Learnability and Cognition : The Acquisition of Argument Structure.

Intro -- Contents -- Series Foreword -- The Secret Life of Verbs: A Preface to the New Edition -- Acknowledgments -- 1 A Learnability Paradox -- 1.1 Argument Structure and the Lexicon -- 1.2 The Logical Problem of Language Acquisition -- 1.3 Baker's Paradox -- 1.4 Attempted Solutions to Baker's Paradox -- 2 Constraints on Lexical Rules -- 2.1 Morphological and Phonological Constraints -- 2.2 Semantic Constraints -- 2.3 How Semantic and Morphological Constraints Might Resolve Baker's Paradox -- 2.4 Evidence for Criteria-Governed Productivity -- 2.5 Problems for the Criteria-Governed Productivity Theory -- 3 Constraints and the Nature of Argument Structure -- 3.1 Overview: Why Lexical Rules Carry Semantic Constraints -- 3.2 Constraints on Lexical Rules as Manifestations of More General Phenomena -- 3.3 A Theory of Argument Structure -- 3.4 On Universality -- 4 Possible and Actual Forms -- 4.1 The Problem of Negative Exceptions -- 4.2 Transitive Action Verbs as Evidence for Narrow Subclasses -- 4.3 The Nature of Narrow Conflation Classes -- 4.4 Defining and Motivating Subclasses of Verbs Licensing the Four Alternations -- 4.5 The Relation between Narrow-Range and Broad-Range Rules -- 5 Representation -- 5.1 The Need for a Theory of Lexicosemantic Representation -- 5.2 Is a Theory of Lexical Semantics Feasible? -- 5.3 Evidence for a Semantic Subsystem Underlying Verb Meanings -- 5.4 A Cross-linguistic Inventory of Components of Verb Meaning -- 5.5 A Theory of the Representation of Grammatically Relevant Semantic Structures -- 5.6 Explicit Representations of Lexical Rules and Lexicosemantic Structures -- 5.7 Summary -- 6 Learning -- 6.1 Linking Rules -- 6.2 Lexical Semantic Structures -- 6.3 Broad Conflation Classes (Thematic Cores) and Broad-Range Lexical Rules -- 6.4 Narrow Conflation Classes and Narrow-Range Lexical Rules.

6.5 Summary of Learning Mechanisms -- 7 Development -- 7.1 Developmental Sequence for Argument Structure Alternations -- 7.2 The Unlearning Problem -- 7.3 Children's Argument Structure Changing Rules Are Always Semantically Conditioned -- 7.4 Do Children's Errors Have the Same Cause as Adults'? -- 7.5 Acquisition of Verb Meaning and Errors in Argument Structure -- 7.6 Some Predictions about the Acquisition of Narrow-Range Rules -- 7.7 Summary of Development -- 8 Conclusions -- 8.1 A Brief Summary of the Resolution of the Paradox -- 8.2 Argument Structure as a Pointer Between Syntactic Structure and Propositions: A Brief Comparison with a "Connectionist" Alternative -- 8.3 The Autonomy of Semantic Representation -- 8.4 Implications for the Semantic Bootstrapping Hypothesis -- 8.5 Conservatism, Listedness, and the Lexicon -- 8.6 Spatial Schemas and Abstract Thought -- Notes -- References -- Index.

A classic book about language acquisition and conceptual structure, with a new preface by the author, "The Secret Life of Verbs.".

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Electronic reproduction. Ann Arbor, Michigan : ProQuest Ebook Central, 2024. Available via World Wide Web. Access may be limited to ProQuest Ebook Central affiliated libraries.