These are notes compiled from the lecture notes used in General Linguistics 178, 2019. They contain the tree diagrams and summarise the relevant information. (I attained nearly full marks for this section in the last exam ;))
Disclaimer: these notes are summaries of my lecturer’s slides (Me Jean-Marie Potgieter). All creds to
her.
• Syntax = study of
1. How sentences are structured / built up out of smaller units (words)
2. How mechanisms / devices / operations by which such structures are
formed
• Taxonomy: list according to which different syntactic unites are organized
into certain classes / categories
• Parts of Speech:
Subject: person / thing who does something, or finds themselves in
specific mental state
Object: person / thing that something is done to
Adverb: provides additional information about manner / time / place /
instrument etc.
Generative Grammar
• Takes cognitive approach to language investigation – focus on what
speakers know of their first language
• Theory / model of particular i-language
• Main aims:
- To determine what type of grammatical knowledge a fluent speaker
has of the structure of their language
- To provide scientifically adequate account of this knowledge
• Grammatical knowledge (knowledge of language structure) gives fluent
speakers the abilities:
, 1. To form various types of sentences found within that language
(negative sentences, active / passive, questions etc.)
2. To interpret utterances within that language
3. To make intuitive judgements about grammaticality / acceptability of
utterance within that language
• Traditional grammar: taxonomic approach to language investigation
(language = something ‘out there’)
Generative grammar: cognitive approach to language investigation
(language = in the mind)
• Grammatical competence:
- System of knowledge in the mind of fluent speaker
- Not influenced by non-linguistic factors
- Internal language
• Linguistic performance:
- Spoken / written / signed language
- Imperfect reflection of underlying grammatical competence
- Influenced by non-linguistic factors (tiredness, drugs etc.)
- External language
• Universal grammar: theory about nature of the grammars of all possible
human languages
• Basic assumption of generative approach:
- All humans are born with biological / genetically-determined Language
Faculty, which provides ability to acquire any possible human language
- Condition: exposure to a language
- UG = initial state of Language Faculty (baby)
- Grammatical competence = final stable state (after sufficient exposure
to language)
, Innateness Hypothesis
• Normal progress of language acquisition:
1. 12 months: 1st words
2. 18 months: vocab around 50 words – no inflection
3. 18+ months: first signs of grammar acquisition; 2-3 word-phrases;
inflection
4. 30+ months: near adult grammar
• Acquisition of 1st language is determined by innate Language Faculty in
brain + provides child with set of procedures for developing grammar on
basis of linguistic experience (speech input)
Input [experience x lang] → Language Faculty → Output [grammar x lang]
• Support:
- Language acquisition + speech = unique to humans
- Natural languages include unique principles + features – give insight
into human brain
- All ‘normal’ (?) children can acquire (any) language, irrespective of
intelligence
- Uniform development of grammars within + across language borders –
indicates children are “biologically equipped” for task of lang
acquisition
- Speed of acquisition supports idea of “genetic program”
- Children use (often ungrammatical) input in their linguistic experience
to develop a grammatical competence (i-lang) – shows genetically
determined tendency to analyze phrases as containing abstract
grammatical properties
- Language acquisition is an unconscious, instinctive + spontaneous
process w/o teaching/training or conscious exercise
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