion of the relation of his work in linguistics to his work on political issues, the book concludes with an essay written by Chomsky himself, reflecting on the history and character of his work in his own words. A significant contribution to the study of Chomsky's thought, A Companion to Chomsky is an indispensable resource for philosophers, linguists, psychologists, advanced undergraduate and graduate students, and general readers with interest in Noam Chomsky's intellectual legacy as one of the great thinkers of the twentieth century.

Laura

Author: Jeni Ellen Yamada

Publisher: MIT Press

Published: 1990

Total Pages: 198

ISBN-13: 9780262240307

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The case of Laura (also known as Marta), a young retarded woman with a testable IQ of40, provides the opportunity to address key issues concerning the relationships between language andother mental functions as well and among the components of language use. The case shows thatlanguage can develop and function in spite of marked, pervasive cognitive deficiencies, and itprovides clinical evidence in support of the notion that language is an independent cognitiveability.Possibly the most in-depth and comprehensive study of selectively intact language done todate, this case counters claims that cognitive, social/interactive, and perceptual factors canwholly account for language acquistion and upholds the notion that language is a highly evolved,specialized human ability driven at least in part by a set of principles seen in no other cognitivedomains.Jeni Yamada presents Laura's provocative performance profile of relatively advancedlinguistic abilities alongside significantly impaired nonlinguistic skills. Laura differs from othersubjects studied in that her cognitive impairment is particularly marked. In addition, her syntacticand semantic knowledge are more dissociated than previously studied subjects. As the data on Lauraunfold, they show that language can emerge and develop despite limited nonlinguistic cognitiveabilities, including those hypothesized to be prerequisite for language or to reflect underlyingprinciples necessary for both nonlinguistic and linguistic development. In addition, the caseindicates that various components of language are separable and differentially related tononlanguage abilities.Jeni E. Yamada is coauthor with Susan Curtiss of the Curtiss-YamadaComprehensive Language Evaluation Test and is currently an independent scholar working in the Bostonarea.

The Mind of a Savant

Author: Neil Smith

Publisher: Blackwell Publishing

Published: 1995-02-17

Total Pages: 243

ISBN-13: 9780631190172

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Savants are people who are mentally and often physically impaired but who have one dazzling talent. Cases of savants, like Christopher who is described here, are not unheard of, but have never been reported before. Despite being unable to look after himself because he has difficulty with everyday tasks, Christopher can read, write, translate and communicate in fifteen to twenty different languages. In this original, detailed and wide-ranging study, Neil Smith and Ianthi-Maria Tsimpli not only provide insight into the mind of one unique individual, but simultaneously cast light on the nature of language and thought in general. By exploiting recent developments in both linguistics and psychology the authors have made an essential contribution to the whole field of cognitive science.