LING 100 Week 10.1 Nov 16, 2021 Universal Grammar & Parametric Variation Universal grammar: the system of categories, operations and principles shared by all languages. Ug leaves room for variation. Parameters: set of options that UG permits for a particular phenomenon. Language Acquisition Children do not approach the task of acquiring their first language with a blank slate. They have an innate knowledge of Universal Grammar fiU.G). - knowledge of the kinds of word units that languages cant have, awareness of recognizing the different behaviours such as noun or verb · Universal Grammar Categories Phrase Structure Principles of Grammar Parameter settings When children acquire their first language, they acquire the parameter settings in their language, for example ... · Parameter settings for Merge, How Merge applies. · Parameter settings for Move How Move applies. Parameter setting & the merge component Universal grammar & merge Children have an innate knowledge of what constitutes a possible phrase and sentence. # This knowledge is modeled as a generalized fii.e., universal) X' schema. Language variation & merge All phrases and sentences are built in accordance with the generalized X' schema in all languages. -child would be exposed to different linguistic input -specifier can come before or after intermediate phrase #Structural relations are universally
fixed. But the ordering of each pair of constituents varies. Specifier: A specifier is a daughter of XP and a sister of X'. Only the order of Specifier and X' varies from language to language. Complement - only the order of complement and x varies from languages. Parameter setting & merge - these ordering variations are thought to reflect a series of binary parameters fieach parameter has 2 possible settings) in universal grammar -individual languages are thought have each their own parameter setting for how specifier and complements are ordered. The best known among these is the head complement parameter. the head complement parameter -head complement parameter has 2 options Option a - the head proceeds its complement Option b - the head follows its complement Very early acquisition - this stage of 2 and 2.5 years they can strain some words together Parameter setting & move component -children have innate knowledge about the syntactic semantic features that trigger the application of move -a case in point, we will consider question clauses -in general question material is interpretated in CP, scopes over in clause -this generalization led to the hypothesis that the question feature +Q is in C, the head of CP -evidence is complex - +Q triggers wh movement in English Language variation and move -+Q does not appear to trigger wh movement in all languages -this led to the generalization that languages vary regarding the application of move -English = what did Alice see Mandarin = you buy what Parameter setting & move This kind of variation is thought to reflect a series of binary parameters in universal grammar. Individual languages have each their own parameter settings for T-to-C Movement, Wh Movement, and so on. One of these is