![]() ![]() Linguistic theory, given these views, has a double mission. Grammars constitute the knowledge of particular languages that result when parametric values are fixed. The initial state of the system is a Universal Grammar (UG): a super-recipe for concocting language-specific grammars. Language acquisition consists in setting these open parameter values on the basis of linguistic data available to a child. Chomsky (1981) characterizes the initial state of the language faculty as a set of principles and parameters. ![]() The aim of linguistic theory is to describe the initial state of this faculty and how it changes with exposure to linguistic data. Due to his work, the central object of study in linguistics is ‘the language faculty’, a postulated mental organ which is dedicated to acquiring linguistic knowledge and is involved in various aspects of language-use, including the production and understanding of utterances. This work has proceeded along two broad fronts.įirst, Chomsky has fundamentally restructured grammatical research. ![]() One of Chomsky’s central concerns has been to press this analogy and uncover its implications for theories of mind, meaning and knowledge. Human linguistic capacity similarly rests on dedicated mental structures many of whose specific details are an innate biological endowment of the species. The talents displayed by fish and birds rest on specific biological structures whose intricate detail is attributable to genetic endowment. Noam Chomsky Norbert Hornstein In Edward Craig (ed.), Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy, London, 1998įish swim, birds fly, people talk. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |