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Propriétés des substances, conditions sur la syntaxe et explication en linguistique

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 June 2016

Denis Bouchard
Denis Bouchard*
Affiliation:
Université du Québec à Montréal
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Abstract

In linguistics, explanation is based on whatever initial conditions are imposed on language, and so it necessarily functions within the range of options allowed by the laws of nature. Thus, since syntax is a computational system, it is subject to principles of efficient computation. Moreover, the Faculty of Language is located in human beings, so this means that it is constrained by the conceptual and perceptual systems of human beings. In this context, three topics are presented that have been repeatedly discussed over the last 50 years: inversion in interrogatives, long-distance dependencies, and recursion. For these cases, the computational approach favoured by Generative Grammar leads one to inscribe lists of unexplained elements in Universal Grammar. This is but a measure of our ignorance. On the other hand, a fully biolinguistic approach that takes into account the conceptual and perceptual basis of language opens a way to a true explanation.

Résumé

Résumé

En linguistique, l’explication se fonde sur les conditions initiales qui s’imposent au langage : il doit nécessairement fonctionner à l’intérieur des options permises par les lois de la nature. Ainsi, la syntaxe étant un système computationnel, elle est soumise à des principes de computation efficace. De plus, la Faculté de Langage se trouve dans des êtres humains, et ceci lui impose les conditions du système conceptuel et du système sensori-moteurd’un être humain. Dans ce contexte, trois sujets sont présentés qui ont été constamment discutés au cours des 50 dernières années : l’inversion dans les interrogatives, les dépendances à distance, et la recursion. Pour tous ces cas, la voie computationnelle favorisée par la Grammaire Générative mène à inscrire dans la Grammaire Universelle des listes d’éléments non expliqués. Ceci n’est qu’une mesure de notre ignorance. Par contre, une approche pleinement biolinguistique prenant en compte les substances conceptuelles et perceptuelles ouvre la voie à une explication véritable.

Type
Part I: Knowledge of Language
Information
Canadian Journal of Linguistics/Revue canadienne de linguistique , Volume 50 , Issue 1-4: Language know-how: Canadian Perspectives in Contemporary Linguistics/Le savoir-faire langagier: perspectives canadiennes en linguistique contemporaine , December 2005 , pp. 119 - 149
Copyright
Copyright © Canadian Linguistic Association 2005

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