String Constituent Analysis
Robert E. Longacre · Language · 1960
Immediate constituent analysis is based on an implicit assumption that linguistic structures—especially syntactic structures—are layered structures amenable to analysis by progressive dichotomous cutting. This paper suggests an alternative assumption, viz., that some linguistic structures are layered while others are ordered like beads on a string. Negatively this alternative assumption leads to a rejection of conventional immediate constituent analysis along with its reluctance to recognize more than two constituents on the same level of cutting. Positively, it leads to the development of a string constituent analysis in which grammatical strings are discovered and described (with mention of any observable layering characteristics), and in which constituent substitution points within the strings are likewise discovered and described. It is important to note that, while string constituent analysis is not geared to the assumption of the relevance of layering at all points in the structure of a language, it does not rule out the observation and description of layering where this is relevant.