Mythomania? Methods and morals from ‘The Myth of Language Universals’

Harbour, Daniel

doi:10.1016/j.lingua.2011.07.007

Lingua

2011

DOI: 10.1016/j.lingua.2011.07.007

|View full text |Cite

Mythomania? Methods and morals from ‘The Myth of Language Universals’

Daniel Harbour

Help me understand this report

Search citation statements

Order By: Relevance

Paper Sections

Select...

Citation Types

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Year Published

2014

2015

Publication Types

Select...

Article2

Relationship

Self Cite0

Independent2

Authors

Journals

Cited by 2 publications

References 15 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

Paucity, abundance, and the theory of number

Harbour¹

2014

lan

113

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Approximative numbers, like paucal and greater plural, can be characterized in terms of a feature, [±additive], concerned with additive closure. The two parameters affecting this feature (whether it is active and whether + and − values may cooccur) also affect the two features that generate nonapproximative numbers. All three features are shown to be derivative of concepts in the literature on aspect and telicity, to have a straightforwardly compositional semantics, and to eschew ad hoc stipulations on cooccurrence (such as geometries and filters). Thus, what is proposed is a general theory of number, free of extrinsic stipulations. Empirically, the theory yields a characterization of all numbers attested crosslinguistically, a combinatorial explanation of Greenberg-style implications affecting their cooccurrence, a natural account of morphological compositionality, and insight into their diachronic sources and trajectories.

show abstract

Paucity, abundance, and the theory of number

Harbour¹

2014

lan

113

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

A cognitively plausible model for grammar induction

Katzir

2015

JLM

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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.

show abstract

scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.

Contact Info

customersupport@researchsolutions.com

10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614

Henderson, NV 89052, USA

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Blog Terms and Conditions API Terms Privacy Policy Contact Cookie Preferences Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information

Made with 💙 for researchers

Part of the Research Solutions Family.

Mythomania? Methods and morals from ‘The Myth of Language Universals’

Cited by 2 publications

References 15 publications

Paucity, abundance, and the theory of number

Paucity, abundance, and the theory of number

A cognitively plausible model for grammar induction

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About