Minimalist Syntax Revisited Andrew Radford: Chomsky's Universal Grammar (review) Pages 11-26
The book has two primary goals.
1.The first is to introduce recent work in syntactic theory (specifically, how the syntactic component operates within the model of grammar anticipated in recent work within Chomsky's Minimalist Program).
2.The second goal is to describe a variety of phenomena in English syntax, using as few concepts and assumptions as feasible while avoiding unnecessary technical complexity.
Cognitive Approach
Chomsky's study of grammar goes beyond traditional taxonomic divisions, using a cognitive approach. His research focuses on determining what natural information native speakers have about their language, with the goal of understanding how it is represented in the mind/brain. This method efficiently connects language study and the study of a specific element of cognition - human knowledge.
Tacit Understanding and Grammatical Competence
Native speakers grasp their language's grammar intuitively, effortlessly combining words and deciphering expressions. This knowledge, on the other hand, is tacit, living in the subconscious and eluding conscious awareness. This tacit understanding, referred to as "grammatical competence," involves the ability to produce and interpret language elements.
Competence vs. Performance
Chomsky distinguishes between competence (a speaker-hearer's innate language understanding) and performance (actual language use). Slips of the tongue or misinterpretations in performance do not undermine one's linguistic skills. Grammar is primarily concerned with competence, whereas performance evaluation is more closely related to Psycholinguistics.
The Role of Grammar in I-Language Characterization
Chomsky's research focuses on describing native speakers' internalized linguistic system (I-language). This method shapes the goal of developing grammars for specific languages such as English in order to expose the mental state of linguistic knowledge.
The Universal Grammar (UG) Project
Chomsky's ultimate goal is to construct a Universal Grammar (UG) theory that applies to all conceivable human languages, not just particular I-languages. The purpose of UG is to achieve universality and explanatory adequacy by focusing on the defining properties of human language grammars.
UG Constraints and Theoretical Simplicity
The search for UG has limits that hinder the development of unduly powerful theories, as well as a focus solely on real human languages. The theory should only describe natural languages, not artificial or animal communication systems. Furthermore, the theory's simplicity helps learning - simpler grammars aid in the acquisition of youngsters.
Interaction with Thought and Speech Processing Systems
Chomsky's approach sheds light on how grammatical components interact with cognitive and speech systems. These systems are given representations that include just relevant components that correspond to mind or voice processes, resulting in a seamless interface.
Chomsky's pursuit of Universal Grammar reflects a paradigm shift in linguistic research, seeking to understand the fundamental nature of human language across many languages while emphasizing simplicity, universality, and compatibility with the human cognitive system.
The Language Faculty by Chomsky
Chomsky delves into the complicated area of language acquisition, revealing how children learn their native language. He meticulously analyzes the developmental trajectory, highlighting an intriguing phenomenon in which youngsters show a substantial increase in grammatical development around the age of 18 months, followed by a large linguistic growth spurt the following year.
Explanation of the Phenomenon
Any language acquisition theory must explain this continuous and rapid increase in language development. According to Chomsky, the brain has an innate Faculty of Language (FL), a biological endowment or language learning program that controls children's grammatical development. This FL includes Universal Grammar (UG) ideas, allowing youngsters to construct language based on their linguistic experiences.
The Innateness Hypothesis
Chomsky believes that language acquisition is a unique human talent and supports the innateness hypothesis. He emphasizes the distinction between language learning and general intelligence, pointing to genetic consequences for grammatical formation.
Linguistic Consistency and Genetic Guidance
The closeness of grammatical patterns among different language learners, as well as the speed with which they are acquired, lend support to the concept of genetic guidance in language formation. Chomsky maintains that due to natural predispositions, newborns can gain grammatical competence while frequently receiving erroneous verbal input from adults.
Subconscious, Involuntary Acquisition
He draws parallels between language acquisition and basic physical actions like walking, emphasizing the subconscious and spontaneous nature of language acquisition. Language develops organically in children without intentional teaching, just as limbs develop naturally without instruction.
Empirical Support and Critical Periods
Empirical evidence demonstrating a critical period for syntax acquisition strengthens the innateness hypothesis even more. Cases like Genie's, who was denied speech input until adolescence, show how a lack of language exposure during vital periods can stymie syntactic development.
From a Biolinguistic Perspective
Chomsky's goal is to discover the fundamental principles underlying human language, with FL functioning as a major organ in describing the essence of language and mind. He understands the relationship between genetic propensity, external linguistic experience, and other elements impacting language development.
Chomsky's research illuminates the complicated process of language acquisition, attributing it to a biological endowment that guides newborns through a journey of linguistic development and shedding light on the profound nature of human language and cognition.
Principles of Universal Grammar
Chomsky analyzes the nature of the language faculty, considering how children could theoretically acquire any natural language as their native tongue. This ability, he believes, stems from the language faculty's Universal Grammar (UG) concept, which permits newborns to produce language based on their linguistic experiences.
Many elements of linguistic ability that are inherent in genetic information, according to the notion, do not require learning because they are part of the child's core heredity. As a result of these fundamental qualities, universal components of language arise, framing the quest for UG principles that characterize language itself.
Chomsky discovers proof of UG principles through comprehensive examination of grammatical structures in particular languages, such as the creation of English questions. Examining echo and non-echo problems reveals movement operation restrictions, leading to the discovery of a Locality Principle. According to this hypothesis, grammatical processes such as auxiliary inversion and wh-movement assume the nearest relevant element, a concept assumed to be universal across languages.
The claim that UG principles dictate grammatical operations lessens the learning burden on children by removing the need for them to master specific grammar rules. Chomsky's UG theory, which attributes native language grammar acquisition to universally underlying grammatical rules wired into the language faculty, presents a compelling account.
By proposing that these fundamental principles streamline the learning process, the UG theory fits with the learnability criterion, providing a framework that maximizes the ease of learning natural language grammars.
Parameters
The content provided delves extensively into the complexity of language learning, with a focus on the concept of parameters within the Principles-and-Parameters Theory. This viewpoint holds that the language faculty is made up of universal norms and criteria that guide the acquisition of grammar in a language. It claims that while universal principles exist, language-specific aspects determined by parameters demand learning during language acquisition.
The concept of parameters is shown with examples of linguistic differences between languages. These distinctions include the use of null subjects, word order, and the positioning of heads and complements inside phrases. The distinction between null subjects in Italian and English, or between head-first (English) and head-last (Korean) languages, for example, provide evidence of parametric variations.
Language acquisition, according to the text, is primarily concerned with the establishment of these qualities. Children learn the proper settings for these parameters based on the verbal information they receive. According to the concept, children are very skilled at quickly and precisely altering these parameters, relying primarily on positive evidence (observing patterns that emerge in their language environment) rather than negative evidence or corrections.
The Principles-and-Parameters
Theory proposes a simple model of how children learn to speak. It asserts that grammatical elements inherent in universal principles do not require active learning, whereas language-specific properties are learned by the relatively simple effort of setting parameters based on observed linguistic patterns.
The text also explores the limitations and importance of negative evidence in language acquisition, as well as potential difficulties in this learning process. Because of the binary nature of parameters and the premise that each parameter supports only one value, it indicates that negative evidence is unnecessary. Positive evidence from observed linguistic structures, on the other hand, is thought to be sufficient for parameterization.
Overall, the text provides a comprehensive description of the Principles-and-Parameters Theory, emphasizing the role of parameters in language acquisition and advocating for a primarily positive evidence-based approach to parameter-setting in children's linguistic development.
Language Acquisition Parameters, Principles, and Innate Knowledge
The summary part advances linguistic theories until it reaches Chomsky's core findings regarding language structure and acquisition. It contrasts classical grammar's classification-based approach with Chomsky's cognitive perspective, emphasizing internalized grammatical information within a speaker's mind as the I-language model.
Chomsky's Universal Grammar (UG) search, which tries to define the key properties shared by all natural languages, is crucial. The goal is to create a universal, explanatory, and least difficult theory that encompasses descriptive grammars and facilitates learnability.
The chapter delves into language acquisition, tackling the riddle of rapid grammar acquisition after a relatively peaceful time in a child's linguistic development. Chomsky's innateness hypothesis suggests that language acquisition is guided by a genetically determined linguistic faculty.
Within this framework, the essay analyzes how the language faculty applies global grammatical principles and restrictions, as demonstrated by English syntax and the Locality Principle. It then examines parameter variation among languages, focusing on three binary components that shape grammatical differences: the wh-parameter, the null subject parameter, and the head position parameter.
The discussion emphasizes, significantly, that parameter-setting is a primary component of children's syntactic learning, with appropriate parameter values selected based on positive information from their linguistic experiences. Notably, data reveals that children in their local language may describe parameters such as the Head Position Parameter right from the commencement of multiword speech.
Overall, the chapter describes how universal grammatical principles, parameter variation, and the intrinsic language faculty interact during the language acquisition process. It highlights the significance of positive evidence in shaping children's language comprehension and parameter-setting, as well as providing insight into the arduous yet fascinating path of grammar acquisition.
