Integrational theory of grammars

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The integrational theory of grammars [1] is the theory of linguistic descriptions that has been developed within the general linguistic approach of Integrational Linguistics.

Integrational Linguistics (IL) is a general approach to linguistics that has been developed by the German linguist Hans-Heinrich Lieb and others since the late 1960s. The term "Integrational Linguistics" as a name for this approach has been used in publications since 1977 and antedates the use of the same term for integrationism, an unrelated approach developed by Roy Harris. Integrational Linguistics continues being developed by an open group of linguists from various countries.

Contents

Overview

Differently from most other approaches in linguistics, Integrational Linguistics emphasizes a distinction between theories of language and theories of language descriptions. Integrational Linguistics has therefore developed both a general theory of language, the Integrational Theory of Language, and a theory of linguistic descriptions. [2] [3]

Linguistics is the scientific study of language. It involves analysing language form, language meaning, and language in context. The earliest activities in the documentation and description of language have been attributed to the 6th-century-BC Indian grammarian Pāṇini who wrote a formal description of the Sanskrit language in his Aṣṭādhyāyī.

In Integrational Linguistics, a description of a language is understood as a theory (formulated by the linguist) of the language; similarly, for descriptions of varieties or individual idiolects. Traditionally, grammars are most important among such descriptions, which also include descriptions of (parts of) the variety structure of a language, such as a description of a language's development in time or distribution in geographical space. 'Grammar' is here used in a broad sense, covering not only morphological and syntactic but also phonological and semantic descriptions. A description of the lexicon, i.e. a dictionary, is again construed as a theory of its object (Drude 2004). [4] Since the Integrational Theory of Grammars deals with the relation between language descriptions and their objects, it presupposes both the Integrational Theory of Linguistic Variability and the Integrational Theory of Language Systems. [5]

A theory is a contemplative and rational type of abstract or generalizing thinking, or the results of such thinking. Depending on the context, the results might, for example, include generalized explanations of how nature works. The word has its roots in ancient Greek, but in modern use it has taken on several related meanings.

Idiolect is an individual's distinctive and unique use of language, including speech. This unique usage encompasses vocabulary, grammar, and pronunciation.

In linguistics, grammar is the set of structural rules governing the composition of clauses, phrases, and words in any given natural language. The term refers also to the study of such rules, and this field includes phonology, morphology, and syntax, often complemented by phonetics, semantics, and pragmatics.

On an IL view, grammars have three fundamental properties: [5]

  1. Ideally, they are empirical axiomatic theories. IL does not propose to replace traditional, non-axiomatic grammars by axiomatic theories. Rather, an axiomatic format for grammars is seen as an ideal reference-point for non-axiomatic, declarative grammars that allows for a more stringent formulation of such grammars, a formulation that avoids inconsistencies and circularities without having explicit resort to axiomatization. The empirical basis of grammars is ultimately seen in acts of communication on the one hand and mental states and events on the other: it is such acts or states and events that directly or indirectly provide the data for a grammar.
  2. Grammars are to be formulated so as to account for language variability both within and between languages, i.e., they must presuppose a theory of linguistic variability.
  3. They are formulated 'in terms of' a theory of language: a grammar includes terms, definitions, assumptions, and theorems from a theory of language that is presupposed in the grammar. These are used in the grammar (i) to provide descriptive terms for categories and other entities of the language under description, and (ii) to interact with terms, definitions, assumptions, and theorems that are specific to the grammar.

Typically, the axioms and theorems of a grammar of a language or language variety are formulated as universal implications over the systems of the idiolects in the given language or variety. For example, a traditional statement on a language variety, such as

Logical consequence is a fundamental concept in logic, which describes the relationship between statements that hold true when one statement logically follows from one or more statements. A valid logical argument is one in which the conclusion is entailed by the premises, because the conclusion is the consequence of the premises. The philosophical analysis of logical consequence involves the questions: In what sense does a conclusion follow from its premises? and What does it mean for a conclusion to be a consequence of premises? All of philosophical logic is meant to provide accounts of the nature of logical consequence and the nature of logical truth.

hack "taxi" is a noun in Colloquial American English.

is construed as equivalent to

For all S: If S is a system of some element of Colloquial American English, then <hack, "taxi"> is an element of Noun-of-S.

which may be a sentence of a grammar that contains 'Colloquial American English' as an axiomatic constant, denoting a certain subset of English. [5]

Generally, an integrational grammar is not an algorithm but a 'declarative' theory: its formulas have the form of statements; thus, the grammar's axioms and theorems can be understood directly as statements on the language, variety, or idiolect described by the grammar. Excepting the language needed for formulating the semantic part of a grammar, integrational grammars may be formulated using an appropriate version of set theory. [5]

Related Research Articles

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Semantic features represent the basic conceptual components of meaning for any lexical item. An individual semantic feature constitutes one component of a word's intension, which is the inherent sense or concept evoked. Linguistic meaning of a word is proposed to arise from contrasts and significant differences with other words. Semantic features enable linguistics to explain how words that share certain features may be members of the same semantic domain. Correspondingly, the contrast in meanings of words is explained by diverging semantic features. For example, father and son share the common components of 'human', 'kinship', 'male' and are thus part of a semantic domain of male family relations. They differ in terms of 'generation' and 'adulthood', which is what gives each its individual meaning.

In axiomatic set theory, the axiom of empty set is a statement that asserts the existence of a set with no elements. It is an axiom of Kripke–Platek set theory and the variant of general set theory that Burgess (2005) calls "ST," and a demonstrable truth in Zermelo set theory and Zermelo–Fraenkel set theory, with or without the axiom of choice.

Cognitive linguistics (CL) is an interdisciplinary branch of linguistics, combining knowledge and research from both psychology and linguistics. It describes how language interacts with cognition, how language forms our thoughts, and the evolution of language parallel with the change in the common mindset across time.

Proof theory is a major branch of mathematical logic that represents proofs as formal mathematical objects, facilitating their analysis by mathematical techniques. Proofs are typically presented as inductively-defined data structures such as plain lists, boxed lists, or trees, which are constructed according to the axioms and rules of inference of the logical system. As such, proof theory is syntactic in nature, in contrast to model theory, which is semantic in nature.

In mathematics, an axiomatic system is any set of axioms from which some or all axioms can be used in conjunction to logically derive theorems. A theory consists of an axiomatic system and all its derived theorems. An axiomatic system that is completely described is a special kind of formal system. A formal theory typically means an axiomatic system, for example formulated within model theory. A formal proof is a complete rendition of a mathematical proof within a formal system.

In sociolinguistics, a variety, also called a lect, is a specific form of a language or language cluster. This may include languages, dialects, registers, styles, or other forms of language, as well as a standard variety. The use of the word "variety" to refer to the different forms avoids the use of the term language, which many people associate only with the standard language, and the term dialect, which is often associated with non-standard varieties thought of as less prestigious or "correct" than the standard. Linguists speak of both standard and non-standard (vernacular) varieties. "Lect" avoids the problem in ambiguous cases of deciding whether two varieties are distinct languages or dialects of a single language.

Zellig Sabbettai Harris was a very influential American linguist, mathematical syntactician, and methodologist of science. Originally a Semiticist, he is best known for his work in structural linguistics and discourse analysis and for the discovery of transformational structure in language. These developments from the first 10 years of his career were published within the first 25. His contributions in the subsequent 35 years of his career include transfer grammar, string analysis, elementary sentence-differences, algebraic structures in language, operator grammar, sublanguage grammar, a theory of linguistic information, and a principled account of the nature and origin of language.

A formal system is used to infer theorems from axioms according to a set of rules. These rules used to carry out the inference of theorems from axioms are known as the logical calculus of the formal system. A formal system is essentially an "axiomatic system". In 1921, David Hilbert proposed to use such system as the foundation for the knowledge in mathematics. A formal system may represent a well-defined system of abstract thought. Spinoza's Ethics imitates the form of Euclid's Elements. Spinoza employed Euclidean elements such as "axioms" or "primitive truths", rules of inferences, etc., so that a calculus can be built using these.

A formal proof or derivation is a finite sequence of sentences, each of which is an axiom, an assumption, or follows from the preceding sentences in the sequence by a rule of inference. If the set of assumptions is empty, then the last sentence in a formal proof is called a theorem of the formal system. The notion of theorem is not in general effective, therefore there may be no method by which we can always find a proof of a given sentence or determine that none exists. The concept of natural deduction is a generalization of the concept of proof.

Systemic functional linguistics

Systemic functional linguistics (SFL) is an approach to linguistics that considers language as a social semiotic system.

The axiom of categoricity is a term coined by J. K. Chambers in 1995 to refer to the once-widespread tenet of linguistic theory that in order to properly study language, linguistic data should be removed or abstracted from all real-world context so as to be free of any inconsistencies or variability. This principle was, for different theorists and schools of thought, taken as a prerequisite for linguistic theory, or as a self-evident falsehood to be rejected. It remains an influential idea in linguistics.

<i>Aspects of the Theory of Syntax</i> book by Noam Chomsky

Aspects of the Theory of Syntax is a book on linguistics written by American linguist Noam Chomsky, first published in 1965. In Aspects, Chomsky presented a deeper, more extensive reformulation of transformational generative grammar (TGG), a new kind of syntactic theory that he had introduced in the 1950s with the publication of his first book, Syntactic Structures. Aspects is widely considered to be the foundational document and a proper book-length articulation of Chomskyan theoretical framework of linguistics. It presented Chomsky's epistemological assumptions with a view to establishing linguistic theory-making as a formal discipline comparable to physical sciences, i.e. a domain of inquiry well-defined in its nature and scope. From a philosophical perspective, it directed mainstream linguistic research away from behaviorism, constructivism, empiricism and structuralism and towards mentalism, nativism, rationalism and generativism, respectively, taking as its main object of study the abstract, inner workings of the human mind related to language acquisition and production.

Jeroen van de Weijer is a Dutch linguist who teaches phonology, morphology, phonetics, psycholinguistics, historical linguistics and other courses at Shenzhen University, where he is Distinguished Professor of English linguistics at the School of Foreign Languages. Before, he was Full Professor of English Linguistics at Shanghai International Studies University, in the School of English Studies. After his first degree in English at Radboud University Nijmegen, he worked at the Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics in Nijmegen and obtained his PhD in linguistics at Leiden University. He taught for brief periods at Radboud University Nijmegen, University College London and for over ten years at Leiden University. He is a Fellow of the Royal Netherlands Institute for Advanced Study. Van de Weijer specializes in phonological theory, the phonology-morphology interface, varieties of English, and East Asian languages. He helped edit the journal of Latin and Romance linguistics Probus from 1986 until 2009, and published many edited collections, on a number of topics such as Optimality Theory, Japanese and Dutch. His current research is focused on combining models of theoretical phonology with psycholinguistics.

C.M.I.M. Matthiessen Swedish linguist

Christian Matthias Ingemar Martin Matthiessen is a Swedish-born linguist and a leading figure in the systemic functional linguistics (SFL) school, having authored or co-authored more than 100 books, refereed journal articles, and papers in refereed conference proceedings, with contributions to three television programs. One of his major works is Lexicogrammatical cartography (1995), a 700-page study of the grammatical systems of English from the perspective of SFL. He has co-authored a number of books with Michael Halliday. Since 2008 he has been a professor in the Department of English at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University. Before this, he was Chair of the Department of Linguistics at Macquarie University in Sydney.

The Integrational theory of language is the general theory of language that has been developed within the general linguistic approach of integrational linguistics.

References

  1. ↑ "History of Integrational Linguistics"
  2. ↑ Lieb, Hans-Heinrich. 1983. Integrational Linguistics. Vol. I: General Outline. Amsterdam; Philadelphia: Benjamins. (= Current Issues in Linguistic Theory 17).
  3. ↑ Lieb, Hans-Heinrich: "History of Integrational Linguistics: a short outline". The Homepage of Integrational Linguistics. (Retrieved April 21, 2013).
  4. ↑ Drude, Sebastian. 2004. Wörterbuchinterpretation: Integrative Lexikographie am Beispiel des Guaraní. Tübingen: Niemeyer. (= Lexicographica, Series maior 120). [Doct. diss. Freie Universität Berlin, 2002].
  5. 1 2 3 4 Sackmann, Robin. 2006. "Integrational Linguistics (IL)". In: Keith Brown (ed.-in-chief). Encyclopedia of language and linguistics. 2nd edition. Oxford: Elsevier. Vol.5. 704–713.

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