Share

Change, Chance, and Optimality

2000-09-07 Language Arts & Disciplines
Download Change, Chance, and Optimality PDF Online Free

Author :
Release : 2000-09-07
Genre : Language Arts & Disciplines
Kind : eBook
Book Rating : 537/5 ( reviews)

GET EBOOK


Book Synopsis Change, Chance, and Optimality by : April McMahon

Download or read book Change, Chance, and Optimality written by April McMahon. This book was released on 2000-09-07. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book is about how languages change. It is also a devastating critique of a widespread linguistic orthodoxy. April McMahon argues that to provide a convincing explanation of linguistic change the roles of history and contingency must be accommodated in linguistic theory. She also shows that theoretical work in related disciplines can be used to assess the value of such theories. Optimality Theory, or OT as it is usually called, dominates contemporary phonology, especially in the USA, and is becoming increasingly influential in syntax and language acquisition. Having set out its basis principles, Professor McMahon assesses their explanatory power in analysing language change and its residues in current phonological systems. Using cross-linguistic data, and drawing comparisons with other theories inside and outside linguistics, she shows that OT is incapable of accounting for language change, without the addition of rules and an appreciation of chance and historical contingency that would then undermine its theoretical underpinnings. OT relies on innateness and needs to discuss the origins of allegedly genetically-specified features. The author considers the nature and evolution of the human language capacity, and demonstrates a profound mismatch between the predictions of evolutionary biology and the claims for innateness made in OT.

Change, Chance, and Optimality

2023 Grammar, comparative and general
Download Change, Chance, and Optimality PDF Online Free

Author :
Release : 2023
Genre : Grammar, comparative and general
Kind : eBook
Book Rating : 443/5 ( reviews)

GET EBOOK


Book Synopsis Change, Chance, and Optimality by : April M. S. McMahon

Download or read book Change, Chance, and Optimality written by April M. S. McMahon. This book was released on 2023. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Optimality Theory and Language Change

2012-12-06 Language Arts & Disciplines
Download Optimality Theory and Language Change PDF Online Free

Author :
Release : 2012-12-06
Genre : Language Arts & Disciplines
Kind : eBook
Book Rating : 952/5 ( reviews)

GET EBOOK


Book Synopsis Optimality Theory and Language Change by : D.E. Holt

Download or read book Optimality Theory and Language Change written by D.E. Holt. This book was released on 2012-12-06. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This work discusses many optimization and linguistic issues in great detail. It treats the history of a variety of languages, including English, French, Germanic, Galician/ Portuguese, Latin, Russian, and Spanish and shows that the application of Optimality Theory allows for innovative and improved analyses. It contains a complete bibliography on OT and language change. It is of interest to historical linguists, researchers into OT and linguistic theory, and phonologists and syntacticians with an interest in historical change.

The Cambridge Handbook of English Historical Linguistics

2016-05-03 Language Arts & Disciplines
Download The Cambridge Handbook of English Historical Linguistics PDF Online Free

Author :
Release : 2016-05-03
Genre : Language Arts & Disciplines
Kind : eBook
Book Rating : 914/5 ( reviews)

GET EBOOK


Book Synopsis The Cambridge Handbook of English Historical Linguistics by : Merja Kytö

Download or read book The Cambridge Handbook of English Historical Linguistics written by Merja Kytö. This book was released on 2016-05-03. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: English historical linguistics is a subfield of linguistics which has developed theories and methods for exploring the history of the English language. This Handbook provides an account of state-of-the-art research on this history. It offers an in-depth survey of materials, methods, and language-theoretical models used to study the long diachrony of English. The frameworks covered include corpus linguistics, historical sociolinguistics, historical pragmatics and manuscript studies, among others. The chapters, by leading experts, examine the interplay of language theory and empirical data throughout, critically assessing the work in the field. Of particular importance are the diverse data sources which have become increasingly available in electronic form, allowing the discipline to develop in new directions. The Handbook offers access to the rich and many-faceted spectrum of work in English historical linguistics, past and present, and will be useful for researchers and students interested in hands-on research on the history of English.

What Counts as Evidence in Linguistics

2007-06-06 Language Arts & Disciplines
Download What Counts as Evidence in Linguistics PDF Online Free

Author :
Release : 2007-06-06
Genre : Language Arts & Disciplines
Kind : eBook
Book Rating : 531/5 ( reviews)

GET EBOOK


Book Synopsis What Counts as Evidence in Linguistics by : Martina Penke

Download or read book What Counts as Evidence in Linguistics written by Martina Penke. This book was released on 2007-06-06. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: What counts as evidence in linguistics? This question is addressed by the contributions to the present volume (originally published as a Special Issue of Studies in Language 28:3 (2004). Focusing on the innateness debate, what is illustrated is how formal and functional approaches to linguistics have different perspectives on linguistic evidence. While special emphasis is paid to the status of typological evidence and universals for the construction of Universal Grammar (UG), this volume also highlights more general issues such as the roles of (non)-standard language and historical evidence. To address the overall topic, the following three guiding questions are raised: What type of evidence can be used for innateness claims (or UG)?; What is the content of such innate features (or UG)?; and, How can UG be used as a theory guiding empirical research? A combination of articles and peer commentaries yields a lively discussion between leading representatives of formal and functional approaches.

You may also like...