Universal Grammar and the Mind vs the Brain普遍语法和头脑与大脑.pptVIP

Universal Grammar and the Mind vs the Brain Elly van Gelderen 6 April 2012 Outline Some current developments regarding Universal Grammar (UG): What is (UG) and what is 3rd factor? Status of features Mind over matter: can linguistics contribute to the renewed interest in dualism? Some current issues in Minimalism How much to attribute to Universal Grammar? Earlier: parameters in the syntax (e.g. head-initial) but now all variation is in the lexicon by means of features; syntax is `merge’ Lexical learning and the Poverty of the Stimulus suggest the need for innate concepts From early Generative Grammar to Minimalism Universal Grammar UG and Third factors (= Principles Parameters) + + Input Input (Scottish English, Western Navajo, etc) = = I-language I-language E-language E-Language Three Factors relevant to the FL “(1) genetic endowment, which sets limits on the attainable languages, thereby making language acquisition possible; (2) external data, converted to the experience that selects one or another language within a narrow range; (3) principles not specific to FL [the Faculty of Language]. Some of the third factor principles have the flavor of the constraints that enter into all facets of growth and evolution.... Among these are principles of efficient computation”. (Chomsky 2007: 3) The actual features are not third factor Chomsky (1965: 142): “semantic features ... too, are presumably drawn from a universal ‘alphabet’ but little is known about this today and nothing has been said about it here.” Chomsky (1993: 24) vocabulary acquisition shows poverty of the stimulus. The importance of various features Chomsky (1965: 87-88): lexicon contains information for the phonological, semantic, and syntactic component. Sincerity (+N, -Count, +Abstract...) Chomsky (1995: 230ff; 236; 277ff): semantic (e.g. abstract object), phonological (e.g. the sounds), and formal features: intrinsic or optional. Features