July 18, 2004 Journal article Open Access

Haspelmath, Martin

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  <dc:creator>Haspelmath, Martin</dc:creator>
  <dc:date>2004-07-18</dc:date>
  <dc:description>I argue that the following two assumptions are incorrect: (i) The properties of the innate Universal Grammar can be discovered by comparing language systems, and (ii) functional explanation of language structure presupposes a “correct”, i.e. cognitively realistic, description. Thus, there are two ways in which linguistic explanation does not presuppose linguistic description.

The generative program of building cross-linguistic generalizations into the hypothesized Universal Grammar cannot succeed because the actually observed generalizations are typically one-way implications or implicational scales, and because they typically have exceptions. The cross-linguistic generalizations are much more plausibly due to functional factors.

I distinguish sharply between “phenomenological description” (which makes no claims about mental reality) and “cognitively realistic descrip- tion”, and I show that for functional explanation, phenomenological description is sufficient.</dc:description>
  <dc:identifier>https://zenodo.org/record/831412</dc:identifier>
  <dc:identifier>10.1075/sl.28.3.06has</dc:identifier>
  <dc:identifier>oai:zenodo.org:831412</dc:identifier>
  <dc:rights>info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess</dc:rights>
  <dc:rights>https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode</dc:rights>
  <dc:source>Studies in Language 28(3) 554-579</dc:source>
  <dc:subject>language universals, linguistic typology, Universal Grammar, functional explanation</dc:subject>
  <dc:title>Does linguistic explanation presuppose linguistic description?</dc:title>
  <dc:type>info:eu-repo/semantics/article</dc:type>
  <dc:type>publication-article</dc:type>
</oai_dc:dc>