Vol. 58 No 2 (2020)
Articoli

Syntactic diversity and language learnability

Giuseppe Longobardi
University of York
Paola Crisma
Università di Trieste
Cristina Guardiano
Università di Modena e Reggio Emilia

Publiée 2020-09-13

Mots-clés

  • underspecified Universal Grammar,
  • parameter setting,
  • learnability

Résumé

We propose a preliminary model of a practical parameter setting procedure that aims
at bridging the gap between descriptive and explanatory adequacy. We present a list of
questions that can successfully set 94 binary parameters in 69 languages drawn from
several different families using positive evidence only. Our proposal can be cast within a
minimalist model of the language faculty, assuming an underspecified universal gram-
mar and a rich network of implications among parameters. We argue that the workload
of parameter setting can be significantly reduced by means of two assumptions: first
by positing that only parameters with a positive value are set; second, by showing that
parameters can be set exclusively on the basis of a core subset of positive evidence, which
we call the Restricted List. We suggest that a model with these properties qualifies as a
plausible framework for language acquisition studies, and also lends itself to be applied
to closed corpora, such as those available as the sole sources for diachronic studies.

Références

  1. BAKER, M.C. (2001), The atoms of language: the mind’s hidden rules of grammar, Basic Books, New York.
  2. BIBERAUER, TH. (2008, ed.), The Limits of Syntactic Variation, John Benjamins, Amsterdam.
  3. BIBERAUER, TH. (2015), The limits of syntactic variation: An emergentist generative perspective, paper presented at the Workshop on Linguistic Variation, University of York Centre for Language History and Diversity.
  4. BIBERAUER, TH. and ROBERTS I.G. (2017), Parameter setting, in LEDGEWAY A. and ROBERTS I.G. (2017, eds.), The Cambridge Handbook of Historical Syntax, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp. 134-162.
  5. BOECKX, C. and LEIVADÁ, E. (2014), On the particulars of universal grammar: implications for acquisition, in «Lingua», 46 B, pp. 189-198.
  6. BOECKX, C. and PIATTELLI PALMARINI, M. (2005), Language as a natural object; Linguistics as a natural science, in «The Linguistic Review», 22, 2-3, pp. 447-466.
  7. CHOMSKY, N. (1957), Syntactic Structures, Mouton De Gruyter, The Hague.
  8. CHOMSKY, N. (1964), Current issues in linguistic theory, Mouton De Gruyter, The Hague.
  9. CHOMSKY, N. (1965), Aspects of the Theory of Syntax, MIT Press, Cambridge, Mass.
  10. CHOMSKY, N. (1981), Lectures on Government and Binding, Foris, Dordrecht.
  11. CHOMSKY, N. (1986), Knowledge of Language, Praeger, New York.
  12. CHOMSKY, N. (1995), The minimalist program, MIT Press, Cambridge, Mass.
  13. CHOMSKY, N. (2005), Three Factors in Language Design, in «Linguistic Inquiry», 36, 1, pp. 1-22.
  14. CLARK, R. and ROBERTS, I.G. (1993), A Computational Model of Language Learnability and Language Change, in «Linguistic Inquiry», 24, 2, pp. 299-345.
  15. DI SCIULLO, A.M., and BOECKX C. (2011, eds.), The Biolinguistic Enterprise. New Perspectives on the Evolution and Nature of the Human Language Faculty, Oxford University Press, Oxford.
  16. FASSI FEHRI, A. (1993), Issues in the Structure of Arabic Clauses and Words. Kluwer, Dordrecht.
  17. FASSI FEHRI, A. (2012), Key features and parameters in Arabic grammar, John Benjamins, Amsterdam.
  18. FODOR, J.D. (2001), Setting syntactic parameters, in BALTIN, M. and COLLINS, C. (2001, eds.) The Handbook of Contemporary Syntactic Theory, Blackwell, Oxford, pp. 730-767.
  19. FODOR, J.D. and SAKAS W.G. (2017), Learnability, in Roberts, I.G. (2017, ed.). The Oxford Handbook of Universal Grammar, Oxford University Press, Oxford, pp. 249-269.
  20. GREENBERG, J.H. (1963), Some universals of grammar with particular reference to the order of meaningful elements, in GREENBERG J.H. (1963, ed.), Universals of Language, MIT Press, Cambridge, Mass, pp. 73-113.
  21. HAUSER, M.D., CHOMSKY, N., and FITCH, T.W. (2002), The faculty of language: what is it, who has it, and how did it evolve?, in «Science», 298, pp. 1569-1579.
  22. HUANG, C-T. J. (1982), Logical relations in Chinese and the theory of grammar, PhD Dissertation, MIT.
  23. KATZ, J.J. (1978), Effability and translation, in
  24. GUENTHNER F. and GUENTHNER-REUTTNER M. (1978, eds.), Meaning and translation, New York University Press, New York, pp. 191-234.
  25. KAYNE, R.S. (1975), French Syntax: the transformational cycle, MIT Press, Cambridge, Mass.
  26. KAYNE, R.S. (1994), The Antisymmetry of Syntax, MIT Press, Cambridge, Mass.
  27. KAYNE, R.S. (2000), Parameters and universals. Oxford University Press, New York.
  28. KEENAN, E, L. (2009), Linguistic Theory and the Historical Creation of English Reflexives, in CRISMA, P. and LONGOBARDI G. (2009, eds.), Historical Syntax and Linguistic Theory, Oxford University Press, Oxford, pp. 17-40.
  29. KURODA, S-Y. (1988), Whether we agree or not: A comparative syntax of English and Japanese, in «Linguisticae Investigationes», 12, pp. 1-47.
  30. LIGHTFOOT, D. (1989), The child’s trigger experience: Degree-0 learnability, in «Behavioral and Brain Sciences», 12, 2, pp. 321-334.
  31. LIGHTFOOT, D. (2006), How new languages emerge, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
  32. LIGHTFOOT, D. (2017), Discovering new variable properties without parameters, in «Linguistic Analysis», 41, 3-4, special issue edited by Simin Karimi and Massimo Piattelli-Palmarini, pp. 409-444.
  33. MANZINI, M.R. (2019), Parameters and the design of the Language Faculty. Northern Italian partial null subjects, in «Evolutionary Linguistic Theory», 1, 1, 23-56.
  34. PERRIN, J.-B. (1912), Les atomes. Alcan, Paris.
  35. POLLOCK, J.-Y. (1989), Verb Movement, UG, and the Structure of IP, in «Linguistic Inquiry», 20, pp. 365-424.
  36. RIZZI, L. (1980), Violations of the wh island constraint in Italian and the Subjacency Condition, in «Journal of Italian Linguistics», 5, pp. 157-195.
  37. RIZZI, L. (1982), Issues in Italian Syntax, Foris, Dordrecht.
  38. RIZZI, L. (1986), Null Objects in Italian and the Theory of pro, in «Linguistic Inquiry», 17, 3, pp. 501-557.
  39. ROBERTS I.G. (1998), Review of HARRIS, A.C. and CAMPBELL, L. (1995), Historical syntax in cross-linguistic perspective, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, in «Romance Philology», 51, pp. 363-370.
  40. ROBERTS, I.G. (2019), Parameter Hierarchies and Universal Grammar, Oxford University Press, Oxford.
  41. TARALDSEN, K.T. (1978), On the NIC, vacuous application, and the that-t filter, Ms. MIT, distributed by Indiana University Linguistics Club, Bloomington IN.
  42. WEXLER, K. (2015), Parameter-setting: do any of our current models work?, paper presented at the Workshop on Grammatical Variation and Evolution, University of York.
  43. SAKAS, W.G., YANG, C., and BERWICK, R. C. (2017), Parameter setting is feasible, in «Linguistic Analysis», 41, 3-4, special issue edited by Simin Karimi and Massimo Piattelli-Palmarini, pp. 391-408.
  44. SZABOLCSI, A. (1983), The possessor that ran away from home, in «The Linguistic Review», 3, pp. 89-102.
  45. SZABOLCSI, A. (1994), The Noun Phrase, in Kiefer F. and Kiss, K.É. (1994, eds.), The Syntactic Structure of Hungarian (Syntax and Semantics 27), Academic Press, San Diego, pp. 179-274.
  46. ZANUTTINI, R. (1997), Negation and Clausal Structure: A Comparative Study of Romance Languages, Oxford University Press, Oxford.
  47. plus:
  48. AUTHORS ET AL. (2019).
  49. AUTHOR and AUTHOR (2009).
  50. AUTHOR and AUTHOR (to appear).
  51. AUTHORS ET AL. (2008).
  52. AUTHOR (1994).
  53. AUTHOR (2003).
  54. AUTHOR (2005).
  55. AUTHOR (2014).
  56. AUTHOR (2017).
  57. AUTHOR and AUTHOR (2017).