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Language change and generative grammar

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  • "Ellen Brandner, Gisella Ferraresi The strong connection between language change and language acquisition has been known for a long time in traditional linguistics. The neogrammarian Paul wrote in 1920: "Es liegt auf der Hand, daß die Vorgänge der Spracherlernung von der al lergrößten Wichtigkeit für die Erklärung der Veränderung des Sprachusus sind, weil sie die wichtigste Ursache für diese Veränderung abgeben." But what is the reason why a child's grammar differs from that of his or her environ ment? Can we say that there are some principles which govern this change? Many linguists have tried to answer these important questions from different view points. We will sketch he re some of the most interesting ones. Sapir (1921) develops the principle of drift which was meant to describe the laws of diachronic change in linguistic systems. This concerns long-term tendencies of gram matical change, which probably are of universal character but result in one or another effect, according to the specific structure of a given language. The tendencies concerning syntactical change are determined by morphological change; morphological change, for its part, is determined by phonological change. All such instances of change aim at the one and only goal to always provide sufficient means for expressing all those grammatical relations which are necessary to keep up communication."

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  • "Language change and generative grammar"
  • "Language change and generative grammar"@en
  • "Language change and generative grammar : / Ellen Brandner, Gisella Ferraresi (eds.)"
  • "Language Change and Generative Grammar"