Asymmetry and the Language Faculty

In Syntactic Structures, Chomsky argues for the autonomy of syntax with respect to semantics on the one hand, and phonology on the other. In this paper, we argue that the autonomy of syntax is further supported by the derivation of sometime unpronounced functional categories. We propose an analysis of the pronunciation/silence of coordinate conjunction and prepositions in additive cardinal numerals and time counting expressions. We provide independent justifcations for our analysis as well as we identify extensions to recursive DP coordination and co-compounds. The analysis relies on structural asymmetries derived by the computational procedure of the Language Faculty and is enforced by principles of efcient computation. ---DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.31513/linguistica.2017.v13n2a1403

On Morphological compositionality

We argue that the properties of indefinite pronouns such asthe quantifiers someone and everything, are derived by theoperations of the grammar and are interpreted compositionallyat the semantic interface. This is not what is generallyassumed in current practice, as indefinite pronouns are oftensemantically taken to be unanalyzed expressions(KARTTUNNEN, 1976; MONTAGUE, 1974; GROENENDIJK;STOKHOF, 1990). We bring further evidence that semanticcompositionality holds for wh-words in English, e.g., what andwhere, and in other languages, as proposed in Di Sciullo (2005).We attribute the fact that the interpretation of these elementsis derived compositionally to the core compositionality ofmorphological domains (DI SCIULLO, 2004). We drawconsequences of our analysis for the properties of the interfacebetween morphological structure and semantics.Neste artigo, argumentamos que as propriedades dos pronomesindefinidos como os quantificadores, someone e everything,por exemplo, são derivadas pelas operações da gramática e sãointerpretadas composicionalmente na interface semântica. Nãoé essa a visão assumida geralmente na prática corrente, já quenela os pronomes indefinidos são frequentemente tomadoscomo expressões semanticamente não decomponíveis(KARTTUNNEN, 1976; MONTAGUE, 1974; GOENENDIJK;STOKHOF, 1990). Apresentamos ainda outras evidências deque a composicionalidade semântica está presente em palavraswh do inglês, por exemplo, what e where , e de outras línguas,como proposto em Di Sciullo (2005). Atribuímos o fato de quea interpretação desses elementos seja derivadacomposicionalmente à centralidade da composicionalidade nosdomínios morfológicos (DI SCIULLO, 2004). Mostramos asconsequências de nossa análise para as propriedades dainterface entre estrutura morfológica e semântica

The Asymmetry of Merge

This paper addresses the following question: What kind of properties must the structure-building operation Merge have such that, given a Numeration, the grammar will build the ‘right’ structure and avoid generating ill-formed configurations? The answer we will propose is that Merge should be seen as an asymmetric operation in the sense of relating two items whose sets of morpho-syntactic features are in a proper inclusion relation. In addition, we propose a partition of features into two stacks: categorial features and operator features. This distinction is independently motivated as it feeds into the definition of External Merge and Internal Merge (Chomsky’s 2001). The proper inclusion condition will be assumed to hold for both of these operations, but the set of features under consideration for the evaluation of the proper inclusion relation differs: strictly categorial features for External Merge, and the whole set of features of lexical items for Internal Merge

The Biological Nature of Human Language

Biolinguistics aims to shed light on the specifically biological nature of human language, focusing on five foundational questions: (1) What are the properties of the language phenotype? (2) How does language ability grow and mature in individuals? (3) How is language put to use? (4) How is language implemented in the brain? (5) What evolutionary processes led to the emergence of language? These foundational questions are used here to frame a discussion of important issues in the study of language, exploring whether our linguistic capacity is the result of direct selective pressure or due to developmental or biophysical constraints, and assessing whether the neural/computational components entering into language are unique to human language or shared with other cognitive systems, leading to a discussion of advances in theoretical linguistics, psycholinguistics, comparative animal behavior and psychology, genetics/genomics, disciplines that can now place these longstanding questions in a new light, while raising challenges for future research

On the domain specificity of the human language faculty and the effects of principles of computational efficiency: contrasting language and mathematics

The growth of language in the individual is determined by genetics, experience and principles of computational efficiency. The latter are taken to be part of natural laws affecting the development of biological systems. We discuss the effect of two principles of computational efficiency applying to the derivation of linguistic expressions and their interface representations. We develop the hypothesis that these principles are domain specific. They apply to language computations, but not to other cognitive computations. In this perspective, we contrast language and mathematics. We focus on indirect recursion, the recursive merger of a given projection X mediated by a functional element F: [X [ F X ]]. We posit that indirect recursion is forced by the principle of efficient computationMinimize Symmetrical Relations, whereas the intermediate functional head is not necessarily legible at the sensorimotor interface as enforced by the principle of Minimize Externalization. We discuss the results of psycholinguistic studies on the processing of complex nominals in English, which bring experimental support to our hypothesis. Furthermore, we provide evidence that indirect recursion, enforced by Minimize Symmetrical Relations and Minimize Externalization, holds for complex numerals, according to language specific parameters, differentiating, for example, Russian from Arabic. The facts indicate that indirect recursion is characteristic of the computational procedure of the human language faculty, while concatenation is available for mathematical operations in humans and animals. We discuss recent contributions of neuroscience with respect to the identification of brain pathways for language and mathematical computation. Theoretical and experimental results indicate that Minimize Symmetrical Relations and Minimize Externalization affect the computation and the processing of linguistic expressions by the human brain whereas there is no evidence that this would be the case for mathematical formulae.DOI: 10.17074/2238-975X.2015v11n1p2

Variation in the pronunciation/silence of the prepositions in locative determiners

We argue that the micro-variation observed in the pronunciation/silence of the prepositional head of locative determiners in Fallese, a dialect spoken in Abruzzi, follows from the option of valuing features by either External Merge or by Internal Merge, given Spell-Out conditions, whereas this option is not available in English and Italian. It follows that the prepositional head is silent in Italian and English, whereas it can be pronounced in Fallese when the Specifier of the locative determiner is not filled. We show that this feature-based approach to micro-variation, in conjunction with principles of efficient computation, makes correct predictions for the pronunciation of the prepositional head in other functional categories, as well as it makes predictions on the diachronic development of locative determiners Latin to Fallese and from Latin to Italian, otherwise it looks like Fallese is an old stage of Italian.