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.
2005
protolanguage; recursion; linguistic variation
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/11562/304682
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