Primitive Elements Of Grammatical Theory: Papers By Jean-Rog

Description: This book is a compilation of manuscripts and publications from 2001-2010 by Jean-Roger Vergnaud, in collaboration with colleagues and students. This work is guided by the scientific belief that broader mathematical principles should guide linguistic inquiry, as they guide classical biology and physics. From this, Vergnaud's hypotheses take the representation of the computational component of language to a more abstract level: one that derives constituent structure. He treats linguistic features as primitives, and argues that a 2 x n matrix allows for multiple discrete dimensions to represent symmetries in linguistic features and to derive the fabric of syntax (and perhaps of phonology as well). Three primary research questions guide the core of these papers. (A) Methodologically, how can broadly defined mathematical/cognitive principles guide linguistic investigation? (B) To what extent do general mathematical principles apply across linguistic domains? What principles guide computation at different levels of linguistic structure (phonology, metrical structure, syntax)? (C) How is the computational domain defined? In these manuscripts, Vergnaud's goal is not to radically depart from the Minimalist Program within generative grammar, but rather to take the underlying goal of the generative program and bring it to an even more general scientific level. The themes of symmetry and periodicity in this book reflect his goal of scientific progress in linguistics, and he has opened the doors to new exploration of old empirical problems in linguistics that may, someday, have deeper biological and physical explanations through the theory presented in this publication.



Contents: 1. Introduction Katherine McKinney-Bock and Maria Luisa Zubizarreta 2. Exquisite connections: some remarks on the evolution of linguistic theory Robert Freidin and Jean-Roger Vergnaud 3. On a Certain Notion of "Occurrence:" The source of metrical structure and much more Jean-Roger Vergnaud 4. Generalizing the Notion of "Occurrence" Tommi Tsz-Cheung Leung 5. Some Explanatory Avatars of Conceptual Necessity: Elements of UG Jean-Roger Vergnaud 6. Grafts and Beyond: Graph Theoretic Syntax Katherine McKinney-Bock and Jean-Roger Vergnaud 7. On Merge-markers and Nominal Structures Wei-wen Roger Liao and Jean-Roger Vergnaud



Author Biography: Katherine McKinney-Bock recently completed her PhD in Department of Linguistics at the University of Southern California, USA and is joining Reed College for the academic year 2013-14 as a visiting assistant professor of linguistics. Maria Luisa Zubizarreta is Professor of Linguistics at the University of Southern California, USA.