Language variation and linguistic invariants

Human languages are diverse and so precise statements of common properties must abstract away from specifics of particular languages. We note several abstract and absolute ‘Type 1’ universals and present some new ones built on a notion of ‘structural invariant’ that applies equally to constituent st...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inLingua Vol. 120; no. 12; pp. 2680 - 2685
Main Authors Keenan, Edward L., Stabler, Edward P.
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Elsevier B.V 01.12.2010
Subjects
Anaphora
Binding theory
Invariant
Language universal
Invariant
Anaphora
Binding theory
Language universal
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Summary:Human languages are diverse and so precise statements of common properties must abstract away from specifics of particular languages. We note several abstract and absolute ‘Type 1’ universals and present some new ones built on a notion of ‘structural invariant’ that applies equally to constituent structure and individual grammatical morphemes. Crucially, these universals may be realized in structurally diverse ways.
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ISSN:0024-3841
1872-6135
DOI:10.1016/j.lingua.2010.04.011