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Uniformity and diversity: A minimalist perspective

Sigurðsson, Halldor Armann LU (2011) In Linguistic Variation Yearbook 11. p.189-222
Abstract
This essay discusses language uniformity and diversity in the light of recent development of the minimalist program (Hauser et al. 2002, Chomsky 2008, Berwick and Chomsky 2011, and much related work). It pursues two leading ideas. First, Universal Grammar (UG) is maximally minimal: hence early internal language (I-language) is largely uniform across individuals, language variation being mainly or entirely confined to externalization. Second, the mapping from I-language to external language (E-language) is non-isomorphic (the Non-isomorphy Generalization), morphological processes such as agreement and case marking being E-language phenomena, taking place in the externalization component. The first line of reasoning converges with many of... (More)
This essay discusses language uniformity and diversity in the light of recent development of the minimalist program (Hauser et al. 2002, Chomsky 2008, Berwick and Chomsky 2011, and much related work). It pursues two leading ideas. First, Universal Grammar (UG) is maximally minimal: hence early internal language (I-language) is largely uniform across individuals, language variation being mainly or entirely confined to externalization. Second, the mapping from I-language to external language (E-language) is non-isomorphic (the Non-isomorphy Generalization), morphological processes such as agreement and case marking being E-language phenomena, taking place in the externalization component. The first line of reasoning converges with many of Chomsky’s recent ideas, the second one is more divergent. (Less)
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author
organization
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type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
E-language, Externalization, I-language, Person, Tense, Non-isomorphy Generalization
in
Linguistic Variation Yearbook
volume
11
pages
189 - 222
publisher
John Benjamins Publishing Company
ISSN
2211-6834
language
English
LU publication?
yes
additional info
The information about affiliations in this record was updated in December 2015. The record was previously connected to the following departments: Swedish (015011001)
id
0fc931c5-a6fd-4798-9346-f98450c21eeb (old id 2294490)
alternative location
http://ling.auf.net/lingBuzz/001323
date added to LUP
2016-04-01 09:48:10
date last changed
2018-11-21 19:36:45
@article{0fc931c5-a6fd-4798-9346-f98450c21eeb,
  abstract     = {{This essay discusses language uniformity and diversity in the light of recent development of the minimalist program (Hauser et al. 2002, Chomsky 2008, Berwick and Chomsky 2011, and much related work). It pursues two leading ideas. First, Universal Grammar (UG) is maximally minimal: hence early internal language (I-language) is largely uniform across individuals, language variation being mainly or entirely confined to externalization. Second, the mapping from I-language to external language (E-language) is non-isomorphic (the Non-isomorphy Generalization), morphological processes such as agreement and case marking being E-language phenomena, taking place in the externalization component. The first line of reasoning converges with many of Chomsky’s recent ideas, the second one is more divergent.}},
  author       = {{Sigurðsson, Halldor Armann}},
  issn         = {{2211-6834}},
  keywords     = {{E-language; Externalization; I-language; Person; Tense; Non-isomorphy Generalization}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  pages        = {{189--222}},
  publisher    = {{John Benjamins Publishing Company}},
  series       = {{Linguistic Variation Yearbook}},
  title        = {{Uniformity and diversity: A minimalist perspective}},
  url          = {{https://lup.lub.lu.se/search/files/1267962/4226596.pdf}},
  volume       = {{11}},
  year         = {{2011}},
}