Language Universals

Language Universals PDF Author: Morten H. Christiansen
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0190294116
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 312

Book Description
Languages differ from one another in bewildering and seemingly arbitrary ways. For example, in English, the verb precedes the direct object ('understand the proof'), but in Japanese, the direct object comes first. In some languages, such as Mohawk, it is not even possible to establish a basic word order. Nonetheless, languages do share certain regularities in how they are structured and used. The exact nature and extent of these "language universals" has been the focus of much research and is one of the central explanatory goals in the language sciences. During the past 50 years, there has been tremendous progress, a few major conceptual revolutions, and even the emergence of entirely new fields. The wealth of findings and theories offered by the various language-science disciplines has made it more important than ever to work toward an integrated understanding of the nature of human language universals. This book is the first to examine language universals from a cross-disciplinary perspective. It provides new insights into long standing questions such as: What exactly defines the human capacity for language? Are there universal properties of human languages and, if so, what are they? Can all language universals be explained in the same way, or do some universals require different kinds of explanations from others? Language Universals is unique in starting with the assumption that the best way to approach these and related questions is through a dialogue between a wide range of disciplines, including linguistics, cognitive neuroscience, philosophy, computer science and biology.

Language Universals and Second Language Acquisition

Language Universals and Second Language Acquisition PDF Author: William E. Rutherford
Publisher: John Benjamins Publishing
ISBN: 9027228698
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 278

Book Description
This volume consists of papers presented at the Conference on Language Universals and Second Language Acquisition, University of Southern California, February 1982. Published with the papers are the remarks of the originally assigned discussants. The collection represents an important cross-fertilization between research in grammatical theory and in second language acquisition. Topics dealt with in a number of the papers include word order, markedness, core grammar, accessability hierarchies, and simplified registers. The range of universals discussed embraces phonology, syntax, semantics, and discourse. Universals are also considered with reference to ontology, psychological reality, and evaluation metrics.

Language Universals Research

Language Universals Research PDF Author: Hansjakob Seiler
Publisher: Gunter Narr Verlag
ISBN: 9783823347804
Category : Linguistic universals
Languages : en
Pages : 220

Book Description


On Language

On Language PDF Author: Joseph Harold Greenberg
Publisher: Stanford University Press
ISBN: 9780804716130
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 782

Book Description
This is a collection of 37 of the most important, enduring, and influential essays by one of the great linguists of this century, gathered from a wide range of journals and books spanning four decades.

Switch Reference and Universal Grammar

Switch Reference and Universal Grammar PDF Author: John Haiman
Publisher: John Benjamins Publishing
ISBN: 9027280266
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 358

Book Description
Canonical switch-reference is an inflectional category of the verb, which indicates whether or not its subject is identical with the subject of some other verb. Switch-reference may be analyzed from a structural or a functional point of view. Functionally, switch-reference is a device for referential tracking. Formally, switch-reference is almost always a verbal category, similar to the familiar category of verbal concord. In most languages switch-reference marking is indicated by a verbal affix, however in some languages it may be marked by an independent morpheme. The contributions to this volume are concerned with questions of form, function, and genesis of canonical switch-reference systems.

Language Universals and Linguistic Typology

Language Universals and Linguistic Typology PDF Author: Bernard Comrie
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 9780226114330
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 286

Book Description
Here, Comrie (linguistics, U. of Southern Cal.) is particularly concerned with syntactico-semantic universals, devoting chapters to word order, case marking, relative clauses, and causative constructions. This second edition takes full account of new research into generative grammatical theory. Acidic paper. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

Approaches to Language Typology

Approaches to Language Typology PDF Author: Masayoshi Shibatani
Publisher: Clarendon Press
ISBN: 9780198238669
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 398

Book Description
Language typology is concerned with the construction of theoretical frameworks capable of delimiting the range of human languages and of capturing constraints on cross-linguistic variation. This text offers accounts of the theoretical foundations and findings of leading scholars in this field.

Language Typology and Language Universals

Language Typology and Language Universals PDF Author: Martin Haspelmath
Publisher: Walter de Gruyter
ISBN: 3110114232
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 873

Book Description
This series of HANDBOOKS OF LINGUISTICS AND COMMUNICATION SCIENCE is designed to illuminate a field which not only includes general linguistics and the study of linguistics as applied to specific languages, but also covers those more recent areas which have developed from the increasing body of research into the manifold forms of communicative action and interaction. For "classic" linguistics there appears to be a need for a review of the state of the art which will provide a reference base for the rapid advances in research undertaken from a variety of theoretical standpoints, while in the more recent branches of communication science the handbooks will give researchers both an verview and orientation. To attain these objectives, the series will aim for a standard comparable to that of the leading handbooks in other disciplines, and to this end will strive for comprehensiveness, theoretical explicitness, reliable documentation of data and findings, and up-to-date methodology. The editors, both of the series and of the individual volumes, and the individual contributors, are committed to this aim. The languages of publication are English, German, and French. The main aim of the series is to provide an appropriate account of the state of the art in the various areas of linguistics and communication science covered by each of the various handbooks; however no inflexible pre-set limits will be imposed on the scope of each volume. The series is open-ended, and can thus take account of further developments in the field. This conception, coupled with the necessity of allowing adequate time for each volume to be prepared with the necessary care, means that there is no set time-table for the publication of the whole series. Each volume will be a self-contained work, complete in itself. The order in which the handbooks are published does not imply any rank ordering, but is determined by the way in which the series is organized; the editor of the whole series enlist a competent editor for each individual volume. Once the principal editor for a volume has been found, he or she then has a completely free hand in the choice of co-editors and contributors. The editors plan each volume independently of the others, being governed only by general formal principles. The series editor only intervene where questions of delineation between individual volumes are concerned. It is felt that this (modus operandi) is best suited to achieving the objectives of the series, namely to give a competent account of the present state of knowledge and of the perception of the problems in the area covered by each volume.

National Library of Medicine Current Catalog

National Library of Medicine Current Catalog PDF Author: National Library of Medicine (U.S.)
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Medicine
Languages : en
Pages : 1028

Book Description


Speech and Language

Speech and Language PDF Author: Norman J. Lass
Publisher: Academic Press
ISBN: 1483219917
Category : Health & Fitness
Languages : en
Pages : 326

Book Description
Speech and Language: Volume 3, Advances in Basic Research and Practice is a compendium of papers that discusses theories, clinical issues, and pathology of language and speech. Some papers discuss theories of phonological development, the encoding/decoding system of language, and the application of phonological universals in speech pathology. Other papers deal with the role of the speech-language clinician, a psychological framework for speech perception, and the formulation of a model for biomechanical analysis of velopharyngeal structure and function. Several papers analyze speech control mechanisms in skilled and non-skilled speakers, the rationale for the delayed auditory feedback (DAF) treatment program, and biofeedback in relation to speech pathology. One paper cites a study of Williams (1974) that shows strategies used in learning a new phonetic system depend upon whether the speaker is still within the critical period for language learning or already well beyond it. The paper notes that if adults can ignore their previously learned sound system and be childlike again in their freedom to experiment and be sensitivity to their own results, then they can achieve supra-segmental and segmental nuances of a new language. The compendium can prove helpful for linguists, ethnologists, psychologists, speech therapists, researchers in linguistics or communications, and general readers interested in speech or learning issues.