Recent discussion on the evolution of language is strongly conditioned by the particular interpretation and mutual relevance of three basic notions: "recursion", ultimately reduced to "merge" in the Minimalist Framework; "protolanguage" which is proper of studies on language origin; "linguistic variation", whose definition should follow from both any good theory on language faculty and any reasonable hypothesis concerning its orignin. If we take the notion of protolanguage as a methodological concept which forces linguists to reflect on the core features of human language faculty, it will turn out with clear evidence that two crucial questions still need a proper answer: the format of the lekicon and the format of parameters.
Recursion, protolanguage and linguistic variation
TOMASELLI, Alessandra
2005-01-01
Abstract
Recent discussion on the evolution of language is strongly conditioned by the particular interpretation and mutual relevance of three basic notions: "recursion", ultimately reduced to "merge" in the Minimalist Framework; "protolanguage" which is proper of studies on language origin; "linguistic variation", whose definition should follow from both any good theory on language faculty and any reasonable hypothesis concerning its orignin. If we take the notion of protolanguage as a methodological concept which forces linguists to reflect on the core features of human language faculty, it will turn out with clear evidence that two crucial questions still need a proper answer: the format of the lekicon and the format of parameters.
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