What Kinds of Syntactic Phenomena Must Biologists, Neurobiologists, and Computer Scientists Try to Explain and Replicate?
Tallerman Maggie, Newmeyer Frederick, Bickerton Derek, Bouchard Denis, Edith Kaan, Rizzi Luigi · The MIT Press eBooks · 2009
This chapter focuses on research dealing with syntactic phenomena as well as the biological foundations and origin of syntax. It first outlines the main building blocks of syntax, starting with lexical categories and functional categories. It then considers hierarchical structure and recursion and discusses a typology of dependencies between syntactic elements, along with the relationship between such dependencies and the needs of the human parser. It also describes various kinds of syntactic universals, their treatment within different grammatical traditions, and possible responses to exceptional constructions. The chapter also explores the development of creoles from pidgins, the diachronic processes involved in language change, and the ontogenetic development of language in infants.