THE ACQUISITION OF PARAMETERIZED GRAMMARS.
Item
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Title
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THE ACQUISITION OF PARAMETERIZED GRAMMARS.
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Identifier
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AAI8401480
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identifier
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8401480
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Creator
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HYAMS, NINA MOSS.
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Contributor
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Helen Cairns | Robert Fiengo
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Date
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1983
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Language
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English
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Publisher
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City University of New York.
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Subject
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Language, Linguistics
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Abstract
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This study investigates syntactic development in young children within the framework of the Government-Binding Theory of grammar (cf. Chomsky, 1981).;Within Government-Binding Theory, Universal Grammar (UG) is formulated as a system of principles and parameters, where the parameters express the limited range of possible variation associated with each principle. In a parameterized theory of grammar, the task of the language learner is to "fix" the parameters of UG at the values which are correct for the particular language he is acquiring . The choice of one or another of the set of predetermined values may have complex consequences resulting in languages which appear to be quite diverse.;A parameterized theory of grammar raises the empirical possibility that an early grammar of a particular language may differ from the adult grammar with respect to the values specified for particular parameters. The "missetting" in the early grammar results in a language which varies in systematic ways from the adult language.;In this thesis, it is argued that the early grammar of English differs from the adult grammar with respect to the value specified along a particular parameter of UG, the AG/PRO parameter (a version of the Pro-Drop Parameter). This difference between the two grammars accounts for many of the salient properties of early English which distinguish it from the adult language, for example, the optionality of lexical subjects and the absence of modals and auxiliaries. Also considered is the process of "restructuring" by which the early grammar comes to resemble the adult system.;The effects of the AG/PRO parameter on the early grammar of German are also briefly considered, and the early grammar of Italian is examined vis-a-vis the AG/PRO parameter and two other parameterized principles of UG.;Central to this study is the hypothesis that grammatical development is a "continuous" process in the sense that each of the intermediate grammars falls within well-defined limits, as specified by the theory of grammar. Alternative "discontinuous" models of development (i.e., "semantically-based" child grammars) are discussed. They are shown to be empirically inadequate as a characterization of the child's linguistic competence during the early stages of acquisition, and conceptually problematic when viewed from a broader developmental perspective.
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Type
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dissertation
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Source
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PQT Legacy CUNY.xlsx
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degree
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Ph.D.
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Program
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Linguistics
