Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Figures
- List of Tables
- Acknowledgments
- 1 Language Use as Part of Linguistic Theory
- 2 A Usage-Based Model for Phonology and Morphology
- 3 The Nature of Lexical Representation
- 4 Phonological Processes, Phonological Patterns
- 5 The Interaction of Phonology with Morphology
- 6 The Units of Storage and Access: Morphemes, Words, and Phrases
- 7 Constructions as Processing Units: The Rise and Fall of French Liaison
- 8 Universals, Synchrony and Diachrony
- References
- Author Index
- Subject Index
- Languages Index
8 - Universals, Synchrony and Diachrony
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 03 December 2009
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Figures
- List of Tables
- Acknowledgments
- 1 Language Use as Part of Linguistic Theory
- 2 A Usage-Based Model for Phonology and Morphology
- 3 The Nature of Lexical Representation
- 4 Phonological Processes, Phonological Patterns
- 5 The Interaction of Phonology with Morphology
- 6 The Units of Storage and Access: Morphemes, Words, and Phrases
- 7 Constructions as Processing Units: The Rise and Fall of French Liaison
- 8 Universals, Synchrony and Diachrony
- References
- Author Index
- Subject Index
- Languages Index
Summary
Universals and Explanation
Any modern linguistic theory requires a statement concerning the role of language universals in explaining the nature of language. In the past few decades, many theorists have assumed that certain commonly occurring properties of language are inherent to the language acquisition device possessed by children (Chomsky 1965, 1975, and elsewhere). These innate features of language do not have to be acquired by children, but rather provide the framework around which language-specific structures are built. The notion that human beings bring to the task of language acquisition certain cognitive capacities that make this complex task possible undoubtedly has some validity, but whether these cognitive capacities equate directly to synchronic language universals, or even typological statements, is much more controversial. In this chapter, I argue that the relation between the human capacity for language and universals of language is much more subtle and complex. As I have argued in other works (Bybee 1988b, Bybee et al. 1994), I will argue here that the true universals of language are the dynamic mechanisms that cause language to change in certain systematic ways as it is used and as it is transmitted to new generations. Since linguistic change is regular and highly predictable, the synchronic systems that emerge as a result of the action of these dynamic forces have many properties in common.
The view of language universals presented in this chapter follows from diachronic typology as originally developed by Greenberg (see also Givón 1979, Bybee 1988b). My proposal is that underlying synchronic crosslinguistic patterns are the dynamic mechanisms that cause language to change in certain systematic ways as a result of use.
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- Information
- Phonology and Language Use , pp. 189 - 216Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2001