Showing papers on "Naturalness published in 1972"

Linguistic Theory: Syntax, Semantics, Pragmatics

Abstract: In one sense "linguistic theory" is whatever linguistic theorists choose to do. In the late 1940s, for example, they sought to characterize the relation­ ship between some corpus, whether fixed or potential, and an analytic state­ ment of structure. With the self-proclaimed revolution in the field during the past 15 or so years, linguistic theory in the dominant school has been defined as the construction of a universal theory of grammar in the sense of neces­ sary universals of linguistic "competence." This is from the point of view of what linguistic theorists are doing. Clearly all linguists at all times have as a general aim the elucidation of language in every respect; this is the ideal lin­ guistic theory. To a great extent, the issues of theory in syntax and semantics are the same as those in phonology and morphology. These include criteria of cate­ gory and rule types, rule applicability, naturalness of linguistic generaliza­ tions, diachrony versus synchrony. Inasmuch as the most intense recent con­ troversy has detailed areas of "syntax," broadly conceived, and "meaning," and because of severe space limitations on the current report, I limit my ex­ position to these concerns. In addition, this discussion of the more restricted area is based principally on the last two bibliographical years, with emphasis intended to be in proportion to the work reported. During this period linguis­ tic theory as defined by the transformational generative point of view contin­ ued to dominate the field as the most formalized, most developed, and most explicit framework.