Principi e parametri: differenze tra le versioni

L'idea alla base della Teoria dei principi e dei parametri è che la conoscenza sintattica di un individuo sia modellata mediante due meccanismi formali:

 

 

All'interno di questo quadro teorico, l'obiettivo della linguistica è individuare tutti i principi e i parametri universali comuni al linguaggio umano (detti Grammatica Universale ). Per questo, ogni tentativo di spiegare la sintassi di una lingua specifica utilizzando un principio o un parametro è verificato sulla base delle prove disponibili in altre lingue. In questo modo, gli strumenti teorici della linguistica generativa vanno continuamente raffinandosi, con l'obiettivo di spiegare la maggiore quantità possibile di variazione sintattica fra le lingue.

 

According to this framework, principles and parameters are part of a genetically innate universal grammar (UG) which all humans possess, barring any genetic disorders. As such, principles and parameters do not need to be learned by exposure to language. Rather, exposure to language merely triggers the parameters to adopt the correct setting.

 

 

By using neuroimaging techniques it has been recently proved that Broca's area - a portion of the left inferior frontal part of the human brain-reacts selectively to all and only those languages that follow Universal Grammar. For example, if one construes an artificial language where syntactic rules are based on the linear order of words rather than the hierarchical structure of phrases, Broca's area does not play an active role when managing this rule. In fact, in all human languages only hierachy matters rather than linear order in each and every syntactic rule. A simple example is given by the rule of question formation in English sentences involving the copula such as "John is a friend of the girl who is sitting in front of me". The corresponding interrogative question is "is John a friend of the girl who is sitting in front of me?" vs. *"is John is a friend of the girls who sitting in front of me?" but the rule cannot be captured by assuming that it is the first occurrence of the verb that is fronted. In fact, in a simple sentence like "John who is a good cook is a friend of mine" the rule would be falsified, for the correct sentence would be the one where the second occurrence of the verb is fronted: *"is John who a good cook is a friend of mine?" vs. "is John who is a friend of mine a good cook?". To know which verb is to be moved we must rely on the notion of phrase structure - distinguishing for example between the matrix clause vs the embedded one (a relative clause) - rather than the linear order of words on the sequence. Summarizing, it is only with phrase structure rules that Broca's area gets activated not with linear ones. See Broca's area for references.

 

 

Criticism of principles and parameters has most often been due to its stance on language acquisition. Although the framework is accepted by most mainstream linguists, it is very controversial amongst psychologists, cognitive scientists, and neuroscientists due to the strong nativism it espouses in relation to language acquisition. For example, the developmental psychologist Michael Tomasello has argued that there is no evidence of innate linguistic knowledge in the early utterances of children.

Another source of criticism is the binary nature of parameters in the framework. For example, the linguist Larry Trask argues that the ergative case system of the Basque language is not a simple binary parameter, and that different languages can have different levels of ergativity.[1]

 

 

The influence of principles and parameters is most apparent in the works of linguists who subscribe to the Minimalist Program, Noam Chomsky's most recent contribution to linguistics. This program of research utilizes conceptions of economy to enhance the search for universal principles and parameters. Linguists in this program assume that humans use as economic a system as possible in their innate syntactic knowledge.