Titre :	The Structural Design of Language
Type de document :	texte imprimé
Auteurs :	Thomas S. Stroik, Auteur ; Michael T. Putnam, Auteur
Editeur :	UK : Cambridge University Press
Année de publication :	2013
Importance :	190p
Format :	24cm
ISBN/ISSN/EAN :	978-1-00-934246-9
Note générale :	Grammar and Syntax, Evolution of Language, Language and Linguistics
Langues :	Anglais (eng)
Mots-clés :	Grammar and Syntax, Evolution of Language, Language and Linguistics
Résumé :	In the last few decades syntax-centric generative theory has been beleageredmore from the outside than from the inside of linguistics. First it was learn-ability, which continues to be the major reason why computational linguiststend to prefer other models. More recently it is evolutionary biology (Bouchard’sbook was preceded by no fewer than 17 volumes in the Oxford series onevolution of language). And this time the rebellion is from within the ranks.The two books under review are the work of experienced syntacticians. BothBouchard (B) and Stroik & Putnam (S&P) take as their starting point the evolu-tionary biological implausibility of Chomsky’s original proposal that humanlanguage is based on a new, species-specific syntactic computational systemthat arose more or lessex machina. Both complain about the excessive, cogni-tively unmotivated baggage in (not-so-)minimalism. Both accept that the transi-tion from prelanguage to language was abrupt; for B, perhaps a singlegeneration. Both argue that this development was triggered by the expansionof pre-existing neural structures, which crossed a tipping point of quantitativecomplexity and triggered a self-(re)organization.This point is argued at length in B’s book, which begins with a long reviewof previous writings on the evolution of language (Jackendoff, Pinker, Bickerton,Chomsky, Hurford). All are found to be defective, chiefly because they allinclude at least some teleological elements (human language evolved becauseit confers selective advantages) without providing a realistic road map. S&Pshare this view though their discussion of it is much briefer (their book isself-described as a“manifesto”and is correspondingly terse). Both books stress
Note de contenu :	Book contents The Structural Design of Language The Structural Design of Language Copyright page Contents Preface Acknowledgments Abbreviations 1 The biolinguistic turn 2 The structure of theLexicon 3 Constructing theNumeration 4 Copy and thecomputational system 5 Some structural consequences for derivations 6 Observations on performance system interpretations 7 Conclusions and

The Structural Design of Language [texte imprimé] / Thomas S. Stroik, Auteur ; Michael T. Putnam, Auteur . - UK : Cambridge University Press, 2013 . - 190p ; 24cm.
ISBN : 978-1-00-934246-9

Grammar and Syntax, Evolution of Language, Language and Linguistics
Langues : Anglais (eng)

Mots-clés :	Grammar and Syntax, Evolution of Language, Language and Linguistics
Résumé :	In the last few decades syntax-centric generative theory has been beleageredmore from the outside than from the inside of linguistics. First it was learn-ability, which continues to be the major reason why computational linguiststend to prefer other models. More recently it is evolutionary biology (Bouchard’sbook was preceded by no fewer than 17 volumes in the Oxford series onevolution of language). And this time the rebellion is from within the ranks.The two books under review are the work of experienced syntacticians. BothBouchard (B) and Stroik & Putnam (S&P) take as their starting point the evolu-tionary biological implausibility of Chomsky’s original proposal that humanlanguage is based on a new, species-specific syntactic computational systemthat arose more or lessex machina. Both complain about the excessive, cogni-tively unmotivated baggage in (not-so-)minimalism. Both accept that the transi-tion from prelanguage to language was abrupt; for B, perhaps a singlegeneration. Both argue that this development was triggered by the expansionof pre-existing neural structures, which crossed a tipping point of quantitativecomplexity and triggered a self-(re)organization.This point is argued at length in B’s book, which begins with a long reviewof previous writings on the evolution of language (Jackendoff, Pinker, Bickerton,Chomsky, Hurford). All are found to be defective, chiefly because they allinclude at least some teleological elements (human language evolved becauseit confers selective advantages) without providing a realistic road map. S&Pshare this view though their discussion of it is much briefer (their book isself-described as a“manifesto”and is correspondingly terse). Both books stress
Note de contenu :	Book contents The Structural Design of Language The Structural Design of Language Copyright page Contents Preface Acknowledgments Abbreviations 1 The biolinguistic turn 2 The structure of theLexicon 3 Constructing theNumeration 4 Copy and thecomputational system 5 Some structural consequences for derivations 6 Observations on performance system interpretations 7 Conclusions and