Course Description

The Nature of Explanation in Linguistics

Martin Haspelmath and Frederick J. Newmeyer

 

Syllabus


(optional readings are indicated by a preceding *)


For MH's handouts, click here .
For FN's handouts, click here .

 

Mo 15 July     Introduction:

                        1. Functionalist linguistics: Usage-based explanations of language structure (MH)

 

                        reading: * Dryer (1999) , *Newmeyer (2002b)

                        2. Generative grammar and functional explanation, part 1 (FN)

 

                        reading: Newmeyer (1998a: ch. 2)

 

 

We 17 July     2. (cont.) Generative grammar and functional explanation, part 2 (FN)

 

                        reading: Newmeyer (1998a: ch. 3)

 

                        3. Constraints on language change (MH)

 

                        reading: Haspelmath (1999b)

 

Fr 19 July      4a-b. Economy and simplicity in language structure (FN,MH)

 

                        background: *Haiman (1983)

 

Mo 22 July     5a.  Prototypes and syntactic categories (FN)
                        5b.  Syntactic categories and functional linguistics (MH)

 

                        reading: Newmeyer (1998a: ch. 4), *Taylor (1989: ch. 5)

 

We 24 July     6a-b.  A functional explanation of article-possessor complementarity (MH, FN)

 

                        reading: Haspelmath (1999a)

 

Fr 26 July      7.  Processing explanations and discourse-based explanations (FN)

 

                        reading: *Hawkins (1992), *Arnold et al. (2000)

 

                        8.  Functional explanations of argument-marking patterns (MH)

 

                        reading: Comrie (1989: ch. 6) (background:  *Du Bois (1985))

 

Mo 29 July     9a-b.  Functional explanations of coreference patterns (MH, FN)

 

                        reading: Comrie (1999), *Burzio (1996)

 

We 31 July     10a.  Typology and generative grammar (FN)

                              10b.  Typology, functional explanations, and the study of innate UG (MH)

 

                        reading: Newmeyer (1998b) , *Dryer (1997)

 

Fr 2 August   11.   Optimality Theory
                       11a. Optimality Theory and functional explanation (FN)
                       11b.  Why Optimality Theory is still suboptimal (MH)

 

                        reading: Newmeyer (2002a) (*Bresnan & Aissen 2002 ), Haspelmath (1999c)

                        (background: *Aissen (2000) , *Haspelmath (2001) )

 

References

 

Aissen, Judith. 2000. "Differential object marking: Iconicity vs. economy." Ms., University of California at Santa Cruz

Arnold, Jennifer E. & Wasow, T. & Losongco, A. & Ginstrom, R. 2000. "Heaviness vs. newness: The effects of structural complexity and discourse status on constituent ortdering." Language 76: 28-55.

Bresnan, Joan & Aissen, Judith. 2002. "Optimality and functionality: Objections and refutations." Natural Language and Linguistic Theory 21

Burzio, Luigi. 1996. 'The Role of the Antecedent in Anaphoric Relations', in R. Freidin (ed.), Current Issues in Comparative Grammar, Kluwer, Dordrecht, pp. 1-45.

Comrie, Bernard. 1989. Language Universals and Linguistic Typology. 2nd ed. Oxford: Blackwell.

Comrie, Bernard. 1999. "Reference-tracking: description and explanation." Sprachtypologie und Universalienforschung 52.3/4: 335-346.

Dryer, Matthew. 1997. “Why statistical universals are better than absolute universals.” Chicago Linguistic Society 33: The Panels , 123-145.

Dryer, Matthew. 1999. "Functionalism and the metalanguage-theory confusion." Ms., University at Buffalo.

Du Bois, John. 1985. "Competing motivations." In: Haiman, John (ed.) Iconicity in syntax. Amsterdam: Benjamins, 343-365.

Haiman, John. 1983. "Iconic and economic motivation." Language 59: 781-819.

Haspelmath, Martin. 1999a. "Explaining article-possessor complementarity: economic motivation in noun phrase syntax". Language 75.2: 227-43.

Haspelmath, Martin. 1999b. "Why is grammaticalization irreversible?" Linguistics 37.6: 1043-68.

Haspelmath, Martin. 1999c. "Optimality and diachronic adaptation." Zeitschrift für Sprachwissenschaft 18.2: 180-205.

Haspelmath, Martin. 2001. "Explaining the Ditransitive Person-Role Constraint: A usage-based explanation." Ms., Max-Planck-Institut für evolutionäre Anthropologie, Leipzig .

Hawkins, John A. 1992. "Syntactic weight vs. information structure in word order variation." In: Jacobs, Joachim (ed.) Informationsstruktur und Grammatik (Linguistische Berichte, Special Issue, 4.) Opladen: Westdeutscher Verlag, 196-219.

Newmeyer, Frederick. 1998a. Language form and language function. Cambridge: MIT Press.

Newmeyer, Frederick. 1998b. “The irrelevance of typology for grammatical theory.” A revised version of Syntaxis 1: 161-97.

Newmeyer, Frederick. 2002a. "Optimality and functionality: A critique of functionally-based optimality-theoretic Syntax." Natural Language and Linguistic Theory 21

Newmeyer, Frederick. 2002b. Where is functional explanation?. Papers from the Thirty-Seventh Meeting of the Chicago Linguistic Society. M. Andronis, C. Ball, H. Elston and S. Neuvel. Chicago, Chicago Linguistic Society.

Taylor, John R. 1989. Linguistic categorization: Prototypes in linguistic theory. Oxford: Clarendon.