General Linguistic Theory Research Articles

New perspectives on language development and the innateness of grammatical knowledge

Chomsky [Chomsky, N., 1965. Aspects of The Theory of Syntax. MIT Press, Cambridge, Mass; Chomsky, N., 1986. Knowledge of Language: its Nature, Origin, and Use. Praeger, New York] presents a series of arguments for an innate syntactic component of the language faculty. Do the arguments proposed at that time still stand, or have they been overridden by newer proposals? The current paper emphasizes three research directions among the most recent advances in cognitive science. These directions lead to alternate proposals to the generative linguistic theory of language development. First, the ‘item-based’ theory of language development, which stresses that development of language knowledge goes from specific to general and is compatible with developing research in cognitive linguistics. Second, the apparent uniformity of adult linguistic competence, which is a fundamental tenet of generative linguistics theory, may be the product of literate cultures but not of invariants of the brain, as attested by the fundamental differences found between spoken and written language. Third, artificial neural networks provide evidence against the necessity to call on algebraic rules to explain language performance and this, in turn, argues in favor of the emergence approach and of the dynamic systems approach to language development. All this calls for a renewal of language development theories and for a separation between statistical, non-algebraic, non-conscious, item-based, and usage-based structures and processes dedicated to spoken language (and to automatized written language processes), and principle-and-rule-governed, algebraic structures and processes dedicated to conscious written or formal spoken language.

On the status of linguistics as a cognitive science

In the last fifty or so years, the field of linguistics has become concerned with the study of language as a means for understanding how the mind works. Linguistic theories that advocate the idea that structure-building computations underlie human grammar have been assumed to reveal the same type of computational operations present in theories of other modules of the mind. At the same time, with the emergence of new scientific technical advances, more concrete and tangible light is being shed on how the brain actually operates in terms of both its mechanisms and the loci of activity that correspond to specific functions. In MRI studies of language in use (and other similar studies using different types of techniques), various areas of the brain have been shown to exhibit activity, rather than just one central location, and the idea of language emerging out of a network of interconnected distinct brain circuits or systems has become, for the most part, widely acceptable. Yet, generative grammarians, assuming a level of analysis that is not primarily concerned with such neurological findings, continue to consider language to be an autonomous and homogeneous entity unto itself in the mind, namely, a module, an innate organic whole, the maturational process of which is shaped by triggers in the environment, and which is, in essence, a computational system of combining or merging building block-like elements together in a recursive fashion to form hierarchical structures. This approach appears to be removed from the aforementioned findings regarding the physically scattered locales of language in the brain (but, cf. Marantz’s contribution to this special issue which finds no tension between current findings from brain science and generative linguistic theory).

Where did all the arguments go?: argument-changing properties of classifiers in asl

This paper presents an analysis of American Sign Language (ASL) classifiers from a syntactic and morphophonological point of view, and addresses issues related to (1) the ways that classifiers can participate in expressing argument structure alternations – in particular, the transitive–intransitive and the unergative-unaccusative alternations in a morpho-syntactic way; and (2) the ways that 'productivity' within classifier systems can be formalized morpho-phonemically. For ASL classifiers, we claim that there are two basic syntactic types those that are associated with the internal argument and those that are associated with an external agentive argument. We claim that classifiers project syntactically as (functional) heads and that they determine the status (as external or internal) of the argument that lands in their Spec. We identify a discrete agentive morpheme in ASL classifier constructions, on phonological and syntactic grounds, a morpheme which is responsible for the agentive readings in two types of classifiers. The phonological representation needed to express this morpheme expands the range of possibilities of templates used in prosodic morphology. This paper contributes to general linguistic theory in providing support for a (morpho-)syntactic analysis of argument structure alternations and in demonstrating how morphological templates can be used to account for the relation between morphological and phonological form in ASL classifiers.

What infants know about syntax but couldn't have learned: experimental evidence for syntactic structure at 18 months

Generative linguistic theory stands on the hypothesis that grammar cannot be acquired solely on the basis of an analysis of the input, but depends, in addition, on innate structure within the learner to guide the process of acquisition. This hypothesis derives from a logical argument, however, and its consequences have never been examined experimentally with infant learners. Challenges to this hypothesis, claiming that an analysis of the input is indeed sufficient to explain grammatical acquisition, have recently gained attention. We demonstrate with novel experimentation the insufficiency of this countervailing view. Focusing on the syntactic structures required to determine the antecedent for the pronoun one, we demonstrate that the input to children does not contain sufficient information to support unaided learning. Nonetheless, we show that 18-month-old infants do have command of the syntax of one. Because this syntactic knowledge could not have been gleaned exclusively from the input, infants' mastery of this aspect of syntax constitutes evidence for the contribution of innate structure within the learner in acquiring a grammar.

The Value of Symbolic Computation

Standard generative linguistic theory, which uses discrete symbolic models of cognition, has some strengths and weaknesses. It is strong on providing a network of outposts that make scientific travel in the jungles of natural language feasible. It is weak in that it currently depends on the elaborate and unformalized use of intuition to develop critical supporting assumptions about each data point. In this regard, it is not in a position to characterize natural language systems in the lawful terms that ecological psychologists strive for. Connectionist learning models offer some help: They define lawful relations between linguistic environments and language systems. But our understanding of them is currently weak, especially when it comes to natural language syntax. Fortunately, symbolic linguistic analysis can help connectionism if the two meet via dynamical systems theory. I discuss a case in point: Insights from linguistic explorations of natural language syntax appear to have identified information structures that are particularly relevant to understanding ecologically appealing but analytically mysterious connectionist learning models.

HISTORICAL LINGUISTICS: AN INTRODUCTION.Lyle Campbell. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1998. Pp. xx + 396. $30.00 paper.

In his introduction, Campbell makes a case for the broader relevance of historical linguistics by noting that observing what does and does not change in language contributes to “the understanding of universal grammar, language typology, and human cognition in general” (p. 2). The generativist perspective that phonological and syntactic changes are linked to language acquisition, cited on page 236, illustrates one interface between historical linguistics and general linguistic theory.

Les particules modales du Chinois contemporain: Esquisse d'un systeme1

AN OUTLINE OF THE SYSTEM OF MODAL PARTICLES IN MODERN CHINESE Chinese possesses a special class of words known as ‘final’ or ‘modal’ particles, according to their position at the end of a sentence, or based on their meaning. All take part in the situational anchoring of predicative relationships, and thus make reference to the situation of utterance and its spatio-temporal parameters. Although they are listed together in comprehensive grammars, they have been so far studied mostly in isolation. Furthermore, each of them has been subdivided into several seemingly unrelated values or even split into two or more homophonous markers. The purpose of this article is to isolate, for every particle, a single fundamental operation underlying it. It is claimed that modal particles should be regarded as an integrated whole, i.e. a system with a set of oppositions and fixed combinatorial rules. The fact that Chinese unites into one morphosyntactic category a series of elusive modal phenomena, often expressed in other languages by heterogeneous means, is of great significance to general linguistic theory.

Opening dialogue: Understanding the dynamics of language and learning in the English classroom By Martin Nystrand with Adam Gamoran, Robert Kachur, and Catherine Prendergast (review)

444 LANGUAGE, VOLUME 74, NUMBER 2 (1998) usage of verbal categories in Ancient Greek. While the presentation and terminology remain largely those of traditional Classical grammar, the revised version incorporates some insights from discourse studies of tense and aspect such as the role of ímperfect/aorist alternation in discourse cohesion (13). Some informal use is also made of functional grammar, notably in discussing the relation of thematic roles to voice. The text assumes some reading knowledge of the language; the ample examples from Classical authors are presented in Greek alphabet without glosses, and little help is given with morphological or morphophonemic points. The scope includes mood and tense (9-46), the usage of verbs in relative, concessive, and conditional clauses (47-92), nonfinite forms (participles and infinitives, 93-130), and voice (131-60), the middle voice being of particular typological interest here. Several observations are made on variation between Greek dialects although few comparisons are made going beyond Ancient Greek. There are also discussions of stylistic factors with respect to usages such as the historic present (22-25) and the gnomic aorist (30-32). In a concession to tradition which will frustrate aspectologists, aspect is not systematically distinguished from tense, rendering some descriptions more idiosyncratic and language-specific than would seem necessary. Nonetheless the book offers an example of how the empirical thoroughness of traditional Classical scholarship can be brought into contact with general linguistic theory. [Stephen Matthews, University of Hong Kong.] Conditions and conditionals: An investigation of Ancient Greek. By Gerry Wakker. (Amsterdam studies in Classical philology, 3.) Amsterdam: J. C. Gieben, 1994. Pp. xii, 450. This thesis, written under the supervision of Albert Rijksbaron in Amsterdam within the broad framework of Simon Dik's functional grammar, is limited in scope to clauses introduced by ei 'if in Ancient Greek. What the study lacks in breadth it makes up in depth: all ei- clauses in the extant works ofHomer, Plato, and the Classical dramatists have been considered (and this without the aid of a computerized corpus ). Moreover, the interaction of three moods (indicative, subjunctive, and optative) with tense-aspect categories and modal particles makes for a intrinsically complex topic. Following a brief introduction (1-20), 'Conditionals in general' (21-42) critically reviews linguistic and philosophical accounts of the topic. 'Theoretical preliminaries' (43-120) develops a functional grammar framework in which to discuss the structure and function of conditionals. Using this model, eiclauses are then divided into predicational conditionals (121-226) and propositional and illocutionary conditionals (227-73), i.e. those whose semantics do not involve implication. Further chapters deal with 'Some peculiar usages of conditionals' (275-302) and 'The function of modal particles in e/-clauses' (303-64). Ch. 8, on nonconditional usages of ei (365-402) argues that both conditional and other types of ei- clauses (such as purpose clauses and indirect questions) express disjunctive situations and that wishes with ei + optative mood derive from conditionals rather than vice versa. An overview (403-12) summarizes the results. Particularly original to this study is the attention given to the role of particles which accompany ei (normally as enclitics as in eíde, eiper). Often overlooked or assumed to be interchangeable, they are here seen to have two main semantic functions: scopal (e.g. ei . . . ge with the intervening elements being within the scope of the conditional) and modal (typically epistemic, expressing the speaker's attitude to the likelihood of conditions and consequences being fulfilled). Methodologically, the detailed typology of Greek conditionals offers a useful model for the investigation of other languages. One typologically relevant observation is that while predicative conditionals show a preference for initial position, as noted by Greenberg, illocutionary conditionals prefer noninitial position (89, 404). The book thus contributes not only to the study of Ancient Greek morphosyntax but to the understanding of conditional constructions in general. [Stephen Matthews, University ofHong Kong.] Opening dialogue: Understanding the dynamics of language and learning in the English classroom. By Martin Nystrand with Adam Gamoran, Robert Kachur, and Catherine Prendergast. (Language and literacy series.) London & New York: Teachers College Press, 1997. Pp. 139. Drawing on the work of Mikhail Bakhtin, the authors use the perspective of dialogism to develop their argument for...

INTERLANGUAGE PHONETICS AND PHONOLOGY

This thematic issue explores various aspects of interlanguage phonetics and phonology and their relationship to general linguistic theory. Research in interlanguage syntax and recently in discourse and pragmatics has been quite prolific; however, research in interlanguage phonetics and phonology has produced far fewer studies. Of the nearly 200 articles published in Studies in Second Language Acquisition (SSLA) during the last 10 years, only about a dozen focus on phonetics and phonology. This thematic issue is intended to fill some of this gap.

The Automatic Deduction of Classificatory Systems from Linguistic Theories

Classifying linguistic objects is a widespread and important linguistic task, but hand deducing a classificatory system from a general linguistic theory can consume much effort and introduce pernicious errors. We present an abstract prototype device that effectively deduces an accurate classificatory system from a finite linguistic theory.

Jan Baudouin De Courtenay’s contribution to Linguistic Theory

SummaryThe extent of Jan Baudouin de Courtenay’s (1845–1929) contribution to general linguistic theory is still hard to assess. He never wrote a major synthetic work, nor has the bulk of his production been translated into English. Thanks primarily to Jakobson, at least his formative influence on modern phonology is generally acknowledged. Fewer linguists are aware of the relevance of Baudouin’s teaching for the study of language change. His conceptualisation of the nature of change, its causes and goals, and the role played in it by the language system, all seem of more than merely historical interest to the theoretically-minded diachronic linguist.

Mikołaj Kruszewski and 20th-century linguistics

Summary The article deals with important issues in general linguistic theory discussed by Mikołaj Habdank Kruszewski alias Nikolaj Vjačeslavovič Kruševskij (1851–1887), in the author’s view an unjustly forgotten linguist of genius of the late 19th century, who could be seen as standing at the roots of the 20th-century structuralism, long before the appearance of F. de Saussure’s lectures on general linguistics. In his major book O čerk nauki o jazyke (An outline of the science of language) of 1883, Kruszewski conceived of language as a system of signs, laying stress on the semiotic function of language. His understanding of sound alternation is in many ways close to modern principles of phonology and morphonology. His hypothesis of the universal character of the sound laws too anticipated the discovery of language universals. As a result, the author agrees with Radwańska-Williams’ (1993) characterization of Kruszewski’s theory as ‘a lost paradigm’ in the history of linguistics. Well-known linguists of the 20th century such as Roman Jakobson (1896–1982), Jerzy Kuryłowicz (1895–1978) , and others rightly argued that Kruszewski was one of the founders of modern linguistic theory.

Essays in semantics and pragmatics Ed. by Masayoshi Shibatani and Sandra Thompson (review)

BOOK NOTICES 901 (History of linguistic thought.) London & New York: Routledge, 1996. Pp. x, 218. $49.95. Frederick Newmeyer's work on the history of generative linguistic theory has often been controversial, but it remains unequaled in scope, in insight, and in influence. This collection ofhis studies ranges chronologically from the first edition of Linguistic theory in America (New York: Academic Press, 1980) to a response to Geoffrey Huck and John Goldsmith's Ideology and linguistic theory (London & New York: Routledge, 1995) written specifically for this volume (127-37). This fifteen year period ofhistoriographie writing is summarized in the 'Introduction' (1-7). Two chapters, on "The steps to' and 'The end of generative semantics (101-12, 113-26, respectively ), are reprinted from LTA, while of the remaining ten, three were unpublished at the time this collection was assembled, and seven appeared previously in journals and conference proceedings. Original publication information is thoroughly mangled in the 'Note on text' (ix-x). Six chapters comprise 'Part I: General trends', with N tracing 'issues in the history of generative grammar that span its entire history' (3). He focuses on the study of language, not the study of languages; on universal grammar, not on particular grammars; on principles, not on rules; and on theory and explanation , not description. This part opens with the previously unpublished 'Bloomfield, Jakobson, Chomsky, and the roots of generative grammar' (11-16) followed by N's 1990 paper for COSWL, 'The structure of the field and its consequences for women' (17-22), which, though reorganized, continues to reflect his admitted lack of background in the history of women in American linguistics. The well known and once controversial 'Has there been a "Chomskyan revolution" in linguistics?' is next (23-38), followed in turn by the longest and possibly most interesting chapter in the collection, 'Rules and principles in the historical development ofgenerative syntax' (39-65), where N argues for a cyclical interpretation ofthe history ofgenerative syntax, alternating in orientation between rules and principles, with stages prior to 1980 that 'ultimately degenerated into little more than a form of descriptive linguistics with a generative veneer' (64). N's disdain for descriptive linguistics comes through clearly here and elsewhere. Four times he disparagingly quotes a comment from George Lakoff on the desirability of a 'return to the tradition of informal descriptions of exotic languages ' (51, 82, 121, 149). 'Chomsky's 1962 programme for linguistics: A retrospective', co-authored with Stephen R. Anderson, Sandra Chung, and James McCloskey (66-79), and 'Linguistic diversity and universal grammar' (80-97) complete Part I. Part II, with the now tired title "The linguistic wars', reprints the two sections from LTA, the 'review ' of Huck and Goldsmith, and a brief review of a volume of papers from the Chicago Linguistic Society (138-42). 'Part III: Grammatical theory and second language learning' contains 'The ontogenesis of the field of second language learning research' co-authored with Steven H. Weinberger (145-54), 'The current convergence in linguistic theory' (155-68), and 'Competence vs. performance; theoretical vs. applied' (169-77), all presenting second language acquisition research, rather narrowly, as a derivative of formal grammatical theory. This is a thought-provoking collection, even where the chapters are familiar. There is very little on phonology , despite the title, and many readers may wish, as I do, that N had provided postscripts, retrospective notes, or a longer introductory essay to place these historiographie essays in greater historical perspective . But it is useful to have them together in one place and reading the volume through provides some of that perspective. [Julia S. Falk, Michigan State University.] Essays in semantics and pragmatics. In honor of Charles J. Fillmore. Ed. by Masayoshi Shibatani and Sandra Thompson. (Pragmatics and beyond, 32.) Amsterdam & Philadelphia: John Benjamins, 1995. Pp. x, 330. This is a collection of fourteen essays presented to Charles Fillmore in honor of his 65th birthday. Appropriately, it covers a nch variety of topics and subfields which have been at the focus of Fillmore's attention over the years—from lexical semantics to deixis to grammatical theory—and the book certainly doesjustice to the breadth ofhis research interests . One of the central themes of his work, the interaction among 'pure...

El funcionalismo de rodolfo lenz

Summary This paper deals with the contributions to Hispanic Linguistics by the German-Chilean linguist Rodolfo Lenz (1863–1935), some of whose proposals – often attributed to other scholars – may be seen as an alternative to the ideas of the prestigious Andrés Bello (1781–1865). The paper first reviews those aspects of his work which anticipate some of the basic tenets of Functional Grammar, such as the notion of ‘transposition’ (function shifting), his views on sentential structure, and his treatment of passives as attributive constructions. The paper also explores Lenz’s contributions to Indo-European linguistics and his theoretical affinities with, if not anticipations of, the work of other well-known linguists like Búhler, Tesnière, Hjelmslev, and Benveniste. In sum, the author seeks to vindicate Rodolfo Lenz and his insightful views in both general linguistic theory and Spanish grammar.

The three-dimensional sign

This paper discusses the implications of the three-dimensional sign proposed by Harris (1990), for general linguistic theory and the philosophy of language. The principal characteristics of the three-dimensional sign (contextuality, co-temporality, communicational relevance, and experiential grounding) are set against those of the two-dimensional sign (arbitrariness and linearity). The study of history is suggested as a model for the identification and study of relevant experience. Finally, the position or locus of languages with respect to communication and the three-dimensional sign must necessarily be that of a second-order, metalinguistic cultural construct.

A Positron Emission Tomographic Study of Regular and Irregular Verb Morphology in English

Theories about the representation and processing of regular and irregular past tense forms of verbs in English have disagreed as to whether they should be treated as a unified phenomenon (e.g. both rule-governed, or both generated by a connectionist net), or as two distinct types of linguistic entities (e.g. regulars formed by rules of the grammar, irregulars stored in lexical memory). In this article we present data from a positron emission tomographic study in which subjects were asked to produce the past tense forms of regular, irregular, and nonce stems. We find very different amounts and areas of cortical activation in the regular and irregular tasks, as well as significantly different reaction times in producing the past tenses. We interpret our findings as supporting the grammar/lexicon theories, and discuss the implications of our results for general linguistic theory.*

The joy of grammar: A Festschrift in honor of James D. McCawley Ed. by Diane Brentari, Gary N. Larson, and Lynn A. MacLeod (review)

600 LANGUAGE, VOLUME 70, NUMBER 3 (1994) AGR0 itself cannot provide these features. Spec of AGR must be the source. The parametric availability of AGR0 or Spec of AGR as the source of Ô-features is, in essence, the difference between null-subject and non-null-subject languages. Carme Picallo explores the internal structure of the Catalan DP in 'Possessive pronouns in Catalan and the Avoid Pronoun Principle' (211-34). She demonstrates that the alternation between possessive pronouns and strong pronouns in nominal constructions parallels the distribution of pro and overt pronouns as clausal subjects. This leads her to propose that pro is not only a null pronoun, but is lexically empty. The Avoid Pronoun Principle is postulated as a grammatical principle which ensures economy of lexical representation. Most of the reasoning can be applied to other Romance noun phrases. The other papers explore a variety of topics, including the structure of the negative phrase (M. Teresa Espinal's 'Negation in Catalan', 33-63), the structure of benefactive constructions (Albert Branchadell's 'Against argument augmentation', 1-32), clitics (Anna Gavarró's ? note on Catalan clitics', 65-73), compound verbs (Mireia Llinàs i Grau's The affix-like status of certain verbal elements', 129-47), the syntactic ramifications of the imperfect tense (Manuel Pérez Saldanya's 'Imperfects are pronominals', 201-10), and the nature of conjunctions (M. Teresa Solías ? Arís' The category of the conjunction in categorial grammar', 301-41). Taken together, this collection of papers is important for linguists working on Ibero-Romance , while containing theoretical proposals relevant to a broader cross-section ofthe profession . The obvious beneficiaries are syntacticians , but the three papers on phonology are mainstream contributions. University libraries and linguistics programs which publish working papers would do well to acquire the CWPL series . [John M. Lipski, University of New Mexico.] The joy of grammar: A Festschrift in honor of James D. McCawley. Ed. by Diane Brentari, Gary N. Larson , and Lynn A. MacLeod. Amsterdam & Philadelphia: John Benjamins, 1992. Pp. xi, 400. Paper $79.00. This book, not the first to honor McCawley's linguistic intellect, gives a taste of the high esteem in which McCawley is held by teachers and researchers in our field, twenty-four of whom have contributed articles to this volume. The book reflects most of the areas of linguistic research in which McCawley has worked and published. There are articles on phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics, pragmatics, and general linguistic theory—all of which McCawley has thought about deeply. Moreover , five of the twenty-two articles deal with East Asian languages in which McCawley has been interested throughout his career. Although the articles are written within diverse theoretical frameworks, their authors—colleagues and students of McCawley—have in common a deep commitment to their areas of research, a commitment that has been so characteristic of McCawley himself. The data presented in the articles are handled with honesty and rigor—again, in the McCawley tradition. The articles and their authors are Noriko Akatsuka, 'Japanese modals are conditionals'; Bill Darden, The Cairene Arabic verb without form classes'; Paul D. Deane, The transition from oral to written competence: Evidence from teaching freshman composition'; Donka F. Farkas, Two types of "world-creating" predicates'; Louanna Furbee, Tojolabal (Mayan) kinterms and the theory of markedness or a near triumph of the feminine gender' ; John Goldsmith, Tone and accent in Llogoori'; Georgia M. Green, 'Purpose infinitives and their relatives'; Eric P. Hamp, 4A semantic etymology '; Wesley M. Jacobsen, 'Are conditionals topics? The Japanese case': Kostas Kazazis, 'Gender and sex in standard modern Greek pet names'; George Lakoff, 'Philosophical speculation and cognitive science: Comments on William Lycan's logical form in natural language'; D. Terence Langendoen, 'Symmetric relations'; Alexis Manaster Ramer, The Korean precursors of generative phonology'; Salikoko S. Mufwene. 'Why grammars are not monolithic'; Younghee Na & Geoffrey J. Huck, 'On extracting from asymmetrical structures'; Almerindo E. Ojeda, The markedness of plurality'; Paul M. Postal, 'Phantom successors and the French /a/re par construction'; JerroldM. Sadock, ? paper on Yiddish for James D. McCawley'; Y. Tagashira, 'Survival of the positive: History of Japanese antonyms'; Timothy J. Vance, 'Lexical phonology and Japanese vowel devoicing'; BOOK NOTICES 601 Margaret E. Winters & Geoffrey...

Grammaticalization Processes in the Area of Temporal and Modal Relations

This study investigates some instances of linguistic development in the acquisition of a second language that might be subsumed under the issue of grammaticalization. First, the notion of grammaticalization is discussed with reference to the current linguistic debate and its applicability to the domain of language acquisition is evaluated. Then, some cases are examined drawing on data on the acquisition of Italian collected during several years at the University of Pavia. With respect to temporality and modality, learners are shown to move from lexical means or context-dependent strategies to a gradual acquisition of the morphological devices required by the target language. The results of the analyses are discussed in terms of their implications for both general linguistic theory and language acquisition research.

Perspectives on Arabic Linguistics III: Papers from the Third Annual Symposium on Arabic Linguistics

1. Foreword 2. Introduction 3. I. Arabic in relation to other languages 4. On the Importance of Arabic to General Linguistic Theory (by Comrie, Bernard) 5. Verbless Sentences in Arabic and Hebrew (by Eid, Mushira) 6. Guttural Phonology (by McCarthy, John) 7. Arabic Loanwords in Acehnese (by Al-Ahmadi Al-Harbi, Awwad Ahmad) 8. A Contrastive Study of Middle and Unaccusative Constructions in Arabic and English (by Mahmoud, Abdelgawad T.) 9. II. Grammatical Perspectives 10. Epenthesis in Makkan Arabic: Unsyllabified consonants vs. degenerate syllables (by Abu-Mansour, Mahasen Hasan) 11. Computer Analysis of Arabic Morphology: A two-level approach with detours (by Beesley, Kenneth R.) 12. Causatives in Arabic (by Benmamoun, Elabbas) 13. III. Socio- and Psycholinguistic Perspectives 14. Women, Men, and Linguistic Variation in the Arab World (by Walters, Keith) 15. Code-Switching and Linguistic Accommodation in Arabic (by Abu-Melhim, Abdel-Rahman) 16. Agrammatism in Arabic (by Safi-Stagni, Sabah) 17. Index

Universal Grammar and the interpretation of reflexives in a second language

UNIVERSAL GRAMMAR AND THE INTERPRETATION OF REFLEXIVES IN A SECOND LANGUAGE Margaret Thomas Harvard University This article addresses the debate about whether adult language learners have access to the principles and parameters of universal grammar in constructing the grammar of a foreign or second language (L2). I investigate the interpretation of English reflexive pronouns by native speakers of Japanese and of Spanish, and the interpretation of the Japanese reflexive zibun by native speakers of English and of Chinese. The data suggest that L2 learners observe constraints defined by universal grammar, constraints which they could not have derived solely from inspection of the input data, nor from the treatment of anaphors in their native language. Thus these results support the proposal that adult learners have access to universal grammar.* Introduction 1. The idea that there exists a 'logical problem of language acquisition' arose from the finding that child language learners seem to have knowledge about language which they cannot have gained by observation and imitation of adult speech (Baker & McCarthy 1981, Hornstein & Lightfoot 1981). In Chomsky's words, Our knowledge [oflanguage] is richly articulated and shared with others from the same speech community, whereas the data available are much too impoverished to determine it by any general procedure of induction, generalization , analogy, association, or whatever' (1986:55). An example of children's knowledge of language which is underdetermined by the input data is Crain & Thornton's 1988 report that 3- to 5-year olds seem to know the syntax of wa««a-contraction. In a production task, children spontaneously produced contractions in 59% of wH-questions in sentences like 1 , where the extraction site is in object position of the subordinate verb eat. But contractions appeared in only 4% of sentences like 2, where the extraction site is in subject position between want and to. (1)What do you want to eat __ ? (2)Who do you want __ to help you? Adult usage may inform children that wanna-contraction occurs in some contexts in English, but it does not necessarily indicate where contraction is impossible . Generative linguistics suggests that children make few mistakes in such cases because they have access to abstract and detailed linguistic knowledge which constrains their grammar. They do not contract in 2 because want and to are not strictly adjacent in this structure, and this fact is given by innate principles of language.' The challenge for this view of language acquisition is * I would like to thank three anonymous reviewers for their help, and to acknowledge the assistance of Susumu Kuno, Suzanne Flynn, and Catherine Snow in the larger project from which these results are drawn. The generous support of a Dokkyo University International Cooperation Research Fellowship made collection of the Japanese data possible. 1 In Pesetsky's account (1982:255-63), UG informs speakers ofEnglish that a wH-trace intervenes between want and to in 2 because WH-traces must receive Case and Case is assigned under adjacency . 211 212LANGUAGE. VOLUME 67, NUMBER 2 (1991) to specify the inventory, nature, and role of these linguistic principles and their associated parameters, which together define the limits of variability among human languages. That is, the task is to determine the contents and operation of universal grammar (UG). A separate but related issue is whether adults learning a foreign or second language (L2) exhibit this kind of subtle knowledge which cannot be accounted for by exposure to the surface facts of the language. Do adult learners have access to principles and parameters of UG in constructing the grammar of a second language? Lenneberg's 1967 Critical Period hypothesis argued that firstlanguage (Ll) learning after puberty cannot make use of an innate 'language acquisition device', an ancestor of the notion of UG. Dulay & Burt (1974), Bailey et al. (1974), and others challenged the relevance of the Critical Period hypothesis to L2 learning, chiefly by demonstrating that Ll and L2 learners follow similar sequences of acquisition of specific grammatical and morphological items. Although evidence based on order of acquisition eventually proved unconvincing (McLaughlin 1987:31-4, 66-9), increasingly sophisticated investigation of L2 data in the light of generative linguistic theory has evolved. At the center of this research is a...