Parametric theory of word order, language acquisition and historical c...

Oct 21, 2011 by

In the previous posting, I outlined an alternative theory that treats the order of major sentential constituents — subject, object and verb — not as a primitive, but as a result of several binary factors (called...

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Language is what makes us human

Aug 27, 2010 by

In the last couple of postings I talked about Chomsky’s theory of Universal Grammar (Principles & Parameters Theory), which is — sadly — misrepresented by Lera Boroditsky in her The Wall Street Journal article....

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On Null subjects and related phenomena

Aug 25, 2010 by

In the latest posting I stated that Universal Grammar is a catalog of significant differences between languages rather than being a “one-size-fits-all” grammar. These significant differences are formulated as parameters,...

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On Universal Grammar and Related Matters

Aug 23, 2010 by

Recently, Lera Boroditsky, a psychologist at Stanford and editor in chief of Frontiers in Cultural Psychology, published an interesting article in The Wall Street Journal on the subject of whether language influences the way people...

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On English, Globish and books on language

Jul 9, 2010 by

Since I’ve started teaching extension courses in linguistics, I’ve been on a prowl. A search. A quest. A hunt. For good books about language, linguistics and other related subjects. By a good book I mean a book that is:...

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