Minimalist Inquiries.docx

Minimalist Inquiries.docx

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MinimalistInquiries

MinimalistInquiries:

theFramework

Chomsky,Noam.2000.

Martinetal.StepbyStep:

EssayinMinimalistSyntaxinHonorofHowardLasnik.Cambridge:

theMITPress.

F17CGZBDTE0WE5

Theremarksthatfolloware"inquiries,"atermintendedtostresstheirtentativecharacter.Theyare"minimalist"inthesenseofthe"MinimalistProgram,"itselfexploratoryasthetermindicates,andinitsshortcareeralreadydevelopinginpartiallyconflictingandattractivedirections.Whatappearshereisthefirstpartofanunfinishedmanuscript.Here,Iwillkeeptogeneralconsiderations,rethinkingtheissuesandconcernsthatmotivatetheprogramandattemptingtogiveacleareraccountandfurtherdevelopmentofthemfromonepointofview,takingasastartingpointthefinalsectionsofChomsky（1995a）（henceforthMP）.Thatcollectionreflectsanevolutionoverseveralyears,withfairlyradicalchangesalongtheway.Muchlikeearlierstages,thisonereflectsacollectiveeffort,incorporatingideasandproposalsofmanystudentsandcolleagueswithnoseriousattemptatattribution,infactnowaytoachieveit.Ishould,however,liketotaketheoccasiontoexpressmyveryspecialindebtednesstoHowardLasnikformanyyearsofclosecollaboration,whichhasbeenextremelyrewardingformeandismostinadequatelyrecordedinprint,thoughwell-knowntoparticipantsintheseenterprises.

1.Background

Letusbeginbyreviewingbrieflyaseriesofassumptions,discussedandqualifiedelsewhere.

First,thereisafacultyoflanguageFL,acomponentofthehumanmind/braindedicatedtolanguage.Giventhisendowment,ahumaninfant,butnotherpetkitten,willreflexivelycategorizepartsoftheconfusionaroundheras"linguistic"anddeveloprichandhighlyarticulatedcapacitiestoenterintothesepeculiarmodesofhumanthoughtandaction.Incontrast,theinfantandkittenwill,itseems,developalongarathersimilarpathinacquiringcapacitiestodealwithmanyotheraspectsoftheworld.FLcanberegardedasa"languageorgan,"intheinformalsenseinwhichthevisualsystem,orimmunesystem,orcirculatorysystemarecommonlydescribedasorgansofthebody:

notobjectsthatcanbebe[SIC]removedleavingtherestintact,butsubsystemsofamorecomplexstructurethatwehopetounderstandbyinvestigatingpartsthathavedistinctivecharacteristics,andtheirinteractions.Despiteexplicitdenialsandapparentcontroversy,thismuchseemstobegenerallyassumed,atleasttacitly.

Likeotherorgans,FLhasan"initialstate"S0thatisanexpressionofthegenes.Togoodfirstapproximation,itisuniformforthespecies,apparentlyalsobiologicallyisolatedinessentialrespectsandaveryrecentevolutionarydevelopment.FLundergoesstatechangesundertriggeringandshapinginfluencesoftheenvironment.IfJones'sFLisinstateL,wesaythatJoneshas（speaks,knows,...）the（I-）languageL.Twoimmediatetasksofatheoryoflanguagearetocharacterizethelanguages（states）attainedandthesharedinitialstate:

thetasksof"descriptiveadequacy"and"explanatoryadequacy,"respectively.WeunderstandUniversalGrammar（UG）tobethetheoryoftheinitialstate,andparticulargrammarstobetheoriesofattainedstates.

ThelanguageLincludesacognitivesystemthatstoresinformation:

roughly,informationabout

sound,meaning,andstructuralorganization.Performancesystemsaccessthisinformationandputittouse.Empiricalquestionsariseatonce:

inparticular,towhatextentaretheperformancesystemspartofFL,thatis,language-dedicated,specificallyadaptedforlanguage?

Onthe"soundside,"theanswerisunclearanddisputed;onthe"meaningside,"thequestionsaremuchharderandmoreobscureforobviousreasons,andjudgmentscanonlybehighlytentative.AstandardworkingassumptionisthatperformancesystemsareexternaltoFL.Thatisasimplifyingassumption,notdefinitelyknowntobefalse,thoughitmaywellbe,perhapsinimportantways.Theissueshavehadlittleeffectonempiricalinquiryintoquestionsofdescriptiveandexplanatoryadequacy,butcometotheforewithintheminimalistprogram.

Iwilladoptusualconventionsforpresentpurposes,recognizingthattheyarenotinnocent.WethereforetakeLtobeacognitivesystemalone.

IwillassumefurtherthatLprovidesinformationtotheperformancesystemsintheformof"levelsofrepresentation,"inthetechnicalsense.Theperformancesystemsaccessthese"interfacelevels."Assumefurtherthatperformancesystemsareoftwokinds:

sensorimotorsystemsandsystemsofthought（togiveanametosomethingverypoorlyunderstood）.Letustakethem（tentatively）tobeunitaryanddistinct,inthesensethatallsensorimotorsystemsaccessoneinterfacelevel,andallsystemsofthoughtaccessadistinctinterfacelevel.OntheseassumptionsweunderstandLtobeadevicethatgeneratesexpressionsEXP=,wherePHONprovidesthe"instructions"forsensorimotorsystemsandSEMforsystemsofthought;informationaboutsoundandmeaning,respectively,where"sound"and"meaning"areunderstoodininternalistterms,"externalizable"forlanguageusebytheperformancesystems.TheoriesofPFandLFseektospelloutthenatureofPHONandSEM.Iwillassumesomeversionofstandardtheoriestobeadequateforpresentpurposes,usingtheconventionalterm"features"forthepropertiesoflanguagethatenterintoPF,LF,andthecomputationalsystemthatgeneratesthem.

Again,theassumptionsarenotinnocent.Thus,Epsteinetal.（1998）pursueastrongderivationalapproachinwhichperformancesystemsaccessthecomputationitself,dispensingwithlevelsofrepresentation.Thatarticulatoryandperceptualsystemsaccessthesameinformation（PF）isalsofarfromself-evident,correspondingassumptionsonthemeaningsideevenlessso.Andtherearemanyotherquestions.

Tosaythatphoneticfeaturesare"instructions"tosensorimotorsystemsattheinterfaceisnottosaythattheyhavetheform"movethetongueinsuch-and-suchaway"or"performsuch-and-suchanalysisofsignals."Rather,itexpressesthehypothesisthatthefeaturesprovideinformationintheformrequiredforthesensorimotorsystemstofunctioninlanguage-independentways.Similarobservationsholdonthe（farmoreobscure）meaningside.Theframeworkimposesadistinctionbetween

（1）linguisticexpressionsEXP=thatareinternaltothemind/brain,and

（2）observableevents,utterancesandactions–externalizationof（mentally-constructed）speechacts.Noquestionsariseabouttheontologicalstatusofthesetofexpressions{EXP}generatedbyL;itsstatusissomewhatlikethatofpotentialvisualimagesorplansforlimbmotions.

Finally,IwillassumethatthePrinciples-and-Parameters（P&P）approachisinimportantrespectsontherighttrack.Withinanyversionofit,themajorproblemistodiscovertheprinciplesandparameters,andtoshowhowaparticularchoiceofparametervaluesandlexiconentersintofixingalanguageL;andtoproceedbeyond,tothestudyofuse,acquisition,pathology,cellularmechanisms,andawiderangeofotherquestionshavingtodowiththeplaceoflanguageinthebiologicalandsocialworlds.

Whateveritsultimatefate,thecrystallizationoftheP&Papproachcontributedtosubstantialprogressinseveraloftheseareas.Theapproachalsoopenssomenewquestions.Concernfordescriptiveandexplanatoryadequacyisasoldasthestudyoflanguage.Assoonasthetwotraditionalgoalswerereformulatedwithinmoderngenerativegrammar,serioustensionarosebetweenthem:

thesearchfordescriptiveadequacyseemstoleadtoevergreatercomplexityofrulesystems,varyingamonggrammaticalconstructionsandacrosslanguages,whilethesearchforexplanatoryadequacyleadstotheconclusionthatlanguagestructureislargelyinvariant.Itisthistensionthathasdriventheresearchinquiryofgenerativegrammarfromitsinception.TheP&Pframeworksuggestsawaytoresolvethetension,thusofferingsomeconceptionoftheformthatagenuinetheorymighttake.

ItthereforebecomespossibletoconsidersomenewquestionsaboutFL.Inparticular,wemayaskthequestion:

HowwellisFLdesigned?

Supposethatasuper-engineerweregivendesignspecificationsforlanguage:

HerearetheconditionsthatFLmustsatisfy;yourtaskistodesignadevicethatsatisfiestheseconditionsinsomeoptimalmanner（thesolutionmightnotbeunique）.Thequestionis:

Howclosedoeslanguagecometosuchoptimaldesign?

Ifthequestionisreal,andsubjecttoinquiry,thentheP&Papproachmightturnouttobeanevenmoreradicalbreakfromthetraditionthanitseemedtobe.Notonlydoesitabandontraditionalconceptionsof"ruleofgrammar"and"grammaticalconstruction"thatwerecarriedoverinsomeformintogenerativegrammar,butitmayalsosetthestageforaskingnovelquestionsthathavenorealcounterpartintheearlierstudyoflanguage.

The"minimalistprogram"istheattempttoformulateandstudysuchquestions.Oneshouldbearinmindthatitisaprogram>,notatheory,evenlesssothantheP&Papproach.Thereareminimalistquestions,butnominimalistanswers,apartfromthosefoundinpursuingtheprogram:

perhapsthatitmakesnosense,orthatitmakessensebutispremature.Theprogrampresupposesthecommongoalofallinquiryintolanguage--todiscovertherighttheory--andasksfurtherwhylanguageisthatway.Morenarrowly,itseekstodiscovertowhatextentminimalconditionsofadequacysufficetodeterminethenatureoftherighttheory.Questionsofthiskindarenotoftenstudied,andmightnotbeappropriateatthecurrentlevelofunderstanding,whichis,afterall,stillquitethi