On Establishing Linguistic Universals
A Case for In-Depth Synchronic Analysis
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 2855612 |
|---|---|
| Authors | James E Cathey, Richard A Demers |
| Year | 1976 |
| Volume | 52 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Pages | 611 |
| Publication date | 1976-09-01 |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Language (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0097-8507 • E-ISSN: 1535-0665 |
| Publisher | JSTOR (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.2307/412722 |
| OpenAlex | W1967436572 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 3 |
| References cited | 5 |
Although important insights have been gained by comparing small amounts of data from disparate sources, linguistic generalizations are unlikely to prove valid when based on data whose synchronic status is not well-defined. As a case in point, the recent proposal by Koutsoudas, Sanders & Noll 1974 for universal principles of grammatical rule ordering is here shown to be insufficient, from their own data and on the basis of phonological rules derived from a thorough synchronic analysis of Old Icelandic. It is maintained that a proposal can have positive empirical consequences only if it imposes no conditions to eliminate extrinsic ordering from a grammar
Linguistic analysis · Linguistic universal · Linguistics · Problem of universals · Theoretical linguistics · History · Linguistics and language evolution · Philosophy · Phonetics and Phonology Research · Syntax, Semantics, Linguistic Variation
| Citations per year | 0.06 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 1978 - 1982 (5) |
| Highly cited | No |