GRAMMAR 501 2025

J.Firth

• British linguist

• highlight the importance of context in understanding a language

• “you shall know a word by the company it keeps”

• His work significantly influenced modern linguistics and the study of language in social context

J.Sinclair

• British linguist and professor

• known for pioneering work in corpus linguistic, discourse analysis and lexicography

• form part in the Cobuild project (1980) → leading to the creation of Collins English Dictionnary + Collins English Grammar

• His work significantly influenced linguistics, language teaching and lexicography, which promotes a data-driven approach to understanding a language.

THEOR = idiom principle vs open choice principle

L.Wittgenstein

• Austrian-British philosopher

• consider one of the most significant figures in 20th century philosophy

• in “Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus” → proposed that the structure of language reflects reality

• in “Philosophical Investigation” → focus how language is used in everyday contexts

• how language is used in everyday context

K.Popper

• Austrian philosopher

• known for his ideas about falsifiability, which asserts that a scientific theory must be testable and able to be proven false

• encourages a deductive approach, where hypotheses must be structured in such a way that they can be empirically tested and potentially refuted.

• His work influenced various fields, including the development of scientific methodology.

E. Rosch

• American psychologist

• known for her work on categorization, particularly prototype theory

• Her research challenged classical views of categorization, suggesting that categories are organized around best examples (prototypes) rather than strict sets of necessary and sufficient features.

• Her work has had a significant impact on cognitive psychology, linguistics, and philosophy.

D.Dennett

• American philosopher

• degree of cognition : different mechanism linked thought (paying attention, remembering , deciding)

• he studied conciousness, cognition and intentionality).

E.Benveniste

• French linguist

• Explored the relationship between language and subjectivity, arguing that language is not merely a tool for communication but also shapes our perception and expression of self.

• Introduced the distinction between 'énonciation' (the act of uttering) and 'énoncé' (the utterance itself).

• His work has influenced semiotics, literary theory, and philosophy.

A.Goldberg

• American cognitive linguist

• 1963

• Known for her work on Construction Grammar, which posits that constructions (form-meaning pairings) are the basic units of language.

• Her work highlights how grammatical patterns themselves carry meaning, contributing significantly to cognitive linguistics and psycholinguistics.

N.Chomsky

• American linguist

• 1928

• Widely regarded as the "father of modern linguistics."

• The founder of the theory of Generative Grammar (also known as Universal Grammar), proposing an innate capacity for language in humans.

• competence → what is the head

• performance → doing smth

G.Lakoff

• American cognitive linguist.

• Known for his work on conceptual metaphor and cognitive linguistics. ex : showing that our conceptual system – and therefore our language – our language methaphorical

• His work emphasises the embodied nature of cognition and language.

what is falsafiability

The quality of a theory that allows it to be tested and potentially proven false by evidence.

→ by Karl Popper

What is a prescriptive approach to language?

focuses on rules for how language should be used, setting standards for “correct” grammar, pronunciation, or word choice. It contrasts with a descriptive approach, which studies how people actually use language in real contexts.

What is a  descriptive approach?

aims to observe, analyze, and explain how language is actually used by speakers — without judging it as right or wrong. It focuses on real linguistic behavior rather than prescribed rules.

What is the ‘idiom principle’?

• an idiom is : multiple words unit that are non compotisional

• states that speakers often use prefabricated phrases or chunks of language—like by the way or kick the bucket—rather than creating sentences word by word. Language use relies heavily on these fixed or semi-fixed expressions stored in memory.

• ≠ Open-choice principle

→ by J.Sinclair 1991 (J.Firth)

Explain the ‘open-choice’ principle

describes language production as a slot-and-fill process, where speakers build sentences word by word, choosing freely from grammatical options at each point. It contrasts with the idiom principle, which emphasizes using ready-made phrases or chunks.

• states that one can combine any adj with any noun => but it’s questionable

What is a collocation?

is a pair or group of words that frequently occur together more often than by chance — such as make a decision, strong tea, or heavy rain. These habitual combinations reflect patterns of usage stored in speakers’ minds.

What is an idiom?

A fixed or partially fixed expression whose overall meaning cannot be fully derived compositionally from the meanings of its parts.
Examples: it’s raining cats and dogs, too big a shock, the X-er the Y-er.

What is a prototype?

is the most typical example of a category that represents its features best. For example, a robin is a prototypical bird, while a penguin is a less typical bird. Categories are organized around prototype (unlike S&N C where cat are organized around conditions and characteristic)

• Research by E.ROSCH (1975)

What is the ‘necessary & sufficient conditions’ model?

• This model defines a category according to the classical view (Aristotle) by “necessary and sufficient” criteria.

• These criteria are inherent in the category members. The criteria are binary: x or not x → it’s either in the category or not. Ex: a square = closed, flat figures, 4 sides all equal in length. Excludes: triangle, rectangle etc…

• In classical view, linguistic categories are defined by N&S C -→ knowledge of language = knowledge of the categorical differences between classes of linguistics elements.

Prototype vs N&S C

• Categorization is a basic cognitive ability that is reflected in all human activity, including language

• The classical view = Categories are formed on the basis of N&S C

• This view is challenged and replaced with a model of prototype categories

What is cognition?

•  refers to the mental processes involved in

  • acquiring,

  • processing,

  • storing,

  • and using knowledge.

• This includes a range of functions such as

  • perception,

  • attention,

  • memory,

  • reasoning,

  • problem-solving,

  • and decision-making.

What is cognitive science?

• a field that studies the nature of the mind and its processes.

• It combines insights from psychology, neuroscience, linguistics, anthropology, to understand how cognitive functions work, how they develop, and how they can be replicated.

• seeks to explore how information is processed in the brain and how this influences understanding.

What is the ‘cognitive commitment'?

• It means that language analysis should consider how people perceive and interact with their environment to create realistic theories applicable to real-life communication.

Explain the notion of ‘entrenchment’.

• refers to the idea that frequent use of constructions or phrases leads to stronger mental associations.

• Thus, according to De Smet and Cuyckens (2007: 188), a highly entrenched unit “represents an automated, routinised chunk of language that is stored and activated by t

What is the structuralist representation of a linguistic sign?

• proposed by Ferdinand de Saussure, consists of two key components:

  • the signifier and the signified.

    • The signifier is the physical form of a word (its sounds or letters)

    • the signified is the mental concept or idea that the word evokes.

• Saussure emphasized that the relationship between the signifier and signified is arbitrary, meaning there is no inherent reason why a particular word represents a specific idea.

Why can it seem unsatisfactory today ?
It's reductive and limited to the word; through networks of linguistic signs, we will create a language

What is Generative Grammar, and why is it also called ‘Universal Grammar’?

• developed by Noam Chomsky

• a theory that explains the implicit knowledge speakers have about sentence structure.

• It suggests there are universal rules governing the syntax of all languages.

• indicates there are shared grammatical principles across languages, linked to an innate capacity for language acquisition

Langue

• the abstract, social system of rules shared by a community

Parole

• the individual, concrete use of language in speech

• personal and variable

Langue vs Parole

Together, they highlight the distinction between the social rules of language and its practical application.

Competence

• a speaker’s internal knowledge of their language

Performance

• the acutal use of language, influenced by memory, attention or errors

What is the ‘poverty of stimulus’ argument?

The poverty of stimulus argument claims that children acquire complex language knowledge despite being exposed to limited, imperfect, or ambiguous linguistic input. This suggests that some aspects of language must be innate (e.g., Universal Grammar), because the input alone is insufficient to explain how they learn grammar.

Why is there no corpus linguistics according to N. Chomsky?

according to Noam Chomsky, there is “no corpus linguistics” in the sense that studying large collections of actual language use (corpora) cannot, by itself, explain the underlying knowledge of language.

Chomsky argues that:

1. Language competence ≠ language performance: A corpus shows how people use language (performance), but linguistics should study the mental knowledge of language (competence).

2. Limited insight from observed data: A corpus can only show what people say, not the innate rules or structures that allow them to generate an infinite number of new sentences.

3. Focus on principles over statistics: Understanding grammar requires theorizing about universal principles, not just tallying word frequencies or patterns.

In short: Chomsky sees corpora as useful for illustrating usage but insufficient for discovering the deep rules of language.

What is the ‘dictionary & grammar’ model of language?

Dictionary & Grammar Model (Taylor 2012)

• makes a clear distinction between knowledge of vocabulary on one hand and knowledge of grammar on the other.

• linguistic knowledge consists of a mental lexicon that has all the words (vocabulary) and some kind of grammar component that has the syntax.

• Model that has been very succesfull but Construction Grammar = opposed to it bc for them = only construction

• In the D&G M, idioms forms a kind of ‘appendix’ to dictionnary a. list that contains expression such as beat it or hit the road. These expressions needs a different entries in the mental lexicon bs speakers habe to learn that the two means ‘to leabe’ and each aren’t appropriate in the same context of use

what do you know when you know a language

What speakers have to know:

• must know words

• must know how to combine words into phrases and sentences

• must know how to put the right endings on words

• must be able to understand newly coined words

• must know that sometimes what is meant is different from what is said

• must know that language varies across different contexts

• must know idiomatic expressions

What speakers have to know, according to Construction Grammar:

• must know constructions

What is a construction in cognitive linguistics?

they are form-meaning pairs which have either non predictable formal characteristics, non-compositional meanings or a high enough frequency to be remembered as such (Goldberg 2006)

Constructions are central in construction grammar, where the idea is that all grammar consists of learned form-meaning pairings, not just rules plus words.

How does a construction differ from the Structuralist ‘linguistic sign’?

A construction differs from the Structuralist linguistic sign in that it can pair larger grammatical patterns (not just single words or morphemes) with meanings, whereas a linguistic sign (in Saussure’s sense) links only a form (signifier) and a concept (signified) at the word or morpheme level.

which are the three axes along which constructions may vary ?

What is non-compositionality? Illustrate.

• refers to a phenomenon in language where the meaning of an expression cannot be directly inferred from the meanings of its individual components. This is often observed in idiomatic expressions, metaphors, or fixed phrases. For example:

• Idiomatic Expression: 'Kick the bucket' means 'to die,' which cannot be understood from the meanings of 'kick' and 'bucket.'

• Metaphorical Language: 'Time is a thief' conveys the metaphorical idea that time steals moments from our lives, beyond the literal meanings of 'time' and 'thief.'

• Phrasal Verbs: 'Give up' means 'to stop trying,' distinct from the meanings of 'give' and 'up.'

• Cultural References: 'The Big Apple' refers to New York City, where understanding requires cultural knowledge