On Explaining Language Change

On Explaining Language Change
ISBN-10
0521228360
ISBN-13
9780521228367
Category
Language Arts & Disciplines
Pages
200
Language
English
Published
1980-03-13
Publisher
Cambridge University Press
Author
Lass

Description

Roger Lass is concerned about the nature of argumentation within linguistics and the status of its data and theoretical constructs. Through an examination of standard strategies of explanation in historical linguistics (particularly of phonological change), in the light of past approaches to scientific epistemology, Dr Lass convincingly demonstrates that attempts to model explanations of linguistic change on those of the physical sciences are failures both in practice and in principle. Linguists can neither assimilate their discipline crudely to the natural or the other human sciences nor, at the other extreme, shelter behind the notion of a private self-validating paradigm. Although Dr Lass outlines some tentative paths towards an alternative epistemology, his main concern is that linguists should confront the philosophical implications of their subject, and he raises questions which both linguists and philosophers will need to consider.

Get the book

Amazon.com
Amazon.com
Search the book
eBay.com
eBay.com
Search the book

Other editions

Similar books

  • Verbs: Aspect and Causal Structure
    Verbs: Aspect and Causal Structure
    By William Croft

    A fourth type of phasal analysis is offered by Timberlake (1985). Timberlake assumes an interval temporal semantics like Woisetschlaeger, and focuses on ...

  • Linguistic Semantics
    Linguistic Semantics
    By William Frawley

    In some languages, this elemental opposition surfaces directly, asin the Austronesian (Chamorro: Chung and Timberlake 1985; Bikol: Givón 1984) and certain ...

  • Communication Law
    Communication Law
    By Dominic G Caristi, William R Davie, Michael Cavanaugh

    Justin Timberlake and Janet Jackson were performing during the halftime show when a “wardrobe malfunction” exposed for a fraction of a second the singer's ...

  • Communication Law: Practical Applications in the Digital Age
    Communication Law: Practical Applications in the Digital Age
    By William R Davie, Dom Caristi

    Justin Timberlake and Janet Jackson were performing during the halftime show when a “wardrobe malfunction” exposed for a fraction of a second the singer's ...

  • The Evolution of Grammar: Tense, Aspect, and Modality in the Languages of the World
    The Evolution of Grammar: Tense, Aspect, and Modality in the Languages of the World
    By Joan Bybee, Revere Perkins, William Pagliuca

    ... 70, 85,171,231 Thomson, Greg, xix Thomson, R. W, 231, 233 Timberlake, Alan, ... J. M., 225, 235 van Putte, E., 286, 294 Vermant, S., 61,62 Vincent, N., ...

  • The Routledge Dictionary of Pronunciation for Current English
    The Routledge Dictionary of Pronunciation for Current English
    By Clive Upton, William A. Kretzschmar, Jr.

    ... 'timbol, –Z timber BR 'timble(r), -oz, -(e)rin, -od AM 'timblor, -orz, -(e)rin, ... -s Timberlake BR 'timboleik AM 'timbor,eik timberland BR 'timbaland, ...

  • Cross-Cultural and Intercultural Communication
    Cross-Cultural and Intercultural Communication
    By William B. Gudykunst

    ... 237 St. George , R. , 38 Stilling , E. , 251 Stonequist , E. , 247 Stopka ... R. , 149 Tidwell , R. , 227 , 230 Timberlake , M. F. , 266 Ting - Toomey ...

  • The Story Within: New Insights and Inspiration for Writers
    The Story Within: New Insights and Inspiration for Writers
    By Laura Oliver, M.F.A.

    ... line on Deck D. A baby squeals in the background cacophony ofthe airport. ... spirit in terms of matter, matter in terms ofspirit,” Robert Frost said.

  • Maintaining Long-Distance and Cross-Residential Relationships
    Maintaining Long-Distance and Cross-Residential Relationships
    By Laura Stafford

    ... 30, 31, 32, 34 Durand, D., 49 Dwyer, J. W., 78 E Egan, J., 93 Eisenberg, ... 102 Floyd, K., 85, 89, 91 Forsyth, C. J., 41, 42, 48, 5.1 Frost-Knappman, ...

  • Emergent Literacy: Lessons for Success
    Emergent Literacy: Lessons for Success
    By Sonia Q. Cabell, Laura M. Justice, Joan Kaderavek

    Journal of Psycholinguistic Research, 4, 331–342. Freedman, D. (2007). Scribble. New York: Knopf Books for Young Readers. Frost, J. (2001).