On Explaining Language Change

208 Pages·1980·10.645 MB·

by  Roger Lass

, J CAMBRIDGE STUDIES
J INLINGUISTICS - 27 _
Onexplaining —
language change
ROGER LASS _
CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS
CAMBRIDGE STUDIES ™
IN LINGUISTICS « 27 j
On explaining lang.» © hange
ROGER LASS
‘Inability to explain a fact does not condemn
me to accept an intrinsically repugnant and
incomprehensible theory.’ Roger Lass uses
this epigram from Nelson Goodman in a spirit
of lively complaint against the naivety and
introspection of most current linguistic
theory. He writes as a practising, if not always
believing, linguist, concerned about the
nature of argumentation within linguistics
and the status ofi ts data and theoretical
constructs.
Through an examination of standard
strategies of explanation in historical
linguistics (particularly of phonological
change) in the light of current approaches to
scientific epistemology, Dr Lass convincingly
demonstrates that attempts to model
explanations ofl inguistic 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.
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CAMBRIDGE STUDIES IN LINGUISTICS
General Editors : W.S1DNEY ALLEN, B.COMRIE
C.J.FILLMORE, E.J.A. HENDERSON, F.W.HOUSEHOLDER
R.LASS, J.L YONS, R.B.LE PAGE, F.R.PALMER, R.POSNER
J-L.M.TRIM
On explaining language change
In this series
DAVID CRYSTAL: Prosodic systems and intonation in English*
im]
PIETER A.M.SEUREN: Operators and nucleus
RODNEY D.HUDDLESTON: The sentence in written English
JOHN M.ANDERSON: The grammar of case*
M.L.SAMUELS: Linguistic evolution*
P.H.MATTHEWS: Inflectional morphology*
GILLIAN BROWN: Phonological rules and dialect variation*
BRIAN NEWTON: The generative interpretation of dialect*
R.M.W.DIXON: The Dyirbal language of North Queensland*
BRUCE L.DERWING: Transformational grammar as a theory of language
foalO 0PODND OMNW
acquisition*
II MELISSA BOWERMAN: Early syntactic development*
I2 W.SIDNEY ALLAcceEnt Nand :rhy thm
13. PETER TRUDGILL: The social differentiation of English in Norwich*
14 ROGER LASSand JOHN M.ANDERSON: Old English phonology
I5 RUTH M.KEMPSON: Presupposition and the delimitation of semantics*
16 JAMES R.HURFORD: The linguistic theory of numerals
17. ROGER LASS: English phonology and phonological theory
18 G.M.AWBERY: The syntaxo f Welsh
IQ R.M.W.DA gIramXmaOr Nof :Yid in
20 JAMES FOLEY: Foundations of theoretical phonology
2I A.RADFORD: Italian syntax : transformational and relational grammar
22 DIETER WUNDERLICH: Foundations of linguistics*
23 DAVID W.LIGHTFOOT: Principles of diachronic syntax*
24. ANNETTE KARMILOFF-SMITH: A functional approach to child language
25 PER LINELL: Psychological reality in phonology
26 CHRISTINE TANZ: Studies in the acquisition of deictic terms
27 ROGER LASS: On explaining language change
* Issued in hard covers and as a paperback
ON EXPLAINING
LANGUAGE CHANGE
ROGER LASS
Reader in Linguistics, University of Edinburgh
CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS
CAMBRIDGE
LONDON NEWYORK NEW ROCHELLE
MELBOURNE SYDNEY
Ss
Published by the Press Syndicate of the University of Cambridge
The Pitt Building, Trumpington Street, Cambridge cB2 1RP
32 East 57th Street, New York, Ny 10022, USA
296 Beaconsfield Parade, Middle Park, Melbourne 3206, Australia
© Cambridge University Press 1980
First published 1980
Printed in Great Britain at
The University Press, Cambridge
Library of Congress Cataloguing in Publication Data
Lass, Roger.
On explaining language change.
(Cambridge studies in linguistics; 27)
Bibliography: p.
Includes index.
1. Linguistic change. I. Title. II. Series.
P142.L3 410 79-51825
ISBN 0 521 228360
ISSN 0068 —676x
Contents
Preface ix
I WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO EXPLAIN SOMETHING? I
1.1 The historical mode: prologue I
1.2 Preliminary pessimism 3
1.3. Definitions and contexts 4
1.4 Explanation and understanding 7
1.5 Deductive-Nomological explanations 9
1.6 Probabilistic explanations 12
1.7. ‘The asymmetry between explanation and prediction ng
Z WHY ‘NATURALNESS’ DOES NOT EXPLAIN ANYTHING 15
2.1 On ‘natural’ sound changes: generalities 15
2.2 Anattempt ata phonetic explanation 17
2.3. On the status of probabilistic explanations 20
2.4 Further epistemological considerations: the ‘stochastic factor’ 24
2.5 Thestatus of exceptions, 1: the null strategy problem 29
2.6 The status of exceptions, 2: Optimization and null strategy 32
2.7. Multiple strategies and a ‘law of assimilation’ 35
2.8 Is there a distinction between markedness and naturalness ? 42
APPENDIX TO CHAPTER 2:
NATURALNESS, ‘UNIFORMITARIANISM’, AND
RECONSTRUCTION 45
1 The problem of historical knowledge 45
2 Thecentral paradox 49
3. Uniformitarianism and historical truth 53
4 Anexample and some objections 58
5 Twoclosing reflections 61
B THE TELEOLOGY PROBLEM: CAN LANGUAGE CHANGE BE
‘FUNCTIONAL’? 64
3.1. Introductory 64
3.2 Ground-clearing: function and the ‘how else?’ strategy 66
3.3. Functional explanation, 1: preservation of contrast 69
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SRR ay RG Fe Pa at INN SOMES
Contents
Functional explanation, 2: minimization of allomorphy 71
Functional explanation, 3: avoidance of homophony 75
‘Teleology of function’ and ‘teleology of purpose’ 81
How do we define a function ? ‘Survival’ and ‘fitness’ 83
‘Paradigmatic natural goods’ and the problem of ‘dysfunction’ 86
A note on teleology and the system concept 88
Some preliminary conclusions 89
APPENDIX TO CHAPTER 3:
FOUR PROBLEMS RELATED TO THE QUESTION OF FUNCTION gI
Functional load gI
Variation and function 93
Locating functions: the unobservability paradox 94
Are functions individual or collective? 96
CAUSALITY AND ‘THE NATURE OF LANGUAGE’ 98
Where do we go from here? 98
Some implications of the positivist view 100
Causality in living systems 103
Preliminary implications of Mayr’s analysis 108
Excursus: Scriven on non-predictive explanation 109
Some reasons why language change ought to be indeterministic
(Saussure) 114
A radical autonomy thesis 119
Explaining change in an autonomous theory 126
What really bothered Saussure 129
Functionalism in a cultural perspective 133
Historical uniqueness, emergence, and ‘reducibility’ 137
CONCLUSIONS AND PROSPECTS: THE LIMITS OF
DEDUCTIVISM AND SOME ALTERNATIVES 143
Prospective summary 143
Some criticisms of positivist rationality 147
Different kinds of ‘knowing’: private, community and public
rationality I5I
Intelligibility :n on-‘scientific’ components 156
Non-explanatory insight: empirical and rational components 160
In conclusion: new hope for the Laodiceans 169
REFERENCES 173
INDEX 182