Principles and Parameters Theory

E64556

Principles and Parameters Theory is a framework in generative linguistics that explains how universal grammatical principles and language-specific parameter settings account for the diversity and acquisition of human languages.


Statements (49)
Predicate Object
instanceOf framework in generative grammar
linguistic theory
addresses cross-linguistic variation
learnability of grammar
problem of language acquisition
appliesTo morphology
some aspects of phonology
syntax
associatedWith Howard Lasnik NERFINISHED
Lectures on Government and Binding
Noam Chomsky
assumes innate language faculty
universal grammar
component parameters
principles
contrastsWith behaviorist accounts of language learning
purely construction-based approaches
coreIdea children set parameter values based on linguistic input
language variation is captured by a finite set of parameters
parameters have a small number of possible values
universal grammar constrains possible human languages
universal grammatical principles are shared by all human languages
developedWithin Chomskyan generative grammar
exampleParameter head-directionality parameter
pro-drop parameter
wh-movement parameter
field generative linguistics
theoretical linguistics
formalism uses movement operations
uses phrase structure representations
goal account for limits on possible human grammars
explain rapid and uniform language acquisition in children
influenced Minimalist Program
parametric typology
influencedBy Government and Binding Theory
Transformational-Generative Grammar
parametersCharacterization parameters are points of limited variation across languages
principlesCharacterization principles are universal constraints on grammar
relatedConcept Government and Binding
Universal Grammar
parametric variation
statusInField foundational framework in late 20th-century generative syntax
timePeriod 1980s
late 1970s
usedIn comparative syntax
first language acquisition research
second language acquisition research
syntactic theory
viewOnLearning learning is parameter setting rather than rule construction from scratch

Referenced by (11)
Subject (surface form when different) Predicate
Lectures on Government and Binding ("Principles and Parameters framework")
Revised Extended Standard Theory
Standard Theory of generative grammar
X-bar theory ("Principles and Parameters theory")
influenced
Chomskyan linguistics ("language acquisition device")
associatedWith
Lectures on Government and Binding ("Principles and Parameters")
coreConcept
The Minimalist Program ("Principles and Parameters framework")
influencedBy
binding (linguistics) ("Principles and Parameters framework")
partOf
Revised Extended Standard Theory
precedes
Standard Theory of generative grammar
predecessorOf
Minimalist Program ("Principles and Parameters framework")
relatedTo

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