On the Locus of Asymmetry in UG

In this article I advance a hypothesis concerning the locus of asymmetry in the grammar. I argue that the fundamental operation of Narrow Syntax (Merge) should be formulated in a symmetric form, and that all the sources of asymmetries should be relegated to the point of cyclic transfer (Cyclic Spell-Out, in a phase-based model)

On Long-Distance Agree

The present work examines the empirical reach of the minimalist operation Agree responsible for feature-licensing. I focus on patterns of socalled long-distance agreement and show that although not all instances of long-distance agreement that have been identified in the literature are unambiguous instances of ‘pure’ Agree (at a distance), at least some are. For these, an operation like Agree appears empirically necessary.El trabajo actual examina el alcance empírico de la operación minimalista de Acuerdo, responsable de la legitimación de rasgos. Para ello me centro en patrones de lo que se considera como acuerdo a larga distancia y muestro que, aunque no todos los casos de acuerdo a larga distancia que han sido identificados en la bibliografía especializada son casos inequívocos de Acuerdo ‘puro’ (a distancia), al menos algunos sí lo son. Para estos casos, una operación como el Acuerdo parece necesaria desde un punto de vista empírico.O presente trabalho examina a satisfação empírica da operação minimalista da Concordância responsável pelo licenciamento de propriedades. Concentro-me em padrões da tão denominada concordância a longa distância e demonstro que, embora nem todas as instâncias de concordância a longa distância que têm sido identificadas na literatura sejam instâncias inequívocas de «pura» Concordância (a uma distância), pelo menos algumas o são. Relativamente a estas, uma operação como a Concordância apresenta-se empiricamente necessária

Reflections on language evolution

This essay reflects on the fact that as we learn more about the biological underpinnings of our language faculty, the dominant evolutionary narrative coming out of the linguistic tradition most explicitly oriented towards biology ("biolinguistics") appears increasingly implausible. This text offers ways of opening up linguistic inquiry and fostering interdisciplinarity, taking advantage of new opportunities to provide quantitative, testable hypotheses concerning the complex evolutionary path that led to the modern human language faculty. The essay is structured around three main themes: (i) renewed appreciation for the comparative method applied to cognitive questions, leading to the identification of elementary but fundamental abstractions in non-linguistic species relevant to language; (ii) awareness of the conceptual gaps between disciplines, and the need to carefully link genotype and phenotype without bypassing any "intermediate" levels of description (certainly not the brain); and (iii) adoption of a "philosophical" outlook that puts the complexity of biological entities front and center

Reflections on language evolution

This essay reflects on the fact that as we learn more about the biological underpinnings of our language faculty, the dominant evolutionary narrative coming out of the linguistic tradition most explicitly oriented towards biology ("biolinguistics") appears increasingly implausible. This text offers ways of opening up linguistic inquiry and fostering interdisciplinarity, taking advantage of new opportunities to provide quantitative, testable hypotheses concerning the complex evolutionary path that led to the modern human language faculty. The essay is structured around three main themes: (i) renewed appreciation for the comparative method applied to cognitive questions, leading to the identification of elementary but fundamental abstractions in non-linguistic species relevant to language; (ii) awareness of the conceptual gaps between disciplines, and the need to carefully link genotype and phenotype without bypassing any "intermediate" levels of description (certainly not the brain); and (iii) adoption of a "philosophical" outlook that puts the complexity of biological entities front and center

Entangled Parametric Hierarchies: Problems for an Overspecified Universal Grammar

This study addresses the feasibility of the classical notion of parameter in linguistic theory from the perspective of parametric hierarchies. A novel program-based analysis is implemented in order to show certain empirical problems related to these hierarchies. The program was developed on the basis of an enriched data base spanning 23 contemporary and 5 ancient languages. The empirical issues uncovered cast doubt on classical parametric models of language acquisition as well as on the conceptualization of an overspecified Universal Grammar that has parameters among its primitives. Pinpointing these issues leads to the proposal that (i) the (bio)logical problem of language acquisition does not amount to a process of triggering innately pre-wired values of parameters and (ii) it paves the way for viewing language, epigenetic ('parametric') variation as an externalization-related epiphenomenon, whose learning component may be more important than what sometimes is assumed