Noun Phrase in the Generative Perspective

Αλεξιαδου, Αρτεμισ; Haegeman, Liliane; Stavrou, Melita

doi:10.1515/9783110207491

Cited by 407 publications

(292 citation statements)

References 97 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

265

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…1A: (i) Research on formal semantics motivates an analysis of adjectives as predicates that combine with the nominal predicate, numerals as functions from nominal predicates to countable units, and demonstratives as functions that map nominal predicates to individuals (37,38), so that semantic type constraints enforce the scope relations; (ii) syntactic constituency tests show that adjectives are in a structural unit with the noun that they modify ([Adj N]), to the exclusion of the numeral, which in turn belongs to a hierarchically superior unit ([Num [Adj N]]) that excludes the demonstrative, giving a syntactic hierarchy isomorphic to semantic scope (39,40); and (iii) typological and functionally oriented work proposes a metric of semantic closeness (iconicity) that places adjectives closest to the noun because they modify dimensions inherent to noun meaning, numerals further away because they do not modify such dimensions, and demonstratives yet further away because they serve to connect the internal material to the surrounding discourse ( † , 41, 42). These three distinct traditions agree on the core scope relations.…”

Section: U20 (As Restated In Cinque Ref 33)mentioning

confidence: 99%

Language learners privilege structured meaning over surface frequency

Culbertson

Adger

2014

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

111

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Although it is widely agreed that learning the syntax of natural languages involves acquiring structure-dependent rules, recent work on acquisition has nevertheless attempted to characterize the outcome of learning primarily in terms of statistical generalizations about surface distributional information. In this paper we investigate whether surface statistical knowledge or structural knowledge of English is used to infer properties of a novel language under conditions of impoverished input. We expose learners to artificial-language patterns that are equally consistent with two possible underlying grammars-one more similar to English in terms of the linear ordering of words, the other more similar on abstract structural grounds. We show that learners' grammatical inferences overwhelmingly favor structural similarity over preservation of superficial order. Importantly, the relevant shared structure can be characterized in terms of a universal preference for isomorphism in the mapping from meanings to utterances. Whereas previous empirical support for this universal has been based entirely on data from cross-linguistic language samples, our results suggest it may reflect a deep property of the human cognitive system-a property that, together with other structure-sensitive principles, constrains the acquisition of linguistic knowledge. A central goal of linguistics is to provide a formal characterization of human knowledge of language. It has long been argued that this knowledge crucially involves rules that refer to abstract structure rather than surface word order (1-3). One classic example is the relationship between English declarative and interrogative sentences. Although in many cases a rule forming the interrogative from the declarative could simply change the surface position of the auxiliary verb, the full range of English facts can only be captured by a rule making reference to the structural position of the auxiliary. For example, to generate the correct interrogative for complex declaratives such as "The man who is a fool is amusing" and "The man is a fool who is amusing," a rule referring to the superficial surface position of the auxiliary-for instance, leftmost or rightmost-will not do. Rather, the rule must pick out the auxiliary in the main clause. Because these complex cases are relatively rare, language learners could initially entertain a surface-based rule before converging on the structure-based alternative. Interestingly, though, children acquiring English do not seem to do this, suggesting that structurebased generalizations are preferred from the very start (4).The idea that explaining the syntax of natural languages requires abstract structure-and that learners posit structure-based generalizations early in the acquisition process-has been challenged from multiple angles. For example, simple recurrent networks trained on English input can replicate correct interrogative ordering patterns, suggesting that surface-based generalizations may be sufficient to characterize linguistic knowledge (...

show abstract

Section: U20 (As Restated In Cinque Ref 33)mentioning

confidence: 99%

Language learners privilege structured meaning over surface frequency

Culbertson

Adger

2014

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

111

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…As the examples in (17) remind us, there is ample crosslinguistic evidence for a possessive-phrase on top of QP and below the DP projection, from a variety of languages and authors: (17) Seminal work by Szabolcsi is taken in the generative tradition as the main reference for proposing a functional projection right below DP connected with possessives; similar conclusions have been reached independently by many scholars, which may differ in the qualification of that functional projection: nominal inflection (Szabolcsi 1994 and related work); possessor (De Wit 1997, Delsing 1998, Schoolemmer 1998; Number (Picallo 1991); or just AGR (Alexiadou et. al.…”

Section: Arguments For Locating Genitives Above Qpmentioning

confidence: 84%

“…The same is also true of normal possessors if these originate in some high position inside NP or a related projection as assumed by Longobardi (2001), Alexiadou et al (2007), and others. So (14) reflects the derivation of (13a), which can be three-way ambiguous:…”

Section: Basque Genitive Case and Multiple Checkingmentioning

confidence: 85%

Basque Genitive Case and Multiple Checking

Artiagoitia¹

2010

BLS

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Glossing over different implementations, what we may call 'the categorizer hypothesis' can be represented as in (3). It recasts under a DM approach the traditional tenet that Gender is an inherent nominal feature, without considering it a property of roots or of noun stems (see, among others, Ferrari-Bridgers (2005; Alexiadou et al 2007;Lowenstamm 2008;Acquaviva 2009;Kramer 2014;Merchant 2014;Saab (2010, to appear) and Panagiotidis 2015 for different implementations of that general hypothesis).…”

Section: Gender As a Nominalizermentioning

confidence: 99%

A note on the locus and function of formal gender

Picallo

2017

Borealis

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

ABSTRACT. This note tries to assess the syntactic locus of grammatical Gender in the nominal structure with evidence mainly drawn from Spanish. Data from ellipsis resolution and its licensing in a variety of contexts, and for different types of syntactic objects, suggest the conjecture that noun classifying devices, such as grammatical Gender, may constitute the inflectional correlate of hierarchically organized, and possibly universal, nominality descriptors. Such descriptors would be coded in the structural space that, under different theoretical proposals, has been labelled as 'lexical phase', 'first phase' or 'little-n' space.Keywords: Gender, number, ellipsis, bare nominals, singularia/pluralia tantum, pronouns.RESUMEN: Esta nota tiene el objetivo de evaluar la posición sintáctica del género gramatical en la estructura nominal principalmente en base a la evidencia que ofrece el español. Los datos relativos a la resolución y legitimación de la elipsis en una variedad de contextos, y para diversos tipos de objetos sintácticos, sugieren la conjetura de que los mecanismos de clasificación nominal, tales como el género gramatical, podrían constituir el correlato flexivo de descriptores de nominalidad organizados jerárquicamente y posiblemente universales. Tales descriptores se codificarían en el espacio estructural que distintas propuestas teóricas denominan 'fase léxica', 'primera fase' o 'espacio n'.

show abstract

Noun Phrase in the Generative Perspective

Cited by 407 publications

References 97 publications

Language learners privilege structured meaning over surface frequency

Language learners privilege structured meaning over surface frequency

Basque Genitive Case and Multiple Checking

A note on the locus and function of formal gender

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About