Universal Grammar and Language Learnability

✍ Scribed by Anjum P. Saleemi

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Year: 2009
• Tongue: English
• Leaves: 179
• Series: Cambridge Studies in Linguistics 61
• Category: Library

✦ Synopsis

Anjum P. Saleemi argues that the acquisition of language as a cognitive system can properly be understood by pairing the formal approach to learning, often known as learnability theory, with Chomsky's theory of Universal Grammar and its claim that human language is innately constrained, with some predefined space for variation. Focusing on specific areas of syntax, such as binding theory and the null subject parameter, Dr Saleemi unites learnability theory's methodology with Chomsky's principles-and-parameters model, and construes acquisition as a function of linguistic principles with largely domain-specific learning procedures, mediated by environmental input. The aim of this study is to show that a self-contained linguistic theory cannot by itself be psychologically plausible, but depends on a compatible theory of learning which embraces developmental as well as formal issues.

✦ Table of Contents

Cover......Page 1
Frontmatter......Page 2
Contents......Page 8
Preface......Page 10
1 - The problem of language learnability......Page 12
1.1 The theory of learnability......Page 14
1.2 The interaction between linguistic and learning systems......Page 17
1.3 A note on methodology......Page 24
2.1 Projection and interpretation......Page 26
2.2 Levels of representation and movement......Page 29
2.3 The subtheories......Page 31
2.4 Null subjects: the case of a parameter......Page 38
3.1 Foundations of the learning theory......Page 41
3.2 Formal models and their linguistic relevance......Page 56
3.3 Summary......Page 67
4.1 The formal approach......Page 68
4.2 The developmental approach......Page 80
4.3 Conclusion......Page 86
5.1 An examination of the formal approach......Page 87
5.2 A critical look at the developmental approach......Page 94
5.3 Discussion......Page 99
6 - The distribution and variety of null subjects......Page 101
6.1 The function of rich inflection......Page 103
6.2 The separation of licensing and identification......Page 105
6.3 Case and visibility......Page 110
7.1 Identification of the parameter values......Page 123
7.2 Indirect negative inference: some justifying assumptions......Page 133
7.3 Significance for the current approaches......Page 140
7.4 Towards greater empirical plausibility......Page 145
8 - Review and integration......Page 147
Notes......Page 151
References......Page 164
Index......Page 174