22/8/2016
Whatisbasiclinguistictheory?
What is basic linguistic theory?
Theexpression"basiclinguistictheory"(followingR.M.W.Dixon)referstothetheoretical
frameworkthatismostwidelyemployedinlanguagedescription,particularlygrammatical
descriptionsofentirelanguages.Itisalsotheframeworkassumedbymostworkinlinguistic
typology.Thestatusofbasiclinguistictheoryasatheoreticalframeworkisnotoftenrecognized.
Peopleusingbasiclinguistictheoryoftencharacterizetheirworkasatheoreticalortheoryneutral
ortheoreticallyeclectic.However,thereisreallynosuchthingasatheoreticalortheoryneutral
description,sinceonecannotdescribeanythingwithoutmakingsometheoreticalassumptions.
Theextenttowhichmostdescriptiveworksharesthesametheoreticalassumptionsisactually
ratherstriking,especiallywhenoneconsidershowmuchsuchworkhasincommoninits
assumptionscomparedtoothertheoreticalframeworks.Itisprobablythemostwidelyusedand
bestknowntheoreticalframeworkinthefield,especiallyoutsidetheUnitedStates.Itis
particularlypopularamonglinguistswhoaremoreinterestedinlanguagesthaninlanguage.
Manylinguistswhoareadherentsofothertheoreticalframeworksassumeitasapointof
departure,asaframeworktheywishtoimproveon.
Unlikemanytheoreticalframeworksinlinguistics,whichareoftenephemeralandpassquickly
intoobsolescence,basiclinguistictheoryisacumulativeframeworkthathasslowlydeveloped
overthepastcenturyaslinguistshavelearnedhowtodescribelanguagesbetter.Itisgroundedin
traditionalgrammarandcanbeseenashavingevolvedoutoftraditionalgrammar.Ithasalso
beenheavilyinfluencedbypregenerativestructuralisttraditions,particularlyinemphasizingthe
needtodescribeeachlanguageinitsownterms,ratherthanimposingonindividuallanguages
conceptswhoseprimarymotivationcomesfromotherlanguages,incontrasttotraditional
grammarandmanyrecenttheoreticalframeworks.Ithastakenanalytictechniquesfrom
structuralisttraditions,particularlyintheareasofphonologyandmorphology.Butitalso
contrastswithworkthatismorepurelystructuralistinattemptingtodescribelanguagesina
moreuserfriendlyfashion,inincludingsemanticconsiderationsinitsanalyses,andin
employingterminologythathasbeenusedforsimilarphenomenainotherlanguages.
Basiclinguistictheoryhasalsobeeninfluencedtoacertainextentbygenerativegrammar,
thoughtheinfluencehasprimarilybeenfromearlygenerativegrammar(before1970)andis
oftenindirect.Theinfluencelargelyreflectsthefactthatearlygenerativegrammarexamined
manyaspectsofthesyntaxofEnglishingreatdetail,andtheinsightsofthatresearchhave
influencedhowbasiclinguistictheorylooksatthesyntaxofotherlanguages,especiallyinterms
ofhowonecanargueforparticularanalyses.Theinfluenceofgenerativegrammarcanbeseenin
thewaythatcertainconstructionsinotherlanguagesareidentifiedandcharacterizedinways
reminiscentofconstructionsinEnglish,fromcleftconstructionsto"topicalizations"toreflexive
constructions.Morerecentworkingenerativegrammar,especiallyGovernmentBindingTheory,
hashadessentiallynoimpactonbasiclinguistictheory.
Inthepast30years,theprimaryinfluenceonbasiclinguistictheoryhascomefromworkin
linguistictypology.Thisinfluencehascomeprimarilyfromtherecognitionofrecurrentsortsof
phenomenacrosslinguisticallyandbasiclinguistictheoryhasincorporatedmanysubstantive
conceptsdiscussedinthetypologicalliterature.Thisincludessuchnotionsassplitintransitivity,
antipassiveconstructions,internallyheadedrelativeclauses,switchreference,andheadmarking.
Workintypologyhasalsoinfluencedthewaylinguistsdescribinglanguagesthinkaboutsuch
thingsasergativityandrelativeclauses.
http://linguistics.buffalo.edu/people/faculty/dryer/dryer/blt
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22/8/2016
Whatisbasiclinguistictheory?
Basiclinguistictheorydiffersfrommanyothertheoreticalframeworksinthatitisnotaformal
theorybutanINformaltheory.Thatis,manygrammaticalphenomenacangenerallybe
characterizedwithsufficientprecisioninEnglish(orsomeothernaturallanguage),withoutthe
useofformalism.
Theabovediscussionfocusesonthemorphosyntacticsideofbasiclinguistictheory(orwhatone
mightcall"basicsyntactictheory"),butonecanalsotracethehistoricalinfluencesonphonology
inbasiclinguistictheory.Theconceptofthephonemeisprobablythemostcentralphonological
conceptinbasiclinguistictheory:identifyingthephonemesinalanguageremainsthemost
fundamentaltaskindescribingthephonologyofalanguage.Butgenerativephonologyhasalso
influencedbasiclinguistictheory:languagedescriptionsoftenfindthegenerativenotionof
phonologicalruleuseful,andthedescriptivetoolsofmorerecentphonologicaltheories,
especiallyautosegmentalphonology,haveprovenusefulfordescriptivelinguists.
Matthew Dryer's Homepage
Copyright 2001. Department of Linguistics, University at Buffalo. All rights reserved.
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