The evolution, acquisition and development of syntax : insights from Creole languages and beyond / edited by Dany Adone, Astrid Gabel.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Adone, Dany, editor.

Gabel, Astrid, editor.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Language acquisition.

Grammar, Comparative and general--Syntax.

Grammar, Comparative and general.

Language and languages.

Innateness hypothesis (Linguistics).

Creole dialects.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xii, 321 pages) : digital, PDF file(s).

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 2025.

Summary:

Bringing together an interdisciplinary team of scholars, this book explores three interconnected aspects of syntax - its origins and evolution, its acquisition by children, and its role in languages' ongoing development and change. These three distinct areas were linked through Bickerton's most provocative work 'Language Bioprogram Hypothesis' (LBH). This book highlights the discussions on syntax that have emerged over the years as a result of the LBH model. Each chapter include a discussion of Bickerton's work, and a special focus is placed on Creole languages, which provide unique case studies for the study of the evolution, acquisition and development of languages. The book also discusses the relevance of LBH for other natural languages, including sign languages. Shedding light on the relevance of syntax in language, it is essential reading for researchers and students in a wide range of linguistic disciplines.

Contents:

Cover

Half-title page

Title page

Copyright page

Contents

List of Figures

List of Tables

List of Contributors

Acknowledgments

List of Abbreviations

1 Introduction

References

Part I The Evolution of Syntax

2 From the Protolanguage Spectrum to the Underlying Bases of Language

2.1 In Search of the Underlying Bases of Language (UBL)

2.2 Towards an Adequate Theory of Language Origins

2.3 To the Language-Ready Brain and on to Languages

2.4 To the Underlying Bases of Language and on to Languages

2.5 Pidgins and Creoles and the New-Look Language Bioprogram

3 From Protolanguage to Deuterolanguage: The Importance of Compounds

3.1 Bickerton and Jackendoff on Protolanguage

3.2 Lexically Listed Items and 'Compounds': An Apparent Confusion

3.3 Non-nouns inside Compounds, and Restrictions on Their Modification

3.4 Deuterolanguage Untamed: Law Degree Language Requirement Changes and Cup Bid Floats

3.5 Deuterolanguage Tamed: Evidence from Germanic Languages

3.6 Characteristic B and the Truck-Driver Problem

3.7 A Final Note: Idiomaticity and the Two Meanings of 'Lexical'

4 The SOV Mystery and Language Evolution

4.1 Introduction

4.2 The Neo-recapitulationist Perspective

4.3 The SOV Mystery

4.4 Extrapolation #1: Canine Communication

4.5 Extrapolation #2: Early Child Language

4.6 Pre-grammatical Pidgin as an Evolutionary Stage

4.7 The Evolution of Grammar: A Hypothesis

4.8 Discussion

5 Broken Windows: Creoles, Pidgins, and Language Evolution

5.1 The Forensic

5.2 Conceptual Clarifications

5.3 From Language Bioprogram Hypothesis to Lexical Learning Hypothesis

5.4 A Creole Window on Early Human Language? The View from Creolistics.

5.5 A Creole Window on Early Human Language? The View from Evolutionary Linguistics

5.6 The Pidgin Window Revisited

5.7 Conclusion

6 Roots of Syntax: Anaphora and Negation in Creoles

6.1 Introduction

6.2 Anaphora

6.3 Negation

6.4 Concluding Remarks

Part II The Acquisition of Syntax

7 Acquisition of Negation in Jamaican

7.1 Introduction

7.2 Negation in Jamaican

7.3 Acquisition of Negation

7.4 Methodology

7.5 Results: Acquisition of Negation in Jamaican

7.6 Discussion

7.7 Conclusion

8 Missing Subjects in Creole Acquisition: Insights from Jamaican and Morisyen

8.1 Introduction

8.2 Null Subject Phenomenon in Adult Jamaican and Morisyen

8.3 Early Null Subjects in Jamaican and Morisyen

8.4 Methodology

8.5 Findings

8.6 Analysis and Discussion

8.7 Summary and Conclusions

9 Home Signs as a Window on Language Creation

9.1 Introduction

9.2 Previous Studies on Home Signs

9.3 The Language Bioprogram and Protolanguage

9.4 Background on Mauritian Sign Language and Mauritian Home Sign

9.5 Data

9.6 Discussion

9.7 Conclusion

10 Young Children Creating Grammars: Are Twins' Languages Like Pidgins or Creoles?

10.1 Introduction

10.2 Generalizations about Pidgins

10.3 Generalizations about Creoles

10.4 From 'Pidgin' to Creole: Bickerton's Bioprogram Hypothesis

10.5 What about Twins Who Create Their Own Language?

10.6 Generalizations about Twins' Language Grammars

10.7 Conclusion

Part III The Development of Syntax

11 A Matter of Degree: All Languages are Mixed

11.1 Introduction: On the Universality of Admixture

11.2 Converging Voices, Converging Identities, Converging Languages

11.3 Interlingual Identification (Weinreich 1953).

11.4 Implications and Conclusion

12 Negative Concord in Creole Languages: Commonality and Variation in the Perspective of Bickerton's Legacy

12.1 Bickerton's Legacy on Negation and Negative Dependencies

12.2 Standard Negation in Creole Languages: Does the Position of Negation Matter for Negative Concord?

12.3 Questions of Frequency and Typological Representativity of Creole Negative Concord

12.4 Variations in Negative Concord: A Look at French Lexifier Creoles

12.5 Conclusions and Questions

13 Contrasting the NPs of Indian Ocean French Creoles

13.1 Introduction

13.2 Frame of Analysis

13.3 Lexical Entities and Determiners in Nominal Expressions in IO Creoles

13.4 Definiteness in IO Creoles

13.5 Determiners and Bare NPs in IO Creoles

13.6 Discussion

14 The Nature and Development of the "Quacking Duck"

14.1 Introduction

14.2 Serial Verb Constructions

14.3 SVCs in Kreol Seselwa

14.4 Conclusion

15 Beyond Creole: Reflexive Constructions in Cape Verdean Portuguese

15.1 Introduction

15.2 Defining 'Cape Verdean Portuguese'

15.3 Methodology

15.4 Results and Data Analysis

15.5 Conclusions

16 Decreolization: A Special Case of Language Change?

16.1 Introduction

16.2 Bickerton's Definition of Decreolization as a "Special Case" of Language Change

16.3 Contact-Induced Morphosyntactic Change in Louisiana Creole

16.4 Testing the Bickertonian Decreolization Pathway

16.5 Beyond Decreolization

Index.

Notes:

Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 19 Feb 2025).

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9781009221924

1009221922

9781009221917

1009221914

9781009221900

1009221906