The Power of Analogy: An Essay on Historical Linguistics

348 Pages·2006·11.87 MB·English

by  Dieter Wanner

The Power of Analogy
W
DE
G
Trends in Linguistics
Studies and Monographs 170
Editors
Walter Bisang
Hans Henrich Hock
Werner Winter
(main editor for this volume)
Mouton de Gruyter
Berlin · New York
The Power of Analogy
An Essay on Historical Linguistics
by
Dieter Wanner
Mouton de Gruyter
Berlin · New York
Mouton de Gruyter (formerly Mouton, The Hague)
is a Division of Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co. KG, Berlin.
© Printed on acid-free paper which falls within the guidelines
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Wanner, Dieter, 1943-
The power of analogy : an essay on historical linguistics / by Dieter
Wanner.
p. cm. - (Trends in linguistics. Studies and monographs ; 170)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN-13: 978-3-11-018873-8 (hardcover : alk. paper)
ISBN-10: 3-11-018873-2 (hardcover : alk. paper)
1. Historical linguistics. 2. Analogy (Linguistics) I. Title. II. Series.
P140.W36 2006
417'.7—dc22
2006006591
ISBN-13: 978-3-11-018873-8
ISBN-10: 3-11-018873-2
ISSN 1861-4302
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Die Deutsche Bibliothek lists this publication in the Deutsche Nationalbibliografie;
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© Copyright 2006 by Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co. KG, D-10785 Berlin
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Acknowledgments
The conclusion of this essay provides me the opportunity to thank all those
who were in one way or another instrumental in bringing this project to
completion. My gratitude extends to institutions and individuals, to authors,
some known to me only by their name and writings, to the many students
who experienced the less than fully developed phases of my thinking on the
subject as it was taking shape in class, to colleagues here and in Europe, as
well as dear friends who experienced the difficult transition from an intui-
tive idea to a finished and entirely reworked manuscript. The list is too long
and would risk unjustly omitting a name here or there. I can only say here
that my sense of debt and thankfulness to all of you is sincerely felt. I still
wish to single out my wife Brigitte for her patience, understanding, and
support during the many phases of this project.
The fundamental ideas for this essay are the fruit of an exceptional op-
portunity provided to me by the generosity of the Alexander von Humboldt
Foundation (Bad Godesberg, Germany) in the form of a Research Award
(Forschungspreis) in 1994—1995. The year-long stay at the host institution,
the Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg im Breisgau and its Seminar für
Romanische Sprachwissenschaft, embedded in the stimulating activities of
the then Sonderforschungsbereich 321 Mündlichkeit und Schriftlichkeit,
provided me with the ideal frame for developing a train of thought combin-
ing various linguistic traditions. Wolfgang Raible, who directed the Semi-
nar and the Sonderforschungsbereich, as a true friend gave me carte
blanche for something creative, and I am glad to be able to present here the
completed result, even as it may be late in coming.
The second crucial influence came from long discussions with my Ohio
State colleague Peter Culicover debating the options for historical linguis-
tics in a pared-down linguistic framework. My long hesitations, in spite of
the impulses that I continued receiving from him as well as from the talk
series at the Center for Cognitive Science, eventually bore a fruit, allowing
me to acknowledge Peter's generous sharing of ideas.
In the end, the essay acquired its present shape in response to the reali-
zation that its previous versions lacked a constructive orientation. Repeated
support by The Ohio State University in the form of time away from ad-
ministrative and teaching duties (two Special Research Assignments and,
vi Acknowledgments
crucially, a year-long Faculty Professional Leave in 2004—2005) has led to
this study that is finally ready for presentation to the field.
The essay in its present form and with its positions might surprise not
only many readers, but probably also those to whom I owe much of the in-
spiration and intellectual excitement that I experienced while trying to sort
out a web of contradictions with the hope of reinstating historical linguis-
tics as a fulfilling field of inquiry. This is an essay: an experiment in how
far a set of eclectic ideas may lead in principle. While the writings of
Maturana and Varela (1972), Skousen (1989), Ristad (1993), and Culicover
and Nowak (2003) certainly do not require mutual complementation, they
provided for me a fertile mixture of ingredients from which I tried to con-
jure up a new entity. The pathway to the point where I can now write these
acknowledgments has been long and unpredictable, but full of intellectual
enjoyment. I was able to discover, recognize, and sometimes even suddenly
understand - or so it seemed to me - how the challenges of diachronic in-
vestigation within a theory-oriented practice of linguistics could be turned
into an asset. The essay traces a novel path and wishes to give the reader a
general perspective on this alternative; the hard empirical support in the
form of detailed analytical studies applying this approach to significant
questions is yet to follow.
I wish to dedicate this book to the institutions, public and private, na-
tional and international, that enable scholars and artists to develop ideas
free of other concerns. My deep appreciation goes to The Ohio State Uni-
versity and, foremost, to the Alexander-von-Humboldt Foundation for its
effective support of global contact and understanding among scholars of all
disciplines.
Contents
Acknowledgments ν
List of figures xiii
List of tables xiii
Abbreviations xiv
Introduction 1
0.1. The scenario 1
0.2. The prestige of historical linguistics 4
0.3. The limitations of historical linguistics 6
0.4. Goals of the essay 8
0.5. Plan of the study 10
Parti
Chapter 1. Diachrony: Positions and challenges 15
1.1. Proposals 15
1.2. Problematic aspects of historical linguistics 18
1.2.1. Uniformity vs. variation 18
1.2.1.1. Incomplete solutions 18
1.2.1.2. Frequency 18
1.2.1.3. Functionalization and standardization 19
1.2.2. Atomistic vs. morphologistic approaches 20
1.2.3. Latin word stress 20
1.2.4. Cultural and medial contributions 22
1.2.5. Grammaticality judgments 22
1.3. Language change 23
1.3.1. The nature of change 23
1.3.2. Patterns of change 25
Chapter 2. Domains in historical linguistics 27
2.1. Dimensions of diachrony 27
2.2. Philology broadly 28
2.2.1. The role of philology 28
2.2.2. Philology in action: textual considerations 31
viii Contents
2.2.2.1. Textual genres 31
2.2.2.2. Oral vs. written 32
2.2.2.3. Written discourse 33
2.3. Various formal proposals 37
2.3.1. Neogrammarian and structural approaches 38
2.3.1.1. Regularity of sound change 38
2.3.1.2. The uses of analogy 44
2.3.2. Double analysis 45
2.3.3. Harris and Campbell (1995) 47
2.3.4. Typology 50
2.3.4.1. General considerations 50
2.3.4.2. Choosing a typological base 51
2.3.5. Grammaticalization 53
2.3.5.1. Grammaticalization as a linguistic principle 53
2.3.5.2. Two meanings of grammaticalization 54
2.3.5.3. Grammaticalization as a reduced parametrization model 55
2.3.5.4. The extent of a grammaticalization cline 55
2.3.7. Overview 59
Chapter 3. Reintegrating diachrony: A critique
of some theoretical constructs 62
3.1. Four polar notions 62
3.2. The immanent view 63
3.3. Innate and constructivist aspects 65
3.4. Communication and causation 67
3.5. The shape of language 67
3.6. Environmental dependence of language learning 69
3.7. Parameter setting as induction 71
3.7.1. The level of parametric determination 71
3.7.2. Beyond parameters 76
3.8. The modeling of frequency 77
3.8.1. The role of frequency 77
3.8.2. Unstable differentiations 78
3.8.3. Incorporating frequency 80
3.8.4. Frequency calibration 81
3.9. Conclusion: Language as the object of diachronic study 84
Chapter 4. Critical issues: Grammatically,
representation, redundancy, and regularity 85
4.1. Types of grammaticality judgments 85
Contents ix
4.1.1. Two levels of grammaticality judgments 85
4.1.2 dealing with grammaticality results 88
4.1.3. Grammaticality in a social space 91
4.2. Grammaticality judgments as linguistic knowledge 95
4.2.1. Acquisition of grammaticality judgments 95
4.2.2. The status of grammaticality judgments 97
4.3. Representation 99
4.4. Redundancy 100
4.4.1. Reducing predictable information 100
4.4.2. Computational resources 100
4.4.3. The values of redundancy 101
4.5. Allocating computational resources 103
4.5.1. Complete analysis 103
4.5.2. Redundancy in linguistic representation 104
4.6. Regularity 105
Part II
Chapter 5. Analogy, categorization, and learning 111
5.1. Immanence and the linguistic individual 111
5.2. Learning 111
5.2.1. Learning functions 111
5.2.2. Imprinting 113
5.2.3. Dosage of input 114
5.2.4. Coordinates for language learning 115
5.3. Analogy as an operative model 115
5.3.1. Grounding the speculation 115
5.3.2. Categorization 116
5.3.2.1. The fundamental challenge 116
5.3.2.2. Modeling categorization with Aqui and Clagen 117
5.3.3. Analogy 118
5.3.3.1. A single dynamic force 118
5.3.3.2. CAMiLLe 119
5.3.3.3. Two faces of analogy 120
5.3.3.4. Pervasive analogy 121
5.3.3.5. The effects of analogy 122
5.3.3.6. Analogical Modeling 123
5.4. Analogy in diachrony 127
5.4.1. Analogy as a process: Assimilation and spread 127
5.4.2. Two pathways for change 128
χ Contents
5.4.3. Random direction of analogy 129
5.4.4. Oscillating analogy 130
5.4.4.1. Clitic pronoun and infinitive in Italian 130
5.4.4.2. Clitic pronoun and infinitive in Spanish 132
5.4.5. Privileged states of analogy 133
5.4.6. Constructive assimilation 136
5.4.7. Essential dimensions of change 137
5.5. Change in social context 138
5.5.1. Social dimensions of change 138
5.5.3. A computational implementation of the social model 140
5.5.3.1. Imprinting and connectionism 141
5.5.3.2. Receptivity, prestige, and frequency 142
5.5.3.3. Predictions by the model and linguistic reality 144
5.5.4. Secondary social forces 147
5.5.4.1. Standardization 147
5.5.4.2. Social shifts 148
5.6. In brief 150
Chapter 6. Soft Syntax 152
6.1. An overview of linguistic components 152
6.2. Major articulations and interfacing 153
6.3. The dimensions of Soft Syntax 155
6.3.1. Around syntax 155
6.3.2. Dimensions of form 157
6.3.3. Syntactic components 158
6.3.3.1. [PRECEDENCE] 160
6.3.3.2. [COHESION] 163
6.3.3.3. [DEPENDENCE] 168
6.3.3.3.1. Establishing hierarchy 168
6.3.3.3.2. Predicate subcategorization 170
6.3.3.3.3. Connecting syntax with morphology 173
6.3.3.4. [AGREEMENT] 174
6.3.3.4.1. General characterization 174
6.3.3.4.2. Endocentric vs. exocentric [AGREEMENT] 176
6.3.3.4.3. Nature and function of [AGREEMENT] 177
6.3.3.5. [CONSTRUCTIONAL IDENTITY] 180
6.3.3.6. [CONCATENATION] 183
6.3.3.6.1. [CONCATENATION: subordination] 184
6.3.3.6.2. [CONCATENATION: superordination] 187
6.3.3.6.3. Operation of [CONCATENATION] 187