Lexicalism and the growth of syntax 3301-JF2618
The course presents arguments for and against a lexicalist approach to syntactic development in native and second/foreign language acquisition, drawing on the findings of Chomsky's Minimalist Program and Anat Ninio's research into language learning. Abstract syntactic rules are replaced with lexical-specific structural paradigms. This puts a new perspective on acquisition studies, encouraging both mentalist/nativist and sociocultural/pragmatic insights. The reasons for introducing Bare Phrase Structure (as opposed to the tradition-sanctioned Phrase Structure Rules) , the importance of merge and the basic assumptions of Chaos Theory are all related to empirical data on child language acquisition and the question is asked whether syntax can be learned like any other cognitive or motor skill. The assumption that the earliest word combinations are error-free syntactic mergers puts a new perspective on the relation between syntax and semantics, on the role of formulaic competence and language acquisition in general.
Type of course
A student will acquire advanced information about Lexicalism and the growth of syntax and will develop his/her analytical skills.
Anderson, Stephen R. and David W. Lightfoot 2002. The language organ. Linguistics as cognitive physiology. Cambridge: CUP.
Boeckx, Cedric 2006. Linguistic minimalism. Origins, concepts, methods and aims. Oxford: OUP.
Matthews, P.H. 2007. Syntactic relations. A critical survey. Cambridge: CUP.
Ninio, Anat 2006. Language and the learning curve. A new theory of syntactic development. Oxford: OUP.
Wray, Alison 2002. Formulaic language and the lexicon. Cambridge: CUP.
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