Current research in natural language learning and processing supports the view that grammatical competence consists in mastering and integrating multiple, parallel “constraints” (Seidenberg and MacDonald 1999, MacWhinney 2004, Burzio 2005). During language comprehension, constraints are defined as a set of cues through which a speaker can successfully map a complex linguistic unit (a word form, a phrase, an utterance etc.) to its intended function in discourse. For example, in the Italian sentence arriva il treno (‘the train is approaching’), the noun phrase il treno is understood to play the role of subject due to an integrated cluster of cues concerning the position of the subject relative to the verb, noun-verb agreement, compliance of predicate selectional restrictions and general knowledge about the world. Conversely, in language production, constraints consist in discourse functions that are jointly mapped onto linguistic forms. If we want to translate arriva il treno into English, we have to be aware of the peculiar functional constraint positioning the subject before the verb in the target language.
Corpus-based Modelling of Grammar Variation
LENCI, ALESSANDRO;
2007-01-01
Abstract
Current research in natural language learning and processing supports the view that grammatical competence consists in mastering and integrating multiple, parallel “constraints” (Seidenberg and MacDonald 1999, MacWhinney 2004, Burzio 2005). During language comprehension, constraints are defined as a set of cues through which a speaker can successfully map a complex linguistic unit (a word form, a phrase, an utterance etc.) to its intended function in discourse. For example, in the Italian sentence arriva il treno (‘the train is approaching’), the noun phrase il treno is understood to play the role of subject due to an integrated cluster of cues concerning the position of the subject relative to the verb, noun-verb agreement, compliance of predicate selectional restrictions and general knowledge about the world. Conversely, in language production, constraints consist in discourse functions that are jointly mapped onto linguistic forms. If we want to translate arriva il treno into English, we have to be aware of the peculiar functional constraint positioning the subject before the verb in the target language.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
