Grammaticality, interfaces, and UG
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Dennis Ott
Abstract
It is argued that the notions “well-formedness” and “grammaticality,” inspired by formal-language theory, are not necessarily relevant for the study of natural language. The assumption that a [± grammatical] distinction exists, i.e. that I-language generates only certain structures but not others, is empirically questionable and presumably requires a richly structured UG. Some aspects of “crash-proof” models of syntax that assume such a distinction are discussed and contrasted with an alternative proposal (the Minimalist Program as pursued by Chomsky), which dispenses entirely with grammaticality, allowing syntax to generate freely. The latter program aims not at distinguishing “grammatical” from “ungrammatical” sentences, but at providing a true theory of the mechanisms that assign interpretations to structures at the interfaces.
Abstract
It is argued that the notions “well-formedness” and “grammaticality,” inspired by formal-language theory, are not necessarily relevant for the study of natural language. The assumption that a [± grammatical] distinction exists, i.e. that I-language generates only certain structures but not others, is empirically questionable and presumably requires a richly structured UG. Some aspects of “crash-proof” models of syntax that assume such a distinction are discussed and contrasted with an alternative proposal (the Minimalist Program as pursued by Chomsky), which dispenses entirely with grammaticality, allowing syntax to generate freely. The latter program aims not at distinguishing “grammatical” from “ungrammatical” sentences, but at providing a true theory of the mechanisms that assign interpretations to structures at the interfaces.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Preface & Acknowledgments ix
- List of contributors xi
- Exploring crash-proof grammars 1
-
Part I Applications of crash-proof grammar
- Computation efficiency and feature inheritance in crash-proof syntax 15
- Implications of grammatical gender for the theory of uninterpretable features 31
- The Empty Left Edge Condition 59
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Part II The crash-proof debate
- Grammaticality, interfaces, and UG 89
- A tale of two minimalisms 105
- Uninterpretable features 125
- Syntactic relations in Survive-minimalism 143
- Toward a strongly derivational syntax 167
- On the mathematical foundations of crash-proof grammars 213
- Crash-proof syntax and filters 245
- Crash-free syntax and crash phenomena in model-theoretic grammar 269
- Index 299
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Preface & Acknowledgments ix
- List of contributors xi
- Exploring crash-proof grammars 1
-
Part I Applications of crash-proof grammar
- Computation efficiency and feature inheritance in crash-proof syntax 15
- Implications of grammatical gender for the theory of uninterpretable features 31
- The Empty Left Edge Condition 59
-
Part II The crash-proof debate
- Grammaticality, interfaces, and UG 89
- A tale of two minimalisms 105
- Uninterpretable features 125
- Syntactic relations in Survive-minimalism 143
- Toward a strongly derivational syntax 167
- On the mathematical foundations of crash-proof grammars 213
- Crash-proof syntax and filters 245
- Crash-free syntax and crash phenomena in model-theoretic grammar 269
- Index 299
