Functional Categories in Language Acquisition: Self-Organization of a Dynamical System

✍ Scribed by Annette Hohenberger

• Publisher: Max Niemeyer Verlag
• Year: 2002
• Tongue: English
• Leaves: 328
• Series: Linguistische Arbeiten; 456
• Edition: Reprint 2011
• Category: Library

✦ Synopsis

This study investigates the acquisition of Functional Categories from the perspective of self-organization. Syntax emerges through a major bifurcation of the dynamical language system. Dynamical notions such as precursor, oscillation, symmetry-breaking, and trigger are explanatory tools for the dynamics of early child language as evidenced in the acquisition of compounding, case-marking, finiteness, V2, wh-questions, etc. The book addresses researchers from various theoretical camps: generative, functional, connectionist, by giving new answers to old questions in the light of a novel challenging theory: self-organization.

✦ Table of Contents

Part A: Self-Organization and Language Acquisition
1 Introduction
1.1 Definitions of Self-Organization
1.2 Self-Organization of Language
1.3 Methodology and Method
1.4 A Theory of the Data
2 Language Acquisition Research in Generative Grammar: The Classical Models
2.1 The Instantaneous Model of Language Acquisition
2.2 The Continuity Hypothesis
2.3 Maturation
3 Language Acquisition Research in Generative Grammar: New Models
3.1 Lexical vs. Functional Categories: The Structure-Building Hypothesis
3.2 The Building-Block Model
4 Liminalia
4.1 Introduction
4.2 Time in Language Acquisition
4.3 Three Factors of Language Acquisition
4.4 Variations
4.5 Continuity vs. Discontinuity
4.6 Adult-centered vs. Child-centered Perspective
4.7 Hysteresis
4.8 Liminal Conclusions
Part B: Theme and Variation Self-Organization in Language Acquisition: Models, Data and Analyses
5 Models of Layers and Levels of Syntactic Structures
5.1 Lebeaux’ Model of Levels of Representation: Language Acquisition and the Form of the Grammar
5.2 Grimshaw’s Extended Projection
5.3 Outlook: Variation and Selection Revisited
6 Case Morphology
6.1 Systemic Variation in the Acquisition of German Genitive Morphology
7 Finiteness, Non-Finiteness, Verb Placement, and Negation
7.1 Variation in the I-System
8 The Acquisition of German Wh-Questions: Aspects of Variation in the C-System
8.1 Valle
8.2 Tilman
9 The Position of Adjuncts
10 Syntactic Surface Blends
11 Functional Neologisms, Proto-Functional Categories, or, Living Dinosaurs
12 Precursors: Composition
12.1 Precursors
12.2 Compounding
Part C: Dynamical Principles and Notions in Language Acquisition
13 Oscillations
14 Bootstrapping
15 Symmetry-Breakers and Predators vs. Matter and Prey: The Relation between Functional and Lexical Categories
16 The Trigger
16.1 Introduction
16.2 The Trigger in Generative Models of Language Acquisition
16.3 A Dynamical Trigger Conception
16.4 After Triggering
16.5 Summary: A Redefinition of the Trigger
Part D: Outlook
17 Beyond Economy: Ecology
Abbreviations
Bibliography