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Principles And Parameters
Principles and parameters is a framework within generative linguistics in which the syntax of a natural language is described in accordance with general ''principles'' (i.e. abstract rules or grammars) and specific ''parameters'' (i.e. markers, switches) that for particular languages are either turned ''on'' or ''off''. For example, the position of head (linguistics), heads in phrases is determined by a parameter. Whether a language is ''head directionality, head-initial or head-final'' is regarded as a parameter which is either on or off for particular languages (i.e. English language, English is ''head-initial'', whereas Japanese language, Japanese is ''head-final''). Principles and parameters was largely formulated by the linguists Noam Chomsky and Howard Lasnik. Many linguists have worked within this framework, and for a period of time it was considered the dominant form of mainstream generative linguistics. Principles and parameters as a grammar framework is also known as gove ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Generative Linguistics
Generative grammar is a research tradition in linguistics that aims to explain the cognition, cognitive basis of language by formulating and testing explicit models of humans' subconscious grammatical knowledge. Generative linguists, or generativists (), tend to share certain working assumptions such as the linguistic competence, competence–linguistic performance, performance distinction and the notion that some domain-specific aspects of grammar are partly innate in humans. These assumptions are rejected in non-generative approaches such as usage-based models of language. Generative linguistics includes work in core areas such as syntax, semantics, phonology, psycholinguistics, and language acquisition, with additional extensions to topics including biolinguistics and music cognition. Generative grammar began in the late 1950s with the work of Noam Chomsky, having roots in earlier approaches such as structural linguistics. The earliest version of Chomsky's model was calle ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Projection Principle
In linguistics, the projection principle is a stipulation proposed by Noam Chomsky as part of the phrase structure component of Generative grammar, generative-transformational grammar. The projection principle is used in the derivation of phrases under the auspices of the principles and parameters theory. Details Under the projection principle, the properties of lexical items must be preserved while generating the phrase structure of a sentence. The principle, as formulated by Chomsky in ''Knowledge of Language: Its Nature, Origin and Use'' (1986), states that "lexical structure must be represented categorically at every syntactic level" (Chomsky 1986: 84). Chomsky further defined the projection principle as "representations at each level of syntax(MF, D, S) are projected from the lexicon in that they observe the subcategorisation properties of lexical items." This refers to the fact that every individual piece of a syntactic structure is part of a particular category (i.e. “Joh ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Trace Erasure Principle
{{no footnotes, date=November 2011 The Trace Erasure Principle is a stipulation proposed by Noam Chomsky as part of the Generative-Transformational Grammar. Under the Trace Erasure Principle, traces of a noun phrase A noun phrase – or NP or nominal (phrase) – is a phrase that usually has a noun or pronoun as its head, and has the same grammatical functions as a noun. Noun phrases are very common cross-linguistically, and they may be the most frequently ... (NP) can be replaced only by a designated morpheme and not by an arbitrary NP. The following is an example of this Principle: :''A person is here, waiting for you.'' can be transformed into: :''There is a person here, waiting for you.'' and this Principle remains fulfilled. Both sentences hold the same meaning, because we have designated ''There'' to replace ''a person'' —both terms are mutually linked—, and the meaning remains. A case where this principle is not fulfilled can be the following: :''Maria loves ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Structure Preservation Principle
{{no footnotes, date=November 2011 The Structure Preservation Principle is a generalization going back to Joseph Emonds' 1970 MIT dissertation and widely adopted afterwards. It claims, in a nutshell, that the result of syntactic transformation must be structurally identical to a structure that can be generated without transformations. For example, the by then popular passive transformation derives :''Prince Jamal was strangled by Fabio.'' from the active :''Fabio strangled Prince Jamal.'' But the syntactic structure of the passive sentence, Subj Aux V-Particple Prep NP is by and large the same as that found in an active sentence like :''Prince Jamal has dined at Fabio's.'' This did not follow from general properties of syntactic transformations at the time. In principle, these could have generated e.g. passive sentences that look nothing like any active sentence (e.g. ''was by Fabio strangled Prince Jamal''). The Structure Preservation Principle thus restricted the generative po ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
E-language
In linguistics, transformational grammar (TG) or transformational-generative grammar (TGG) was the earliest model of grammar proposed within the research tradition of generative grammar. Like current generative theories, it treated grammar as a system of formal rules that generate all and only grammatical sentences of a given language. What was distinctive about transformational grammar was that it posited transformation rules that mapped a sentence's deep structure to its pronounced form. For example, in many variants of transformational grammar, the English active voice sentence "Emma saw Daisy" and its passive counterpart "Daisy was seen by Emma" share a common deep structure generated by phrase structure rules, differing only in that the latter's structure is modified by a passivization transformation rule. Basic mechanisms Transformational grammar was a species of generative grammar and shared many of its goals and postulations, including the notion of linguistics as a co ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Recursion
Recursion occurs when the definition of a concept or process depends on a simpler or previous version of itself. Recursion is used in a variety of disciplines ranging from linguistics to logic. The most common application of recursion is in mathematics and computer science, where a function (mathematics), function being defined is applied within its own definition. While this apparently defines an infinite number of instances (function values), it is often done in such a way that no infinite loop or infinite chain of references can occur. A process that exhibits recursion is ''recursive''. Video feedback displays recursive images, as does an infinity mirror. Formal definitions In mathematics and computer science, a class of objects or methods exhibits recursive behavior when it can be defined by two properties: * A simple ''base case'' (or cases) — a terminating scenario that does not use recursion to produce an answer * A ''recursive step'' — a set of rules that reduce ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Turn Constructional Units
A turn construction unit (TCU) is the fundamental segment of speech in a conversation, as analysed in conversation analysis. The idea was introduced in "A Simplest Systematics for the Organization of Turn-Taking for Conversation" by Harvey Sacks, Emanuel Schegloff, and Gail Jefferson in 1974. It describes pieces of conversation which may comprise an entire speaking turn by a speaker. The model is designed to explain that when people talk in conversation, they do not always talk all at the same time, but generally, one person speaks at a time, and then another person can follow. Such a contribution to a conversation by one speaker is then a ''turn''. A turn is created through certain forms or units that listeners can recognize and count on, called ''turn construction units'' (TCUs), and speakers and listeners will know that such forms can be a word or a clause, and use that knowledge to predict when a speaker is finished so that others can speak, to avoid or minimize both overlap ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Periodic Table
The periodic table, also known as the periodic table of the elements, is an ordered arrangement of the chemical elements into rows (" periods") and columns (" groups"). It is an icon of chemistry and is widely used in physics and other sciences. It is a depiction of the periodic law, which states that when the elements are arranged in order of their atomic numbers an approximate recurrence of their properties is evident. The table is divided into four roughly rectangular areas called blocks. Elements in the same group tend to show similar chemical characteristics. Vertical, horizontal and diagonal trends characterize the periodic table. Metallic character increases going down a group and from right to left across a period. Nonmetallic character increases going from the bottom left of the periodic table to the top right. The first periodic table to become generally accepted was that of the Russian chemist Dmitri Mendeleev in 1869; he formulated the periodic law as ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Minimalist Program
In linguistics, the minimalist program is a major line of inquiry that has been developing inside generative grammar since the early 1990s, starting with a 1993 paper by Noam Chomsky. Following Imre Lakatos's distinction, Chomsky presents minimalism as a research program, program, understood as a mode of inquiry that provides a conceptual framework which guides the development of linguistic theory. As such, it is characterized by a broad and diverse range of research directions. For Chomsky, there are two basic Minimalist grammar, minimalist questions—What is language? and Why does it have the properties it has?—but the answers to these two questions can be framed in any theory.Boeckx, Cedric ''Linguistic Minimalism. Origins, Concepts, Methods and Aims'', pp. 84 and 115. Conceptual framework Goals and assumptions Minimalism is an approach developed with the goal of understanding the nature of language. It models a speaker's knowledge of language as a computational syste ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lexical Functional Grammar
Lexical functional grammar (LFG) is a constraint-based grammar framework in theoretical linguistics. It posits several parallel levels of syntactic structure, including a phrase structure grammar representation of word order and constituency, and a representation of grammatical functions such as subject and object, similar to dependency grammar. The development of the theory was initiated by Joan Bresnan and Ronald Kaplan in the 1970s, in reaction to the theory of transformational grammar which was current in the late 1970s. It mainly focuses on syntax, including its relation with morphology and semantics. There has been little LFG work on phonology (although ideas from optimality theory have recently been popular in LFG research). Some recent work combines LFG with Distributed Morphology in Lexical-Realizational Functional Grammar.Ash Asudeh, Paul B. Melchin & Daniel Siddiqi (2021). ''Constraints all the way down: DM in a representational model of grammar''. In ''WCCFL 39 Proc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
