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Some Thoughts on Data and Theory in Linguistics

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 March 2022

Richard E. Grandy
Richard E. Grandy*
Affiliation:
Rice University
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Extract

Questions about the nature of the appropriate data for linguistics may seem a mundane matter, but they reflect deep issues about'the nature of language and of the science of linguistics, if science it be. Consequently the methodological modifications suggested by Carden and Dieterich (1981) and Zwicky (1981) could have ramifications far beyond a slight broadening of the range of data relevant to syntactic theory. In section 1, I review the arguments for the currently standard theory against the suggestion to broaden the range of data, and in section 2. I try to give a brief historical account of the origins of the presuppositions of the orthodox theory.

The current official conception of the goal of syntactic theory is that it is to distinguish syntactically well-formed strings of a given language from those that are not syntactically well-formed, and to provide structural descriptions of the sentences.

Type
Part XI. The Problem of Data in Linguistics
Information
PSA: Proceedings of the Biennial Meeting of the Philosophy of Science Association , Volume 1980 , Issue 2: Volume Two: Symposia and Invited Papers 1980 , 1980 , pp. 605 - 609
Copyright
Copyright © 1981 by the Philosophy of Science Association

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References

Bach, Emmon . (1974). Syntactic Theory. New York, N.Y..: Holt Rinehart & WinstonGoogle Scholar
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Carden, Guy and Dieterich, Thomas G., (1981). “Introspection, Observation, and Experiment: An Example Where Experiment Pays Off.” In PSA 1980 Volume 2. Edited by Asquith, P.D. and Giere, R.N.. East Lansing, Michigan: Philosophy of Science Association. Pages 583-597.Google Scholar
Chomsky, Noam. (1957). Syntactic-Structures. The Hague: Mouton & Co..CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Harris, Zellig. (1947). Structural Linguistics. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Zwicky, Arnold. (1981). “‘Internal’ and ‘Externall’ Evidence in Linguistics.” In PSA 1980 Volume 2. Edited by Asquith, P.D. and Glere, R.N.. East Lansing, Michigan: Philosophy of Science Association. Pages 598-604.Google Scholar