implications of universals (topic 1)

Question 1

what are the two basic question in the study of language universals and variation?

Answer 1

are there clearly definable limits in variation between languages, and what are they? how can they be explained, what causes them?

Question 2

what is typology?

Answer 2

a branch of linguistics that studies and classifies languages by their structural characteristics

Question 3

what is duality of patterning and what is it an example of?

Answer 3

meaningless units are combined to form arbitrary signs, which can be combined to form meaningful combinations

a design feature of language (something every language has)

Question 4

what is an absolute universal? give two examples.

Answer 4

a property found in all languages

“all languages have consonants”
“all languages have recursion” –> has been disputed

Question 5

what is a statistical universal? give an example.

Answer 5

a universal that states a significant trend that occurs in the majority of the languages

“subjects tend to precede objects”

Question 6

what is an implicational universal? give a phonological example.

Answer 6

a language has property A –> that language must have property B (but not the other way around)

if a language has voiced fricatives, then it also has voiceless fricatives

Question 7

which opposition links to absolute universals? (hint: it describes a question)

Answer 7

possible vs. impossible language; what are possible and impossible (characteristics of) languages?

Question 8

which opposition links to implicational universals? (hint: it describes a question)

Answer 8

probable vs. improbable languages; what are probable and improbable languages, cross-linguistically?

Question 9

which two concepts are essential in forming a theory to explain observations? explain what the second is.

Answer 9

empirical prediction and falsifiability

falsifiability = the possibility that your theory can be untrue, that is falsified by a counterexample

Question 10

what is undergeneration and overgeneration in a theory?

Answer 10

undergeneration = a theory predicts things that do happen are impossible

overgeneration = a theory predicts things that do not happen to be possible

Question 11

what are grammar-external vs. grammar-internal explanations of universals? what are the two names associated with them? what are two other terms to refer to them?

Answer 11

grammar-internal: explanation via form, innateness, mental/universal grammar. Chomsky.

grammar-external: explanation via substance, function, things outside language. Greenberg.

formal vs. functional