Biolinguistics (E-Journal)
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Clarifying the Notion “Parameter”
No full textThis article aims to reflect on linguistic architecture by re-examining language variation. Three progressively deeper forms of variation are suggested, each of which arguably contributes to this exercise in rather different ways. The discussion that unfolds will then lead to a new twist on the question of whether MP and OT are compatible
Categorical Acquisition: Parameter-Setting in Universal Grammar
No full textTwo triggering models of parameter-setting, the Hierarchical Acquisition model endorsed by Baker (2001, 2005) and Wexler’s (1998) Very Early Parameter Setting model, are compared with Yang’s (2002, 2004) Variational model. The Variational model employs statistical learning mechanisms for parameter-setting. Parameter values compete, with delays occurring when the critical input is sparse. Given the uniformity assumption, children in the same linguistic community undergo a similar, gradual development. On the Hierarchical Acquisition model, children initially choose either parameter value, with potential delays arising from hierarchical ordering of parameters. Change is precipitous when initiated. To adjudicate between models, we conducted a longitudinal study of 4 children, ranging from 1;9 to 2;1 at the start of the study, who were in the throes of setting two interlocking parameters governing inflection and negation. Different developmental patterns were observed depending on initial parameter value, and parametric change was precipitous, as anticipated by triggering models
Of Minds and Language
No full textThis article reviews, and rethinks, a few leading themes of the biolinguistic program since its inception in the early 1950s, at each stage influenced by developments in the biological sciences. The following also discusses how the questions now entering the research agenda develop in a natural way from some of the earliest concerns of these inquiries
Computing Long-Distance Dependencies in Vowel Harmony
No full textThis article develops an explicit procedural model of vowel harmony, and takes steps toward finding a lower bound on the computational power of phonological rules. The focus on formalization and procedural computation allows for simplification in models of representation and the discovery of interesting interactions involving the conditions in rules. It is shown that locality principles are derivable, which motivates the elimination of iterative rule application advocated here. Along the way, a novel analysis of neutral vowels in harmony processes is also provided