Marcel den Dikken (ed., 2013). The Cambridge Handbook of Generative Syntax. Cambridge/New York: Cambridge University Press. (original) (raw)
Related papers
2021
Within linguistics there are several theories which deal with syntax. A general division can be made between Chomskyan generative syntactic theories and various functional syntactic theories. This paper addresses the question (i) to what extent these theories and their explanations deal with the same type of phenomena, (ii) to what extent they use the same concept of a successful explanation and (iii) to what extent they are incommensurable in the sense of Kuhn (1962). This topic is addressed by a discussion of a number of generative analyses (case studies), which are analyzed and evaluated from a functional perspective. This analysis shows how a number of phenomena that are analyzed and explained within the generative paradigm can be explained differently from a functional theoretical perspective and framework. The paper concludes that generative and functional approaches to syntax are incommensurable in the sense of Kuhn, even though there are ways to engage in a common discussion...
An Introduction to Syntax According to Generative Theories
Queda prohibida, salvo excepción prevista en la Ley, cualquier forma de reproducción, distribución, comunicación pública y transformación de esta obra sin contar con autorización de los titulares de propiedad intelectual. La infracción de los derechos mencionados puede ser constitutiva de delito contra la propiedad intelectual (arts. 770 y ss. del Código Penal).
Peter W. Culicover, Natural language syntax. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009. Pp. xvii+490
Journal of Linguistics, 2010
This linguistic textbook by Peter Culicover provides a broad introductory overview of various topics in the study of syntax. Its major objectives are to show how natural language makes use of various syntactic and morphosyntactic devices, and to lay out the conceptual structures that correspond to particular aspects of linguistic form (xi). The title of the book is thoughtprovoking : rather than Introduction to syntax, Syntactic theory or the like, Culicover chose the title Natural language syntax, which can be interpreted twofold. First, it may be regarded as a direct response to recent research in syntax, especially the Minimalist program (Chomsky 1995), emphasizing that linguistic theory needs to place greater emphasis on accounting for actual language data rather than indulge in purely formalistic investigation. Another possible reading of the title is that the syntactic theory proposed in this book is natural, intuitive and simple, and that the title alludes to Culicover's previous book Simpler syntax (Culicover & Jackendoff 2005). In general, the discussions in this book are framed in theory-neutral terms, supplemented with comparisons between Culicover & Jackendoff's 'simpler syntax ' (SS) approach and so-called mainstream generative grammar (MGG). Chapter 1, 'Overview ', defines syntax as 'the system that governs the relationship between form and meaning in a language' (1) ; and states that the goal of linguistic theory is 'to understand what the properties of human languages are, and why they are that way ' (3). Culicover compares the SS and MGG approaches for the treatment of displacement. Instead of pursuing a derivational analysis, as in MGG, SS directly specifies 'correspondence rules ' between syntactic positions and meanings. Chapter 2, ' Syntactic categories ', provides a detailed description of various syntactic and morphosyntactic categories, and introduces the notational device of an attribute value matrix (also employed in Lexical Functional Grammar and Head-driven Phrase Structure Grammar), which displays the features and values of lexical items. To Culicover, a lexical item expresses the correspondences between mophosyntactic categories, semantic values and phonological representation, as exemplified in (1).
Is There Life Beyond Generative Syntax?
Beiträge zur Geschichte der deutschen Sprache und Literatur (PBB), 2000
This is the twenty-first volume in the valuable Blackwell Companion series of Handbooks in Linguistics, which since the late nineties has offered us insight into the state of the art of a wide range of subdisciplines within linguistics. 1 Most of these volumes are heavy tomes (usually about 800 to 900 pages), but this one caps them all with close to 4000 pages spread over five volumes (there is, however, some overlap, because the recommendations, contents, preface, index and to some extent the references are repeated in each volume). This enormous quantity is perhaps not surprising given that the study of syntax has been very much in the limelight since the Chomskyan 'revolution' in the 1960s, which shifted the centre of gravity in linguistics from the historical and mostly descriptive study of grammar -with language output or the 'performance' level firmly in a central position -to the development of a theoretical model, in which the speaker stands central; a model, in other words, in which the 'machinery' or the generation of sentences (i.e. 'competence') came to be seen as the object of study rather than the output itself. This, in turn, led to a strictly synchronic perspective being taken in grammar research. This change in perspective was important and useful at the time because it linked the study of linguistics to other scientific domains such as psychology, neurology, cognitive science etc., and to all the recent new interdisciplinary research connected with the workings of the brain. It has created renewed interest in language and has resulted in a whole range of theoretical linguistic models being developed, some of which were variants on the generative model, such as Lexical Functional Grammar (cf. Vincent 2001), Head-driven Phrase Structure Grammar (cf. Pollard and Sag 1994), and the more recent Jackendoff (2002) model, while others represented a reaction to the strictly formal model of generative grammar, resulting in the creation of 1 I would like to thank Mauro Scorretti for discussing the Italian agreement cases with me, and Robert Cloutier, Evelien Keizer, Willem Koopman, Martin Haspelmath, Hans Wank, and Franca Wesseling for their comments on and careful reading of an earlier draft.
2008
There is a tendency in science to proceed from descriptive methods towards an adequate explanatory theory and then move beyond its conclusions. Our purpose is to discover the concepts of computational efficiency in natural language that exclude redundancy, and to investigate how these relate to more general principles. By developing the idea that linguistic structures possess the features of other biological systems this article focuses on the third factor that enters into the growth of language in the individual. It is suggested that the core principles of grammar can be observed in nature itself. The Faculty of Language is an efficient mechanism designed for the continuation of movement in compliance with optimization requirements. To illustrate that, a functional explanation of syntactic Merge is offered in this work, and an attempt is made to identify some criteria that single out this particular computational system as species-specific.
Handbücher zur Sprach- und Kommunikationswissenschaft / Handbooks of Linguistics and Communication Science (HSK) 42/1, 2015
Table of contents 1. Introduction 2. Examples of constructions 3. Constructions and syntactic theory 4. Conclusion 5. References (selected)