Theory Of Syntax Research Articles

Codeswitching and generative grammar: A critique of the MLF model and some remarks on “modified minimalism”

This article presents an empirical and theoretical critique of the Matrix Language Frame (MLF) model (Myers-Scotton, 1993; Myers-Scotton and Jake, 2001), and includes a response to Jake, Myers-Scotton and Gross's (2002) (JMSG) critique of MacSwan (1999, 2000) and reactions to their revision of the MLF model as a “modified minimalist approach”. The author argues that although a new structural definition of the Matrix Language (ML) makes the MLF model falsifiable, its empirical predictions are inconsistent with the facts of codeswitching (CS). The author also identifies significant theoretical problems associated with the MLF model, and suggests that it be rejected on empirical and theoretical grounds, and on grounds of scientific parsimony. In addition, the author contends that JMSG's critique of the Minimalist approach to CS rests on conceptually significant misreadings of published research in CS and in the theory of syntax, and that JMSG fail to motivate their central claim, namely, that a Minimalist approach to CS cannot succeed without incorporating the ML construct. It is further shown that an analysis of the CS facts which JMSG consider as their test case may be straightforwardly pursued within the Minimalist Program without appealing to the ML construct or any other aspect of the MLF model. The author concludes with the recommendation that research on CS depart from the formulation of general CS-specific constraints like the MLF model and engage in the task of analyzing language contact phenomena in terms of independently motivated constructs of linguistic theory.

Application of the space syntax theory to quantitative street lighting design

A new design methodology for quantitative street lighting design planning using space syntax theory, which is used to generate a strategic design framework based on detailed analysis of spatial configuration, is described. The space syntax theory is based on the fact that any urban area can be represented as a matrix of connected spaces, and that mathematical properties of this matrix can be measured using computer simulations. This study explores the development of a strategic street lighting design methodology based on the results of the space syntax model, especially a level of pedestrian movement, which may have widespread usefulness in a schematic urban lighting design stage. As a case study, the relationship between observed pedestrian movement rate and the measured illuminance values of a particular district in Seoul, Korea is analyzed, and then a new quantitative street lighting plan is proposed.

An Initial Object-Oriented Programming Language (IOPL) and Its Implementation

Object-oriented programming languages designed for introductory teaching simplify the often overcomplex features of conventional languages, but usually do so within software development environments that mimic their conventional counterparts. In such systems, semantic checking is performed after the editing process and within a conventional edit-compile-execute cycle. The initial object-oriented programming language (IOPL) provides incremental semantic checking via a structure editor that manipulates the persistent abstract syntax representation of an application and ensures that no syntax errors and no type errors occur during the editing process.

Post-Davidsonianism

The pioneering work of Davidson (1967) gave rise to a productive and exciting tradition within formal semantics and especially at the interface between syntax and semantics, whereby event variables were exploited as elements of the referential ontology in the expression of the semantics of natural language. The existence of such logical elements (events, or eventuality variables) cannot seriously now be doubted, in my opinion, although many aspects of the formal theory of syntax and semantics have changed in the nearly forty years since Davidson’s seminal article. The time has definitely come for a more critical and nuanced understanding of the use of eventuality variables, in the light of recent research in the field. Maienborn (this volume) is an important example of this kind of work. She takes a new look at the idea of eventuality variables and argues that the case has been overstated, that there are both empirical and conceptual reasons for denying the existence of events in the Davidsonian sense for a certain class of statives and copular predications. I wish to show in this article that Maienborn both goes too far and not far enough in deconstructing the traditional Davidsonian assumptions. Instead, I propose a Davidson-inspired method of representation which fits better with current syntactic understanding, but which is liberated from some of the assumptions and methodologies of earlier work – I call this ‘Post-Davidsonianism’. I will argue that once one makes the adjustments in the Davidsonian tradition to make the idea coherent, Maienborn’s arguments for introducing a new ontological type (‘Kimian states’) into the system disappear.

Ordering Disorder

Central within the discourses that have surrounded the commercial internet during its emergence has been an underlying promise of disorder. The claims for consumer empowerment with which e-commerce was promoted and discussed within industry and academic literature (Fiamberg; Gates; Horton; Levine et al. for instance), coupled with recurring claims that the emergence of e-commerce was as profound a shift as that occasioned by the Industrial Revolution (Dancer; Sullivan; Lynch for instance), established an underlying sense of chaotic upheaval - a clear and present danger to the established order.

Optimization Research of Urban Space Configuration Based on Space Syntax

Abstract In this paper, a new method based on the space syntax is presented to optimize the urban space configuration. Space syntax theory is used to detect systematically whether one urban space configuration is optimal or not from four aspects including traffic space, cognition space, land use space and culture space. After introducing the computational and cognitive aspects of space syntax for the research of urban space, a framework of urban space optimization based on space syntax is proposed, then the integration with GIS and the extension to third dimension are discussed. Finally, a case study for Kanmen town of Zhejiang province of P.R.China is illustrated by using Axwoman tool.

スペースシンタックス理論に基づく市街地オープンスペースの特性評価

The purpose of this research is to analyze the configuration of open space in Japanese urban area by applying the space syntax theory, and to investigate the relationship between the structure of urban form and social conditions. 1) Configurations of open space can be quantitatively characterized by the space syntax theory. 2) Integration value correlates closely with pedestrians distribution. 3) Distribution of the building-use does not correlate to the integration value but it is a correlate of the pedestrian distribution. 4) The space syntax theory can estimate pedestrian flows and the building-use of future plans. It is concluded that analysis based on the space syntax theory is useful to support urban planning, because the theory can be applied to recognize the present situation and to evaluate the alternatives comparatively.

Structural analogy and universal grammar

For much of the 20th century, and sporadically in earlier periods, many grammarians drew, more or less explicitly, structural parallels between the syntax and the phonology. Here I discuss one explicit instance of this, embodied in what I have called elsewhere the structural analogy assumption (SAA), a less extreme version than the isomorphism advocated by e.g. Louis Hjelmslev. This interpretation of the SAA takes analogy between levels to be unmarked, and attempts to limit in a principled way the divergences in structure that can be exhibited by different levels of representation. Such syntax-phonology analogies have been argued, notably by Phil Carr, to be incompatible with the hypothesis concerning universal grammar (UG) that sees it as strongly innate and that on these grounds excludes phonology from UG; and the viability of particular proposed analogies has as a consequence been called into question. Here, in response, I question the soundness of the alleged motivations for such a view of UG, and argue, on both substantive and formal grounds, for the appropriateness of anticipating pervasive and detailed analogies between the syntax and phonology, as well as briefly considering further the basis for limitations on analogy. In the course of this consideration I expose what I take to be an inappropriate intra-syntactic analogy, the attribution, by the X′ theory of syntax, of parallel structures to the constructions projected by different categories.

Multiple Nominative Constructions in Japanese and Economy

In a derivational theory of syntax, problems of choice arise when there are two or more potentially possible steps at a single stage of a derivation. Chomsky (1995, 2000) proposes that, if Attract/Move and Merge are both possible, Merge is chosen (Merge-over-Move). It is also assumed in the literature that, where there are two or more elements that can potentially be moved, the one closest to the target is moved (Attract/Move Closest). Discussing multiple-nominative constructions in Japanese, I argue that among the principles of this kind, there is one that minimized the size of the element to be moved, and I show a new piece of evidence for Merge-over-Move

Restricting grammatical complexity

AbstractTheories of natural language syntax often characterize grammatical knowledge as a form of abstract computation. This paper argues that such a characterization is correct, and that fundamental properties of grammar can and should be understood in terms of restrictions on the complexity of possible grammatical computation, when defined in terms of generative capacity. More specifically, the paper demonstrates that the computational restrictiveness imposed by Tree Adjoining Grammar provides important insights into the nature of human grammatical knowledge.

Substitution in non-wellfounded syntax with variable binding

Inspired from the recent developments in theories of non-wellfounded syntax (coinductively defined languages) and of syntax with binding operators, the structure of algebras of wellfounded and non-wellfounded terms is studied for a very general notion of signature permitting both simple variable binding operators as well as operators of explicit substitution. This is done in an extensional mathematical setting of initial algebras and final coalgebras of endofunctors on a functor category. The main technical tool is a novel concept of heterogeneous substitution systems.

Restricting grammatical complexity

Theories of natural language syntax often characterize grammatical knowledge as a form of abstract computation. This paper argues that such a characterization is correct, and that fundamental properties of grammar can and should be understood in terms of restrictions on the complexity of possible grammatical computation, when defined in terms of generative capacity. More specifically, the paper demonstrates that the computational restrictiveness imposed by Tree Adjoining Grammar provides important insights into the nature of human grammatical knowledge.

Cambios de la configuración urbana y «sintaxis del espacio» en ciudades intermedias: el caso de La Serena (Chile)

The basic starting principle of this paper accepts that the mutual relation among the physical structure of the built space and numerous aspects of the socioeconomic dynamics, especially the spatial ones, have great transcendency in the genesis and use of the urban space. The Space Syntax theory provides concepts, methods and technical procedures for studying the configuration of the physical space as independent variable, since once a spatial structure was created, this one acquires organizational properties that influence both, the future forms of its own growth and the uses and perceptions of the same one. In this article we apply the Space Syntax theory for studying the city of La Serena (Chile), as a representative case of intermediate city of the urban Chilean system. It was accepted that the modality of urban sprawling, made for iuxtaposition of new fragments more than for organic development, modifies the preexisting spatial configuration, increases the physical isolation of certain areas, at the same time that it reinforces the spatial segregation and increases the functional inefficiency of the urban space, conceived as system of movement.

Danish Pre-nominals as Specifier Heads

This paper deals with the phrase structure of Danish nominal phrases. It is assumed that phrase structure must account for two types of selection wrt. nominal phrases, i.e. external selection and internal selection. By external selection is meant that other categories should be able to select a nominal phrase non-disjunctively. By internal selection is meant that categories inside the nominal phrase should be able to select each other to ensure correct distribution. Modern theories of phrase structure are commonly based on x-bar theory and phrase structure conforms to the x-bar schema proposed by Chomsky (1970), with optional specifier and complement attaching at each their level. This analysis is an NP analysis, or a specifier analysis. Another analysis is proposed by Abney (1987). He assumes that determiners are functional heads, other determiners and the noun functioning as the complement of a functional head. Abney’s analysis is a DP analysis or functional head analysis. In this paper I propose an alternative analysis which I refer to as the specifier head analysis to indicate that it is a combination of the NP and DP analyses.

Noam Chomsky and the Manufacture of Consent for American Foreign Policy

Few names of academic scholars are so well recognized all around the world as that of Noam Chomsky. He is listed as the author or coauthor of well over 1,000 items in the online database of the Library of Congress. The range of topics covered in these books, videos, and audiotapes reveals at least three different Chomskys: the linguistic scholar internationally recognized for his theory of transformational grammar and generative syntax, the political activist inspired by the writings of Mikhail Bakunin and Anton Pannekoek, and the analyst of media performance who (together with Edward S. Herman) promulgated a “propaganda model” as an alternative to the conception of the media as “adversarial,” the one to which journalists, jurists, and communication scholars typically subscribe. It is this third role, which accounts for roughly 80% of the Library of Congress items, that apparently moved the editor of this journal to suggest a review of work by or about Chomsky. Having dutifully absorbed the contents of what looms as an unceasing, still continuing, flood of books, pamphlets, articles, and interviews—including some on C-Span, public radio, and the Internet—we refrain from reviewing each individually. This becomes unnecessary inasmuch as, at least on the subjects of greatest concern to communication scholars, almost all make use of the same materials and dwell on the same themes with surprisingly little variation. Endlessly repetitive, they do, however, when considered in their entirety, confirm Chomsky’s contention that despite his academic preoccupation with language, he completely separates his role as linguistics scholar from those of media critic and political activist. It is in the two latter roles that he has expressed his anarchist creed and developed, in conformity with it, a communication model that concedes no legitimacy to state authority and certainly none to any kind of violence even when used to counter something far worse. The connection to ideology does not, of course, invalidate the model. Social science inquiry generally and the study of mass communication, in particular, have often been driven by meliorative impulses. They are not separated by an impenetrable wall. Be this as it may, Chomsky’s model, like any model, still has to be judged not just, or even primarily, on its suitability as a club for beating up on the media but rather on its theoretical adequacy, which is to say, on how closely it approximates how they actually function.

Lexical-Functional Grammar: An Introduction to Parallel Constraint-Based Syntax (review)

Reviewed by: Lexical-functional grammar: An introduction to parallel constraint-based syntax by Yehuda N. Falk Mark Miller Lexical-functional grammar: An introduction to parallel constraint-based syntax. By Yehuda N. Falk. Stanford: CSLI Publications, 2001. Pp. 237. ISBN 1575863405. $22. In this textbook on lexical-functional grammar (LFG), Falk addresses students already familiar with elementary generative syntactic theory (including transformational theory) and wishes ‘to motivate the concepts and formalisms of LFG in relation to derivational approaches’ (xi). His purpose in doing so ‘is to argue that LFG provides a better model of syntax’ (3) than derivational theories like government/binding theory and the minimalist program in its typological plausibility, its ease of conformity to what is known about the computation of language, and its ‘well-developed formalism’ (29). Throughout the book, F focuses on English, citing the pedagogical value of using a language already familiar to students and of providing a more cohesive treatment of the theory. F’s introductory chapter, ‘Welcome to lexical functional grammar’ (1–32), identifies LFG as ‘a variety of generative grammar’ though not of transformational theory (2). F shows how LFG is ‘lexical’ in that it obeys the lexical integrity principle (LIP) which claims that ‘syntax cannot see the internal structure of words’ (5). In contrast to derivational approaches, LFG is monotonic (in that information cannot be changed or deleted), is constraint-based, and has just one level of constituent structure. LFG is ‘functional’ in claiming that grammatical functions are independent of constituent structure configurations. It models a ‘parallel architecture’ (23) with three kinds of information existing simultaneously: c(onstituent) structure, f(unctional) structure, and a(rgument) structure. These layers of c-structure, f-structure, and a-structure are discussed in Chs. 2, 3, and 4, respectively. In Chs. 2(33–55), F explains how LFG, unlike transformationalist theories, prohibits nonfunctional empty categories and defines well-formed c-structures according to language-specific phrase structure rules. Ch. 3 (57–91), on f-structure, introduces the basic grammatical functions and demonstrates the formal mapping procedure from c-structure to f-structure. For F, ‘this mapping is the heart of the descriptive power of LFG, since it deals with the relationship between overt syntactic elements and the features they represent’ (64). The ‘mathematical relations of correspondence’ (66) involved in such mapping may prove formidable for some students, however, in the degree of abstraction involved, such as the use of metavariables in functional annotations to c-structure nodes. In Ch. 4 (93–120), F shows how a-structure mediates the mapping between thematic roles and grammatical functions, using lexical mapping theory (LMT) to analyze passives, unergatives, and unaccusatives. The remainder of the book analyzes several English constructions based on LFG formalisms: Ch. 5 on control (equi and raising constructions) (121–48); Ch. 6 on long distance dependencies such as islands and pied piping (149–72); and Ch. 7 on anaphora (173–91). Throughout these chapters, F uses empirical arguments to show how LFG better explains the facts of these constructions than does a transformationally based theory of syntax. For example, he notes that, because transformational theory forces an anaphoric analysis for equi constructions, the theory ‘cannot account for the properties of function-controlled equi’ (144) whereas LFG can. Features that should make this book useful to students include: exercises after every chapter, a glossary of technical terms (Appendix A), and a ‘Minigrammar of English’ (Appendix B) which represents the ‘final versions of all the rules and lexical entries’ developed in the preceding chapters (209). This textbook on LFG provides the student already trained in basic generative syntax with an alternative model to the standard transformational framework. For students unaccustomed to the conventions and precision of mathematical models, the LFG formalism may prove challenging. However, F demonstrates (usually convincingly) that, compared with a derivational approach, LFG offers a superior empirical, descriptive account of the facts of English and other languages. Mark Miller University of Texas, Arlington Copyright © 2003 Linguistic Society of America

Substitution in Non-wellfounded Syntax with Variable Binding

Inspired from the recent developments in theories of non-wellfounded syntax (coinductively defined languages) and of syntax with binding operators, the structure of algebras of wellfounded and non-wellfounded terms is studied for a very general notion of signature permitting both simple variable binding operators as well as operators of explicit substitution. This is done in an extensional mathematical setting of initial algebras and final coalgebras of endofunctors on a functor category. In the non-wellfounded case, the fundamental operation of substitution is more beneficially defined in terms of primitive corecursion than coiteration.

How Antisymmetric Is Syntax?

Since the emergence of Kayne's (1994) stimulating proposal for an antisymmetric theory of phrase structure and linear order, much work has been devoted to arguing for or against his theory as well as discussing its empirical predictions. As a result, for a number of phenomena involving rightward positioning, such as rightward adjuncts, heavy NP shift, extraposition, postverbal subjects, and postverbal constituents in OV languages, there now exist both an approach consistent with Kayne's theory (the antisymmetric approach) and another not consistent with it (the symmetric approach). In such a situation, it is often difficult to show on empirical grounds that one approach is superior to the other (see Rochemont and Culicover 1997). In what follows, I describe this situation with respect to two well-known phenomena in English: rightward positioning of adjuncts and heavy NP shift. For each of these phenomena, the symmetric and antisymmetric approaches have been proposed, and both approaches can correctly account for the data discussed in previous studies. Here, I examine the approaches from a novel point of view, showing that data involving the licensing of negative polarity items allow us to differentiate them and to decide which is the right one for each of the two empirical domains. Interestingly, the relevant facts lead to different conclusions for the two phenomena. The results have important implications for the antisymmetric view of syntax.

DAMLJessKB: a tool for reasoning with the Semantic Web

Fully realizing the Semantic Web vision will require practical tools. We believe that DAMLJessKB is one such tool. As more and more Web sites, network services, databases, and knowledge bases look to DAML as a de facto representation syntax, we hope that DAMLJessKB will become one in a suite of tools that let users truly leverage the shared semantics.

The Frameworks of English: Introducing Language Structures (review)

Reviewed by: The frameworks of English: Introducing language structures by Kim Ballard Alan S. Kaye The frameworks of English: Introducing language structures. By Kim Ballard. Houndmills: Palgrave, 2001. Pp. xiii, 301. £16.50. This is yet another introductory textbook for English grammar and/or linguistics in an apparently insatiable market. My university titles the basic course in this subject (as do many others) ‘The structure of modern English’. I presently teach it using Laurel J. Brinton, The structure of modern English (Amsterdam: John Benjamins, 2000), which I reviewed for Language 78.603–4 (2002). Ballard’s organizational strategy is different from that of much of the competition in that she chooses to begin with morphology and end with phonology, including an entire chapter on suprasegmentals (236–52). Much of the subject matter in this final chapter would have to be watered down in the class I teach since it is much too advanced for the clientele (e.g. intonation and tone groups). Sandwiched in between are three chapters on syntax and one on discourse analysis, including register (181–83), yet there is no mention, for example, of the notion of diglossia (see Alan S. Kaye, ‘Is English diglossic?’, English Today 7.4.8–14, 1991). The introduction (3–10) instantly captures the student’s interest in the field by mentioning the 1967 science fiction film Fantastic Voyage (3). That film demonstrated the workings of the human body much as this volume is intended to facilitate the exploration of the workings of English. To a large extent, the author succeeds, yet I must note that it is written with a British audience in mind. Let me take up a few matters in the three chapters on morphology (13–84). The author states that a basic difference between common and proper nouns is that the definite article does not ‘really work on’ (23) the latter; yet there are contexts in which ‘the Jane’ or ‘the London’ occur. She further considers exceptions such as ‘The Thames’ or ‘The Hague’ (23). There is even a good example of a proper name which is now in the process of losing its article, viz. ‘The Sudan’, cited as such in Webster’s new world dictionary of the American language (Cleveland: World Pub. Co., 1960, p. 1456), but cited without ‘the’ in The American heritage college dictionary (Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1993, p. 1356). In a discussion of word-formation strategies, B states that a blend such as smog is sometimes termed a portmanteau word (61). Although the American heritage college dictionary agrees (1993:1066), most linguists use the aforementioned term to cover examples such as French au ‘to the’ for *à le. Turning to [End Page 214] loanwords, feng-shui is said to come from Japanese (62); rather, it comes from Chinese (‘wind’ + ‘water’). Taking up the interesting notions of hypernyms and hyponyms, there is a chart dividing up the notion of ‘alcohol’, in which ‘wine’, ‘sherry’, and ‘port’ are allegedly derivatives thereof (66). ‘Wine’, in turn, has the following hyponyms: ‘chardonnay’, ‘pinot noir’, etc. In my usage, ‘sherry’ and ‘port’ are types of wine (so, too, The American heritage college dictionary 1993:1065, 1256). Finally, *rancid wine is said not to collocate, like rancid butter (67), whereas both of these seem perfectly acceptable to me. The syntax chapters (85–169) use a simplified version of classical transformational grammar, as best represented in Noam Chomsky’s Aspects of the theory of syntax (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1965). In this regard it coincidentally follows the pedagogical style of Brinton 2000, although it is much less technical than that work (e.g. ‘active and passive clauses’, 120–21, in which there is mention of a transformation but without any tree diagrams). For purposes of teaching today’s undergraduate, this decision is not altogether unreasonable. Ch. 9, ‘Phonetics and phonemes’ (187–213), and Ch. 10, ‘Segmental phonology’ (214–35), offer traditional presentations of the expected topics of allophones (190), consonants (193–200), and vowels (200–12), featuring received pronunciation (RP), which she says early on is spoken by approximately 10% of the British population (9). Although it is traditional to conclude tomes such as this with a glossary (256–91...