Language Acquisition and Learnability

257 Pages·2001·0.99 MB·English

by  Stefano Bertolo (Editor)

Language Acquisition and Learnability is an accessible introduc-
tion to learnability theory and its interactions with linguistic
theories. Working within the Principles and Parameters frame-
work, the book surveys general concepts from formal learning
theory and complexity theory, together with important findings
from developmental psycholinguistics, historical linguistics and
language processing. Written by a team of leading researchers,
it examines important techniques that can be used to obtain
interesting and empirically testable predictions from parametric
theories of language variation and includes chapters on syntax,
diachronic syntax and the relationship between linguistic
complexity and the form of parameters. Fully integrated, and
complete with a large number of exercises to test readers on
their understanding of the material, this book will become
essential reading for students and researchers in linguistic
theory.
Stefano Bertolo has taught at Rutgers University and the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology and has presented the
results of his research on learnability and parametric linguistics
at several international conferences. His published work
includes the article ‘‘Maturation and Learnability’’ (1995) in
the journal Language Acquisition and the entry ‘‘Formal
Models of Language Acquisition’’ in The MIT Encyclopedia of
the Cognitive Sciences (1999).

Language Acquisition
and Learnability
Edited by
STEFANO BERTOLO
PUBLISHEDBY THEPRESSSYNDICATEOFTHEUNIVERSITY OFCAMBRIDGE
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Firstpublished2001
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Contents
List of contributors vi
Preface vii
1 A brief overview of learnability 1
stefano bertolo
2 Learnability and the acquisition of syntax 15
martin atkinson
3 Language change and learnability 81
ian roberts
4 Information theory, complexity and linguistic descriptions 126
robin clark
5 The Structural Triggers Learner 172
william g. sakas and janet d. fodor
References 234
Index 244
Contributors
Martin Atkinson, Department of Language and Linguistics,
University of Essex
Stefano Bertolo, 8849 Mountain Ridge Circle, Austin,
Texas TX 78759
Robin Clark, Department of Linguistics,
University of Pennsylvania
Janet Dean Fodor, Ph.D. Program in Linguistics,
Graduate Center, City University of New York
Ian Roberts, Department of Linguistics, University of Stuttgart
William Gregory Sakas, Department of Computer Science,
Hunter College and Ph.D. Program in Computer Science,
Graduate Center, City University of New York
Preface
Language learning is considered by many to be one of the central
problems of linguistics and, more generally, cognitive science. Yet, the
very same interdisciplinary nature that makes this field of study
so interesting, makes it somehow di(cid:129)cult for researchers to reach a
thorough understanding of the issues at play. This follows from the
fact that research in the field by necessity has to draw on techniques
and results that come from traditionally disparate fields such as linguis-
tics, psychology and computer science.
This book has been conceived as a companion to learnability for the
benefit of those linguists that base their work on Chomsky’s Principles
and Parameters Hypothesis. General concepts from formal learning
theory and complexity theory and important facts from developmental
psycholinguistics, historical linguistics and language processing have
been introduced in a tutorial and completely self-contained fashion, so
as to introduce linguists of the parametric persuasion to important
techniques that can be used (and indeed have been used in the recent
research literature) to obtain interesting and empirically testable
predictions from parametric theories of language variation.
The tutorial nature of the book is demonstrated by the large number
of exercises that can be used by readers to test their understanding of
the material. In the editing of the book a conscious e(cid:255)ort has been
made in order to integrate the five chapters as tightly as possible by
means of extensive cross-referencing.
S. Bertolo
Acknowledgments
This book started as a tutorial prepared by the authors for the Fall
1996 meeting of the Linguistic Association of Great Britain, in Cardi(cid:255).
The support of the Linguistic Association of Great Britain allowed us
viii Preface
to start this project and we are very pleased to be able to express our
gratitude here.
In addition, the editor of the volume wishes to thank Dr Andrew
Winnard, hiseditoratCambridge UniversityPress, forwaitingpatiently
while the editing of the manuscript was being delayed by the ever
growing time demands of a fast paced non-academic work environment
on one side and a young family on the other.