Minimalist Inquiries.docx
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Minimalist Inquiries.docx
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MinimalistInquiries
MinimalistInquiries:
theFramework
Chomsky,Noam.2000.
Martinetal.StepbyStep:
EssayinMinimalistSyntaxinHonorofHowardLasnik.Cambridge:
theMITPress.
F17CGZBDTE0WE5
Theremarksthatfolloware"inquiries,"atermintendedtostresstheirtentativecharacter.Theyare"minimalist"inthesenseofthe"MinimalistProgram,"itselfexploratoryasthetermindicates,andinitsshortcareeralreadydevelopinginpartiallyconflictingandattractivedirections.Whatappearshereisthefirstpartofanunfinishedmanuscript.Here,Iwillkeeptogeneralconsiderations,rethinkingtheissuesandconcernsthatmotivatetheprogramandattemptingtogiveacleareraccountandfurtherdevelopmentofthemfromonepointofview,takingasastartingpointthefinalsectionsofChomsky(1995a)(henceforthMP).Thatcollectionreflectsanevolutionoverseveralyears,withfairlyradicalchangesalongtheway.Muchlikeearlierstages,thisonereflectsacollectiveeffort,incorporatingideasandproposalsofmanystudentsandcolleagueswithnoseriousattemptatattribution,infactnowaytoachieveit.Ishould,however,liketotaketheoccasiontoexpressmyveryspecialindebtednesstoHowardLasnikformanyyearsofclosecollaboration,whichhasbeenextremelyrewardingformeandismostinadequatelyrecordedinprint,thoughwell-knowntoparticipantsintheseenterprises.
1.Background
Letusbeginbyreviewingbrieflyaseriesofassumptions,discussedandqualifiedelsewhere.
First,thereisafacultyoflanguageFL,acomponentofthehumanmind/braindedicatedtolanguage.Giventhisendowment,ahumaninfant,butnotherpetkitten,willreflexivelycategorizepartsoftheconfusionaroundheras"linguistic"anddeveloprichandhighlyarticulatedcapacitiestoenterintothesepeculiarmodesofhumanthoughtandaction.Incontrast,theinfantandkittenwill,itseems,developalongarathersimilarpathinacquiringcapacitiestodealwithmanyotheraspectsoftheworld.FLcanberegardedasa"languageorgan,"intheinformalsenseinwhichthevisualsystem,orimmunesystem,orcirculatorysystemarecommonlydescribedasorgansofthebody:
notobjectsthatcanbebe[SIC]removedleavingtherestintact,butsubsystemsofamorecomplexstructurethatwehopetounderstandbyinvestigatingpartsthathavedistinctivecharacteristics,andtheirinteractions.Despiteexplicitdenialsandapparentcontroversy,thismuchseemstobegenerallyassumed,atleasttacitly.
Likeotherorgans,FLhasan"initialstate"S0thatisanexpressionofthegenes.Togoodfirstapproximation,itisuniformforthespecies,apparentlyalsobiologicallyisolatedinessentialrespectsandaveryrecentevolutionarydevelopment.FLundergoesstatechangesundertriggeringandshapinginfluencesoftheenvironment.IfJones'sFLisinstateL,wesaythatJoneshas(speaks,knows,...)the(I-)languageL.Twoimmediatetasksofatheoryoflanguagearetocharacterizethelanguages(states)attainedandthesharedinitialstate:
thetasksof"descriptiveadequacy"and"explanatoryadequacy,"respectively.WeunderstandUniversalGrammar(UG)tobethetheoryoftheinitialstate,andparticulargrammarstobetheoriesofattainedstates.
ThelanguageLincludesacognitivesystemthatstoresinformation:
roughly,informationabout
sound,meaning,andstructuralorganization.Performancesystemsaccessthisinformationandputittouse.Empiricalquestionsariseatonce:
inparticular,towhatextentaretheperformancesystemspartofFL,thatis,language-dedicated,specificallyadaptedforlanguage?
Onthe"soundside,"theanswerisunclearanddisputed;onthe"meaningside,"thequestionsaremuchharderandmoreobscureforobviousreasons,andjudgmentscanonlybehighlytentative.AstandardworkingassumptionisthatperformancesystemsareexternaltoFL.Thatisasimplifyingassumption,notdefinitelyknowntobefalse,thoughitmaywellbe,perhapsinimportantways.Theissueshavehadlittleeffectonempiricalinquiryintoquestionsofdescriptiveandexplanatoryadequacy,butcometotheforewithintheminimalistprogram.
Iwilladoptusualconventionsforpresentpurposes,recognizingthattheyarenotinnocent.WethereforetakeLtobeacognitivesystemalone.
IwillassumefurtherthatLprovidesinformationtotheperformancesystemsintheformof"levelsofrepresentation,"inthetechnicalsense.Theperformancesystemsaccessthese"interfacelevels."Assumefurtherthatperformancesystemsareoftwokinds:
sensorimotorsystemsandsystemsofthought(togiveanametosomethingverypoorlyunderstood).Letustakethem(tentatively)tobeunitaryanddistinct,inthesensethatallsensorimotorsystemsaccessoneinterfacelevel,andallsystemsofthoughtaccessadistinctinterfacelevel.OntheseassumptionsweunderstandLtobeadevicethatgeneratesexpressionsEXP=
Again,theassumptionsarenotinnocent.Thus,Epsteinetal.(1998)pursueastrongderivationalapproachinwhichperformancesystemsaccessthecomputationitself,dispensingwithlevelsofrepresentation.Thatarticulatoryandperceptualsystemsaccessthesameinformation(PF)isalsofarfromself-evident,correspondingassumptionsonthemeaningsideevenlessso.Andtherearemanyotherquestions.
Tosaythatphoneticfeaturesare"instructions"tosensorimotorsystemsattheinterfaceisnottosaythattheyhavetheform"movethetongueinsuch-and-suchaway"or"performsuch-and-suchanalysisofsignals."Rather,itexpressesthehypothesisthatthefeaturesprovideinformationintheformrequiredforthesensorimotorsystemstofunctioninlanguage-independentways.Similarobservationsholdonthe(farmoreobscure)meaningside.Theframeworkimposesadistinctionbetween
(1)linguisticexpressionsEXP=
(2)observableevents,utterancesandactions–externalizationof(mentally-constructed)speechacts.Noquestionsariseabouttheontologicalstatusofthesetofexpressions{EXP}generatedbyL;itsstatusissomewhatlikethatofpotentialvisualimagesorplansforlimbmotions.
Finally,IwillassumethatthePrinciples-and-Parameters(P&P)approachisinimportantrespectsontherighttrack.Withinanyversionofit,themajorproblemistodiscovertheprinciplesandparameters,andtoshowhowaparticularchoiceofparametervaluesandlexiconentersintofixingalanguageL;andtoproceedbeyond,tothestudyofuse,acquisition,pathology,cellularmechanisms,andawiderangeofotherquestionshavingtodowiththeplaceoflanguageinthebiologicalandsocialworlds.
Whateveritsultimatefate,thecrystallizationoftheP&Papproachcontributedtosubstantialprogressinseveraloftheseareas.Theapproachalsoopenssomenewquestions.Concernfordescriptiveandexplanatoryadequacyisasoldasthestudyoflanguage.Assoonasthetwotraditionalgoalswerereformulatedwithinmoderngenerativegrammar,serioustensionarosebetweenthem:
thesearchfordescriptiveadequacyseemstoleadtoevergreatercomplexityofrulesystems,varyingamonggrammaticalconstructionsandacrosslanguages,whilethesearchforexplanatoryadequacyleadstotheconclusionthatlanguagestructureislargelyinvariant.Itisthistensionthathasdriventheresearchinquiryofgenerativegrammarfromitsinception.TheP&Pframeworksuggestsawaytoresolvethetension,thusofferingsomeconceptionoftheformthatagenuinetheorymighttake.
ItthereforebecomespossibletoconsidersomenewquestionsaboutFL.Inparticular,wemayaskthequestion:
HowwellisFLdesigned?
Supposethatasuper-engineerweregivendesignspecificationsforlanguage:
HerearetheconditionsthatFLmustsatisfy;yourtaskistodesignadevicethatsatisfiestheseconditionsinsomeoptimalmanner(thesolutionmightnotbeunique).Thequestionis:
Howclosedoeslanguagecometosuchoptimaldesign?
Ifthequestionisreal,andsubjecttoinquiry,thentheP&Papproachmightturnouttobeanevenmoreradicalbreakfromthetraditionthanitseemedtobe.Notonlydoesitabandontraditionalconceptionsof"ruleofgrammar"and"grammaticalconstruction"thatwerecarriedoverinsomeformintogenerativegrammar,butitmayalsosetthestageforaskingnovelquestionsthathavenorealcounterpartintheearlierstudyoflanguage.
The"minimalistprogram"istheattempttoformulateandstudysuchquestions.Oneshouldbearinmindthatitisaprogram>,notatheory,evenlesssothantheP&Papproach.Thereareminimalistquestions,butnominimalistanswers,apartfromthosefoundinpursuingtheprogram:
perhapsthatitmakesnosense,orthatitmakessensebutispremature.Theprogrampresupposesthecommongoalofallinquiryintolanguage--todiscovertherighttheory--andasksfurtherwhylanguageisthatway.Morenarrowly,itseekstodiscovertowhatextentminimalconditionsofadequacysufficetodeterminethenatureoftherighttheory.Questionsofthiskindarenotoftenstudied,andmightnotbeappropriateatthecurrentlevelofunderstanding,whichis,afterall,stillquitethi
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