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Hayes, Bruce; Zuraw, Kie; Siptar, Peter; Londe, Zsuzsa – Language, 2009
Phonological constraints can, in principle, be classified according to whether they are natural (founded in principles of universal grammar (UG)) or unnatural (arbitrary, learned inductively from the language data). Recent work has used this distinction as the basis for arguments about the role of UG in learning. Some languages have phonological…
Descriptors: Vowels, Phonology, Native Speakers, Language Universals
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Cathey, James E.; Demers, Richard A. – Language, 1976
This article maintains that linguistic generalizations are likely to be invalid when they are based on data whose synchronic status is not well-defined. An example is made of the universal principles of grammatical rule ordering proposed in a 1974 study by Koutsoudas, Sanders, and Noll. (CLK)
Descriptors: Descriptive Linguistics, Grammar, Language Patterns, Language Research
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Neidle, Carol; Lee, Robert G.; McLaughlin, Dawn; Bahan, Benjamin; Kegl, Judy – Language, 1998
Argues that a 1997 study of WH-movement in American Sign Language (ASL) proposing leftward syntactic movement uses incorrect interpretations of the data and can not account for the facts of the language. A previously-proposed position that ASL WH-phrases move rightward, and that universal grammar must allow the option of rightward movement, is…
Descriptors: American Sign Language, Grammar, Language Patterns, Language Research
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Evans, Nicholas; Wilkins, David – Language, 2000
Tests earlier claims about the universality of patterns of polysemy and semantic extension in the domain of perception verbs. Utilizing data from a broad range of Australian languages, two hypothesized universals are addressed: Viberg's (1994) proposed unidirectional pattern of extension from higher to lower sensory modalities and Sweeter's (1990)…
Descriptors: Australian Aboriginal Languages, Cognitive Processes, Language Patterns, Language Universals
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Huttar, George L. – Language, 1975
Presents evidence for the idea that when morphemes are borrowed from a socially dominant language into a pidgin, and extended in usage as in a creole, the major factor determining the direction of such extension is the linguistic background of the speakers of languages other than the dominant one. (Author/CLK)
Descriptors: Contrastive Linguistics, Creoles, Language Patterns, Language Universals
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Campbell, Lyle – Language, 1974
Descriptors: Consonants, Descriptive Linguistics, Distinctive Features (Language), English
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Allan, Keith – Language, 1977
Investigation of data from many languages has the following results: (1) the characteristics of classifier languages are distinguished, and four types identified; (2) defining criteria are postulated for classifiers, and it is discovered that every classifier is composed of one or more out of seven categories of classification. (CHK)
Descriptors: Form Classes (Languages), Language Classification, Language Patterns, Language Universals
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Lehmann, W. P. – Language, 1973
Research on which portions of this study are based was performed under a National Science Foundation Grant and a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities. (VM)
Descriptors: Language Acquisition, Language Classification, Language Patterns, Language Typology