Universal Grammar and Iconicity

Yafei Li

ISBN 10: 1108794629 / ISBN 13: 9781108794626

Published by Cambridge University Press, GB, 2024

About this Item

Within linguistics, the formal and functional approaches each offer insight into what language might be and how it operates, but so far, there have been hardly any systematic attempts to integrate them into a single theory. This book explores the relationship between universal grammar - the theory that we have an innate mechanism for generating sentences - and iconicity - the resemblance between form and meaning in language. It offers a new theory of their interactions, 'UG-iconicity interface' (UG-I), which shows that not only do universal grammar and iconicity coexist, but in fact collaborate in intricate and predictable ways. The theory explains various recalcitrant cross-linguistic facts surrounding the serial verb constructions, coordination, semantically and categorically obscure 'linkers', the multiple grammatical aspects of the external argument, and non-canonical arguments. This groundbreaking work is essential reading for researchers and postgraduate students in linguistics, as well as scholars in psychology and cognitive science.

Seller Inventory # LU-9781108794626

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Universal Grammar and Iconicity
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press, GB
• Publication Date: 2024
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1108794629
• ISBN 13: 9781108794626
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition: New.
• Condition: New
• Dimensions: 15.24W x 1.75H x 22.86D centimeters 15.24 centimeters width by 1.75 centimeters height by 22.86 centimeters depth
• Weight: 476 grams

About this title

Synopsis

Within linguistics, the formal and functional approaches each offer insight into what language might be and how it operates, but so far, there have been hardly any systematic attempts to integrate them into a single theory. This book explores the relationship between universal grammar - the theory that we have an innate mechanism for generating sentences - and iconicity - the resemblance between form and meaning in language. It offers a new theory of their interactions, 'UG-iconicity interface' (UG-I), which shows that not only do universal grammar and iconicity coexist, but in fact collaborate in intricate and predictable ways. The theory explains various recalcitrant cross-linguistic facts surrounding the serial verb constructions, coordination, semantically and categorically obscure 'linkers', the multiple grammatical aspects of the external argument, and non-canonical arguments. This groundbreaking work is essential reading for researchers and postgraduate students in linguistics, as well as scholars in psychology and cognitive science.

About the Author

Yafei Li is Professor of Language Sciences at University of Wisconsin-Madison and affiliated part-time with Nanjing University, China. Notable publications include X0: A Theory of Morphology-Syntax Interface (2005) and The Syntax of Chinese (co-authored, 2009).