Essays on Linguistic Realism.

Intro -- Essays on Linguistic Realism -- Editorial page -- Title page -- LCC data -- Table of contents -- Introduction to Essays on Linguistic Realism -- 1. Three kinds of linguistics -- 2. The chapters of the volume -- 3. The history of the book -- References -- 1. The ontology of natural language -- References -- 2. What kind of science is linguistics? -- 1. The nature of formal and empirical sciences -- 2. Methodology vs. ontology -- 3. Linguistic kinds: Sentences -- 4. Discovering and investigating meaning structure -- 5. The phenomenology of meaning -- 6. Linguistics as a mixed science -- References -- 3. 'Biolinguistics' -- 1. Preview: What's wrong with 'biolinguistics' -- 2. Visual cognition: The role of early edge detection -- The physical problem and its mathematical formulation -- Generalities -- Smoothing out the visual field -- Identifying edges -- From mathematical model to neural architecture -- The Marr hierarchy and neurological literalism -- 3. Domain specificity and natural language -- What computation do sets of NL sentences represent? -- Rules in Hybrid Type-Logical Categorial Grammar (HTLCG) -- Gapping -- 4. Implication is not domain specific -- 5. Summary and conclusions -- References -- 4. The relevance of realism for language evolution theorizing -- 1. Introduction -- 2. Some highlights from current language evolution research -- 2.1 Cognitive capacities in non-human animals -- 2.2 How close to language is animal communication? -- 3. Ontological considerations -- 4. Does linguistic evidence rule out linguistic realism? -- 5. Conclusions -- References -- 5. Describing linguistic objects in a realist way -- A. Topic and background of the essay -- 1. Topic -- 2. Modified Realism -- 2.1 The position -- 2.2 Three components of Modified Realism -- Constructive realism -- Non-cognitivist mentalism (intentionalism).

Weaker functionalism -- 3. Discussion -- 3.1 Explanations. A reason for realism -- 3.2 Objects and data -- 3.3 Linguistic inter-disciplines -- 3.4 Placing Modified Realism -- B. Grammatical description -- 4. Preliminaries. Informal grammars -- 4.1 Some basic distinctions -- 4.2 Grammars as texts -- 4.3 Remarks on idiolects and idiolect systems -- 4.4 Sample statement from an informal grammar -- 4.5 Terms in an informal grammar: Language specific and language overarching -- Anchor 290 -- 5. Formal grammars: Problems for grammar adequacy -- 5.1 Types of formal grammars. The requirement of semantic analogues -- 5.2 Problems with language names and domain names -- 5.3 Problems with grammatical terms -- 5. Formal grammars: Problems for grammar adequacy -- 5.1 Types of formal grammars. The requirement of semantic analogues -- 5.2 Problems with language names and domain names -- 5.3 Problems with grammatical terms -- 6. How to solve the problems -- 6.1 First Solution: The Irrelevance Conception -- 6.2 Second Solution: The Language-Feature Conception -- Anchor 298 -- 6.4 Third Solution: Cover-all Conceptions of Grammatical Terms -- 6.5 Fourth Solution: Relativizing Conceptions of Grammatical Terms -- 'article' relativized -- 'subject' relativized -- 6.6 Overcoming the opposition of 'comparative concept' vs. 'descriptive category' -- 6.7 Conclusion -- C. Grammars and theories of language: Motivating axiomatization -- 7. Advantages of an axiomatic grammar format -- 7.1 Introduction -- 7.2 Important features of axiomatic theories -- 7.3 Discussion and explanations -- 7.4 Clarifying informal grammars by partial axiomatic reformulation -- 8. Grammatical statements: Informal and semi-formal -- 8.1 Example -- 8.2 Variables and constants -- 8.3 Evaluation -- 9. Grammatical terms taken over from a theory of language -- 9.1 A basic assumption.

9.2 Defining terms in a theory of language: Example -- 9.3 Using terms in a grammar as defined in a theory of language: Example -- 9.4 The identification of categories -- D. Grammars as axiomatic theories -- 10. Grammars G of D and σ (1): The format -- 10.1 The theory-of-language requirement -- 10.2 Presupposing a theory of language -- 10.3 The language name. Language-determination and language-identification sentences -- 10.4 The language system name. System-determination sentences -- 10.5 The axioms -- 10.6 The theorems: Example -- 11. Grammars G of D and σ (2): Application and integration -- 11.1 Application -- Anchor 330 -- 11.3 Discussion -- 11.4 Integration -- 11.5 Accounting for quantitative aspects -- 11.6 Integrating linguistic and non-linguistic theories: The interconnection problem -- 11.7 Concluding remarks -- Acknowledgements -- References -- 6. Languages and other abstract structures -- 1. Introduction -- 2. Three desiderata for Mixed Realism -- 2.1 Linguistic creativity and infinity -- 2.1.1 Creativity -- 2.1.2 Rule-following and infinity -- 2.2 Of tokens and types -- 2.3 Mixed Realism and respect -- 2.4 Taking stock -- 2.4.1 Mixed Realism and Modified Realism -- 3. Against Platonism -- 3.1 The right kind of 'wrong view' -- 3.2 Benacerraf's dilemma and respect -- 3.3 Conceptual distinctness -- 4. Ante Rem realism and the foundations of linguistics -- 4.1 Mathematical structuralism -- 4.2 Linguistic structures -- 4.3 Natural types -- 5. Conclusion -- Acknowledgements -- References -- 7. Autonomous Declarative Phonology -- 1. Fields of linguistics -- 2. A theory for languages as abstract objects -- 3. Autonomous Declarative Phonology -- 3.1 Defining phonology -- 3.2 Determining the set of phonological units -- 3.3 Paradigmatic properties of phonological units -- 3.4 Syntagmatic properties of phonological units -- 4. Conclusion.

References -- 8. Explaining linguistic facts in a realist theory of word formation -- 1. Introduction -- 2. Lexical units -- 3. Word-formation relations, processes, and patterns -- 4. Explanation and prediction of statements of word-formation relations -- 5. Summary and conclusions -- Acknowledgements -- References -- Appendix -- List of symbols -- Axiomatic formalization -- 9. Cognitive propositions in realist linguistics -- 1. Introduction -- 2. Propositions -- 2.1 Propositions in intensional semantics -- 2.2 Propositions as cognitive act types -- 2.3 Predication -- 2.4 Complex propositions -- 3. Foundational and empirical advantages of cognitive propositions -- 3.1 Cognitively distinct but representationally identical propositions -- 3.2 Linguistic cognition -- 3.3 The Millian modes of perceiving and recognizing -- 4. Cognitive propositions in a realist conception of linguistics -- 4.1 Semantic contents excluding Millian modes -- 4.2 Semantic content vs. individual psychologies -- 5. Conclusion -- References -- 10. Languages as complete and distinct systems of reference -- 1. Sapir (1924) -- 2. Some subsequent developments -- 3. Simple formally complete and distinct arithmetic systems of reference -- 4. Some desiderata for formally complete and distinct system of reference for experience -- 5. Extending first-order logic with a particular ordering for individuals -- References -- 11. The so-called arbitrariness of linguistic signs and Saussure's 'realism' -- 1. Introductory remarks -- 2. Saussure's concept of the sign and its arbitrariness -- 3. A non-Saussurean approach to arbitrariness and motivation -- 3.1 A plea for motivation -- 3.2 Discussion of some examples -- 3.3 Arbitrariness vs. motivation: Conclusions -- 4. Saussure - A realist? -- Acknowledgements -- References -- Index.

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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.