Showing papers on "Universal grammar published in 2015"

Towards a Universal Grammar for Natural Language Processing

Abstract: Universal Dependencies is a recent initiative to develop cross-linguistically consistent treebank annotation for many languages, with the goal of facilitating multilingual parser development, cross-lingual learning, and parsing research from a language typology perspective. In this paper, I outline the motivation behind the initiative and explain how the basic design principles follow from these requirements. I then discuss the different components of the annotation standard, including principles for word segmentation, morphological annotation, and syntactic annotation. I conclude with some thoughts on the challenges that lie ahead.

What exactly is Universal Grammar, and has anyone seen it?

Abstract: Universal Grammar (UG) is a suspect concept. There is little agreement on what exactly is in it; and the empirical evidence for it is very weak. This paper critically examines a variety of arguments that have been put forward as evidence for UG, focussing on the three most powerful ones: universality (all human languages share a number of properties), convergence (all language learners converge on the same grammar in spite of the fact that they are exposed to different input), and poverty of the stimulus (children know things about language which they could not have learned from the input available to them). I argue that these arguments are based on premises which are either false or unsubstantiated. Languages differ from each other in profound ways, and there are very few true universals, so the fundamental crosslinguistic fact that needs explaining is diversity, not universality. A number of recent studies have demonstrated the existence of considerable differences in adult native speakers’ knowledge of the grammar of their language, including aspects of inflectional morphology, passives, quantifiers, and a variety of more complex constructions, so learners do not in fact converge on the same grammar. Finally, the poverty of the stimulus argument presupposes that children acquire linguistic representations of the kind postulated by generative grammarians; constructionist grammars such as those proposed by Tomasello, Goldberg and others can be learned from the input. We are the only species that has language, so there must be something unique about humans that makes language learning possible. The extent of crosslinguistic diversity and the considerable individual differences in the rate, style and outcome of acquisition suggest that it is more promising to think in terms of a language-making capacity, i.e. a set of domain-general abilities, rather than an innate body of knowledge about the structural properties of the target system.

How Nature Meets Nurture: Universal Grammar and Statistical Learning

Abstract: Evidenceofchildren’s sensitivity to statistical features of their input in language acquisition is often used to argue against learning mechanisms driven by innate knowledge. At the same time, evidence of children acquiring knowledge that is richer than the input supports arguments in favor of such mechanisms. This tension can be resolved by separating the inferential and deductive components of the language learning mechanism. Universal Grammar provides representations that support deductions about sentences that fall outside of experience. In addition, these representations define the evidence that learnersusetoinferaparticulargrammar.Theinputiscomparedwith

What does current generative theory have to say about the explicit-implicit debate?

Abstract: Taking a generative perspective, we divide aspects of language into three broad categories: those that cannot be learned (are inherent in Universal Grammar), those that are derived from Universal Grammar, and those that must be learned from the input. Using this framework of language to clarify the “what” of learning, we take the acquisition of null (and overt) subjects in languages like Spanish as an example of how to apply the framework. We demonstrate what properties of a null-subject grammar cannot be learned explicitly, which properties can, but also argue that it is an open empirical question as to whether these latter properties are learned using explicit processes, showing how linguistic and psychological approaches may intersect to better understand acquisition.

The arch not the stones: Universal feature theory without universal features

Abstract: There is a growing consensus that phonological features are not innate, but rather emerge in the course of acquisition. If features are emergent, we need to explain why they are required at all, and what principles account for the way they function in the phonology. I propose that the learners’ task is to arrive at a set of features that account for the con­trasts and the phonological activity in their language. For the content of the features, learners use the available materials relevant to the modality (spoken or signed). Formally, contrasts are governed by an ordered feature hierarchy. The concept of a contrastive hierarchy is an innate part of Universal Grammar, and is the glue that binds phono­logical representations and makes them appear similar across languages. Examples from the Classical Manchu vowel system show the connection between contrast and phonological activity. I then consider the implications of this approach for the acquisition of phonological representations. The relationship between formal contrastive hierarchies and phonetic substance is illustrated with examples drawn from tone systems in Chinese dialects. Finally, I propose that the contrastive hierarchy has a recursive digital character, like other aspects of the narrow faculty of language.

Reductio ad discrimen: Where features come from

Abstract: This paper addresses two fundamental questions about the nature of formal features in phonology and morphosyntax: what is their expressive power, and where do they come from? To answer these questions, we begin with the most restrictive possible hypothesis (all features are privative, and are wholly dictated by Universal Grammar, with no room for cross-linguistic variation), and examine the extent to which empirical evidence from a variety of languages compels a retreat from this position. We argue that there is little to be gained by positing a universal set of specific features, and propose instead that the crucial contribution of UG is the language learner's ability to construct features by identifying correlations between contrasts at different levels of linguistic structure. This view resonates with current research on how the interaction between UG and external 'third factors' shapes the structure of language, while at the same time harking back to the Saussurean notion that contrast is the central function of linguistic representations.

Embedded "wh"-Questions in L2 English in India: Inversion as a Main Clause Phenomenon.

Abstract: This corpus study brings a second language (L2) research perspective, insights from generative grammar, and new empirical evidence to bear on a long-accepted claim in the World Englishes literature—namely, that inversion with wh-movement in colloquial Indian English is obligatory in embedded clauses and impossible in main clauses. It is argued that this register of Indian English is a L2 variety, functioning as part of a multilingual code repertoire, but that syntactic universals apply to first and second languages alike. Despite recent attempts at formalization, this distribution should be unattested, as such a grammar would fall outside the constraints of Universal Grammar and would contradict proposed discourse-pragmatic principles of natural language. A Perl program was created to search the Indian subcorpus of the International Corpus of English (Greenbaum, 1996) for relevant distributional patterns. Results reveal that wh-inversion in Indian English operates in the same way as in other varieties: It is robustly attested in main clauses and appears only occasionally in embedded clauses where syntactic and pragmatic conditions allow; it is obligatory only with interrogative complementizer deletion. Thus, contrary to the standard account but commensurate with recent corpus studies, users of English in India exhibit knowledge of universal constraints in this domain.

L2 Grammar and L2 Processing in the Acquisition of Spanish Prepositional Relative Clauses

Abstract: This paper investigates the acquisition of prepositional relative clauses in L2 Spanish by English and Arabic speakers to understand the role of previous linguistic knowledge and Universal Grammar on the one hand, and the relationship between grammatical knowledge and its use in real-time, on the other. An oral production task and an on-line self-paced grammaticality judgment task were analyzed. Results indicated that the acquisition of oblique relative clauses is a problematic area for L2 learners. Divergent results compared to native speakers in production and grammatical intuitions were found; however, L2 reading time data showed the same real-time effects that native speakers had, suggesting that the problems with this construction are not necessarily linked to processing deficits. These results are interpreted as evidence for the ability to apply universal processing principles in a second language, and the relative independence of the processing domain and the production system.

Individual biases, cultural evolution, and the statistical nature of language universals: the case of colour naming systems.

Abstract: Language universals have long been attributed to an innate Universal Grammar. An alternative explanation states that linguistic universals emerged independently in every language in response to shared cognitive or perceptual biases. A computational model has recently shown how this could be the case, focusing on the paradigmatic example of the universal properties of colour naming patterns, and producing results in quantitative agreement with the experimental data. Here we investigate the role of an individual perceptual bias in the framework of the model. We study how, and to what extent, the structure of the bias influences the corresponding linguistic universal patterns. We show that the cultural history of a group of speakers introduces population-specific constraints that act against the pressure for uniformity arising from the individual bias, and we clarify the interplay between these two forces.

Phonology without universal grammar

Abstract: The question of identifying the properties of language that are specific human linguistic abilities, i.e., Universal Grammar, lies at the center of linguistic research. This paper argues for a largely Emergent Grammar in phonology, taking as the starting point that memory, categorization, attention to frequency, and the creation of symbolic systems are all nonlinguistic characteristics of the human mind. The articulation patterns of American English rhotics illustrate categorization and systems; the distribution of vowels in Bantu vowel harmony uses frequencies of particular sequences to argue against Universal Grammar and in favor of Emergent Grammar; prefix allomorphy in Esimbi illustrates the Emergent symbolic system integrating phonological and morphological generalizations. The Esimbi case has been treated as an example of phonological opacity in a Universal Grammar account; the Emergent analysis resolves the pattern without opacity concerns.

Third language acquisition and universal grammar

Abstract: Third Language Acquisition and Universal Grammar, edited by Yan-kit Ingrid Leung, offers timely research dealing with third language (L3) acquisition in the theoretical framework of universal gramm...

Suppletion: Some Theoretical Implications

Abstract: Suppletion (wholly unpredictable alternations such as good∼better or go∼went) stands as the epitome of morphological irregularity. In the formal theoretical tradition, with a few exceptions, suppletion has long languished in obscurity, widely considered unlikely to be informative of deeper properties of grammar. This article reviews recent studies that find, as it were, order in chaos—robust patterns of regularity that emerge as significant, arguably universal generalizations in large, cross-linguistic samples. These patterns are indicative of the nature of abstract grammatical representation and, in particular, of constraints that regulate the interaction among the atomic elements that build these representations. Far from sitting in an obscure corner of the grammar and representing nothing more than the detritus of history, suppletive alternations may yet shed light on the nature of the mental representations that constitute grammars, thus providing indirect evidence for aspects of Universal Grammar in ...

Can phonological universals be emergent?: Modeling the space of sound change, lexical distribution, and hypothesis selection

Abstract: This article is an analysis of the claim that a universal ban on certain (‘anti-markedness’) grammars is necessary in order to explain their nonoccurrence in the languages of the world Such a claim is based on the following assumptions: that phonological typology shows a highly asymmetric distribution, and that such a distribution cannot possibly arise ‘naturally’—that is, without a universal grammar-based restriction of the learner's hypothesis space Attempting to test this claim reveals a number of open issues in linguistic theory In the first place, there exist critical aspects of synchronic theory that are not specified explicitly enough to implement computationally Second, there remain many aspects of linguistic competence, language acquisition, sound change, and even typology that are still unknown It is not currently possible, therefore, to reach a definitive conclusion about the necessity, or lack thereof, of an innate substantive grammar module This article thus serves two main functions: acting both as a pointer to the areas of phonological theory that require further development, especially at the overlap between traditionally separate subdomains, and as a template for the type of argumentation required to defend or attack claims about phonological universals

A cognitively plausible model for grammar induction

Abstract: This paper aims to bring theoretical linguistics and cognition-general theories of learning into closer contact. I argue that linguists' notions of rich UGs are well-founded, but that cognition-general learning approaches are viable as well and that the two can and should co-exist and support each other. Specifically, I use the observation that any theory of UG provides a learning criterion -- the total memory space used to store a grammar and its encoding of the input -- that supports learning according to the principle of Minimum Description-Length. This mapping from UGs to learners maintains a minimal ontological commitment: the learner for a particular UG uses only what is already required to account for linguistic competence in adults. I suggest that such learners should be our null hypothesis regarding the child's learning mechanism, and that furthermore, the mapping from theories of UG to learners provides a framework for comparing theories of UG.

The Usage-based Theory of Language Acquisition: A review of Major Issues

Abstract: The present study is a review of the usage based theory of language acquisition introduced by Tomasello (2003). Based on this theory structure emerges from use. Among semantic, syntax, and pragmatics, the usage based theory emphasizes the primary role of pragmatics in human communication. At the first sight it may looks contrary to the nativism. However, it can be said that this theory also believes in some universality of linguistic structures similar to the concept of universal grammar in nativism but, in a different way.

Phonological Transfer and Universal Grammar: Evidence from Arabic

Abstract: As language teachers and educators, we are always confronted with our students speaking English which sounds ArabicEnglish and not English-English. We always ask ourselves what the reason is, and sometimes even blame ourselves for that, or our students for not studying well to speak well. The very idea of “Arabic-English” implies that there is a role played by Arabic in that speaking. The role played by first languages (L1) linguistic components, be they phonological, morphological, syntactic, etc. in second language acquisition (SLA) is much advocated in the literature. This role has often been referred to as L1 „transfer‟ or otherwise interference. L1 transfer has been seen as an indispensable learning strategy made use of by second language (L2) learners at all linguistic modules of the grammar (Shormani, 2012a). L2 learners, irrespective of L1, or L2 being learned, use this strategy to resort to their L1 as a knowledge-base in L2 acquisition process (Gass &Slinker, 2008; Shormani, 2012a, 2014b). However, L1 transfer is not the only factor affecting L2 acquisition. There is almost the same portion attributed to Universal Grammar (UG) properties. Though there are ample studies concerning L1 phonological influence cross-linguistically, studies providing systematic and in-depth analyses of the Arabic phonology influence on L2 acquisition are rare, and rarer, if any at all, are the studies concerning the relation between transfer and UG, and the role they both play in acquiring English by Arabic-speaking learners. Thus, this paper aims at providing empirical evidence in support of the availability of transfer and UG in L2 acquisition, specifically, concerning acquiring phonology. 20 students majoring in English were selected randomly from two classes, namely, first and third, i.e. the same students in two different years/levels. Four phonological categories were examined, namely, consonants, vowels, stress and consonant clustering. The results indicate that both UG and transfer contribute almost equally in L2 phonology acquisition, thus, supporting the Full Transfer-Full Access hypothesis (=FTFA), first proposed by Schwartz & Sprouse (1994).

Who is What and What is Who: the Morphosyntax of Arabic WH

Abstract: Who is What and What is Who: the Morphosyntax of Arabic WH is a comprehensive book that deals with one of the most controversial phenomena in syntax, Parametric Variation. In particular, the book offers an in-depth, micro-parametric analysis of all the strategies used in wh-question formation and the variation in these observed in modern Arabic dialects. Unlike traditional analyses of this element of Arabic linguistics, the approach developed here is based on the morphology-syntax interface, as well as the syntax-phonology interface in addressing parametric variation. The findings of the study detailed in this book are also placed in perspective through an examination of the possibilities that Universal Grammar offers languages in terms of building wh-dependencies, including topicalisation, relativization and variable binding. Overall, the book provides a solid foundation in various aspects of the contemporary syntax of modern Arabic dialects.

Generativism and Emergentism: Evidence From Second Language Acquisition Studies of Poverty of the Stimulus Phenomena

Abstract: Generativism and Emergentism: Evidence from Second Language Acquisition Studies of Poverty of the Stimulus Phenomena

A Minimalist Approach to Collocation Acquisition: Integrating Syntax and Semantics

Abstract: How language, be it first (L1) or second (L2), is acquired has been the concern of much research and investigation, and perhaps no other phenomenon has witnessed such interest (Shormani, 2014b). One such area within language acquisition is collocability and how it presents a difficult aspect to L2 acquirers. This is so due to the fact that collocability involves formulaic language the mastering of which has been considered specific to native speakers of the language being learned. Thus, in this article, I propose a minimalist approach based on integrating syntax and semantics. The former concerns combining (collocating) two lexical items by means of Select and Merge operations, and the latter concerns what goes with what in a collocation based on feature specifications encoded on each lexis (i.e. word). My proposal is based on substantial evidence proving the availability of syntax and semantics in collocability, hence, abstracting from usage-based approaches. Thus, each collocation produced by Select and Merge (syntax) has to "pass" the semantic constraints manifested in the Collocating Feature Specification Rule (=CFSR). However, if this produced collocation fails to "pass" CFSR, it has to undergo acquisition once more in which parameters are reset and retri ggered through acquisition reorientation. The proposal places much emphasis on mental properties of Universal Grammar (UG), and the same is true concerning L2 acquisition settings in relation to providing L2 acquirers with "equal" linguistic input native s peakers have. The minimalist approach developed in this article stems from the fact that minimalism is seen as a theory, primarily concerned with language acquisition in its two spheres (i.e. L1 and L2). As far as L1 acquisition is concerned, minimalism sees it as acquiring only feature specifications manifested in parameters. L2 acquisition, however, is seen by minimalism, as merely acquiring features, peculiar to L2 being learned, which are different from and/or similar to those of the acquirer's L1, wher e the learner's only task is to reset and retrigger the UG parameters specific to L2, simply because UG principles are universal. Hence, our major task as linguists, language educators and teachers alike is how to make use of and benefit from the minimalist assumptions and hypotheses concerned with language acquisition in general, and those concerned with collocability in particular.

Key Issues in Second Language Acquisition since the 1990s

Abstract: The research field of the second language acquisition has been increasingly widened in recent years, and emerged various kinds of new theories. This thesis summarizes foreign and domestic researches’ key issues in this field since the 1990s according to theoretical framework of the second language research, then sorts out relative achievements from respective points of sociocutural theory; input, interaction and output in SLA; learner differences; external elements of learners, tacit knowledge and explicit knowledge and universal grammar and interlanguage representations, and looks into the future development, so as to make domestic learners better understand the current researches of this field and increase the general level of our foreign language education and teaching.

An Analysis on the Role of Universal Grammar in Second Language Acquisition

Abstract: This study examines the Universal Grammar’s complicated role in second language learning. The paper firstly presents a brief description of the UG and a review of recent studies in SLA with UG approach. Then the paper discusses the relevance of Universal Grammar to SLA from five aspects: accessibility of UG, L1 and L2 acquisition differences, learning models, poverty-of-the-stimulus argument, and debates on principles and parameters in SLA. Finally, pedagogical implications are proposed.

Explanatory adequacy is not enough: Response to commentators on 'Child language acquisition: Why universal grammar doesn't help'

Abstract: In this response to commentators on our target article 'Child language acquisition:Why univer- sal grammar doesn't help', we argue that the fatal flaw in most UG-based approaches to acquisi- tion is their focus on describing the adult end-state in terms of a particular linguistic formalism.As a consequence, such accounts typically neglect to link acquisition to the language that the learner actually hears, instead assuming that she is able, by means usually unspecified, to perceive her input in terms of high-level theoretical abstractions.*

L2 Acquisition of Complement Clauses by Persian Learners of English

Abstract: This research concentrates on the acquisition of complement clauses within Universal Grammar framework which theoretically plays the strongest linguistic role in second language acquisition research in recent years. This study aims to investigate how Persian learners of English at three levels of proficiency acquire complement clauses. In fact, this study reports the results of the learners’ responses to GJT and specifically investigates the six linguistic variables associated with complement Clauses: using complement in finite/ non-finite clauses, small-clauses, exceptional-clauses, that-trace effect in clauses and subcategorization of two verbs (i. e. want and let). The responses were given by 50 Persian learners of English divided into three proficiency levels: Elementary, Intermediate and Advanced. The statistical analyses of the data revealed that, by increasing the participants’ level of proficiency their judgment of grammatical and ungrammatical items was improved whereas the differences between groups were also significant. The results can indicate that the development of their complement acquisition is generally systematic. In addition, by carrying out syntactic analyses of the sentences that the participants produced, we conclude that, as UG predicted, Persian learners do not use any wild grammar at any level of their L2 acquisition. The above findings are generally in harmony with the view that L2 learners somehow attain the unconscious knowledge that goes beyond what they receive as L2 input. Finally, our findings may have implications for language teaching by deepening our understanding of the nature of L2 acquisition.

On modification with whole/zheng in English and Chinese and the uniformity of syntax

Abstract: Through a comparative study of English whole and Chinese zheng, I argue that in English, when the part-related reading is obtained, whole actually modifies a silent functional projection, which can be identified with the classifier projection in Chinese. Such an analysis provides a clue to the puzzling behavior of English whole, which does not modify plural nouns under the part-related reading (e.g. *The whole apples are large). Theoretically, I argue for a unified analysis of whole/zheng that combines the semantic analysis in Moltmann (Parts and wholes in semantics, 1997; Synthese 116:75–111, 1998; Linguist Philos 28:599–641, 2005, which suggests that the part-related reading of whole is related to situated mass interpretation, and the syntactic proposals in Kayne (Movement and silence, 2005; Lingua 117:832–858, 2007; in: R. Freidin (ed.) Foundational issues in linguistic theory: essays in honor of Jean-Roger Vergnaud, 2008) and Borer (In name only. Structuring sense, 2005a), which argue for the uniform classifier projection at syntax in both classifier and non-classifier languages. The analysis not only sheds light on the cross-linguistic syntax of nominal expressions, but it also provides empirical support for the Uniformity Principle in Universal Grammar.

The Challenge of Polysynthesis: Wilhelm von Humboldt and Early Comparative Americanist Linguistics

Abstract: For Kurt Mueller-VollmerThe aim of this paper is to revisit the early history of the Americanist tradition in linguistic anthropology from the vantage point of Wilhelm von Humboldt’s studies of North American Indian languages. The paper challenges the received opinion that Humboldt, along with his North American fellow scholars, believed that American languages form a distinct ‘polysynthetic’ (or ‘incorporating’) typological class. In the first section, the genesis of the concept of polysynthesis is traced back to P. S. Duponceau’s work based on missionary linguistic records. The second section demonstrates how Humboldt’s position differed, due firstly to his interest in the individual structure of languages and secondly to his upholding of universal grammar.

The use of agent-based models in cognitive linguistics: an approach to chomsky’s linguistics through the clarion model

Abstract: In this paper we propose the use of Agent-Based Models (ABM) (Gilbert 2008) to study the development of historical natural languages starting from a universal grammar according to Chomsky’s "Theory of the principles and parameters" (Chomsky 1995) . The CLARION architecture, designed by Ron Sun (Sun 2002) integrates implicit and explicit knowledge, cognitive and meta-cognitive levels, with the motivational aspect, i.e. accepting the cardinal principles of the embodied mind (Clark 1997) and recognizing the basic role of direct men- environment interaction in cognitive mechanisms. Ron Sun develops these points in a theory of mind and in a thorough discussion of learning problems. The goal of an artificial neural network (ANN), based on a CLARION architecture, is to verify theoretical assumptions through simulation, bringing together the dichotomy between implicit (subsymbolic) and explicit (symbolic) knowledge through a learning mechanism realized by the extraction of explicit rules by subsymbolic knowledge, based on interaction with the world. In the real world, cognitive operations are mostly performed unconsciously. Moreover, learning is carried out through attempts, in dynamic circumstances. The methodology allows to observe the development of cognitive structures of individual agents through ABM and contribute to studying the emergence of unplanned and unexpected routines or mechanisms. The use of neural models as learning tools implies that the simulations are realistic, considering the relationship between intentional behaviour, learning, desires, individual structures and social structures. The simulation, thus, enables a study the mind from an evolutionary perspective (that of satisfying a particular need in a physical and sociocultural world), understanding how individual structures and social institutions and environment could change each other. Through ANN-based models one can build realistic 'intelligent agents', i.e. with a 'mind', minimizing the programming of rules of behaviour and letting the interaction with the environment produce efficient behaviour.

A Conversational and Compositional Grid for Freshman University Students

Abstract: The purpose of this paper is to put together a tool for Freshman University Students with an ESL level, which will assist them to avoid errors in syntax precision and sentence generation. Both these aspects are problematic for students with a SOV language as mother-tongue who then have to produce with a SVO challenge. When their own language is a post-positional language as opposed to English as a prepositional language, that situation may complicate matters for these students even more. The grid is designed in such a way to allow the student to start from the left and work his way to the right selecting one item from the list constructing a meaningful communication as he/she goes along. The overall intention is towards greater precision and correctness, raising the level of accuracy in syntax and other grammatical aspects. The grammar selected for this purpose is the traditional grammar chosen for its simplicity, stability, and continuity functional in millennia of grammar didactics. The role of transformational-generative grammars are not overlooked but none of the recent grammar approaches in sentence grammar, discourse grammar, HPSG (Head-Driven Phrase Structure Grammar), universal grammar or syntax grammar could serve the purpose of designing this tool except sequencers or DM (discourse markers) discussed by Heine (2013). The limitation to this study is that the Conversational Grid tool has not been tested yet and that task calls for another future article describing the results of experimentation utilizing this tool.

What is really wrong with universal grammar (Commentary on Behme)

Abstract: Ambridge, Pine, and Lieven (2014; AP&L) identify three problems with universal grammar (UG), namely: linking, data coverage, and redundancy, and argue for an alternative approach to child language acquisition. Behme (2014) aims to make a stronger case against UG. She attempts to show, by combining AP&L's arguments with evidence from developmental psychology and formal linguistics, that UG should be rejected. In this commentary, I argue that Behme's article does not present strong enough evidence to reject UG. Although Behme has pointed out some problems for UG theorists to consider, she fails to pinpoint where UG has really gone wrong. I then try to make clear what the fatal problem with UG is.