* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
LINGUIST List logo Eastern Michigan University Wayne State University *
* People & Organizations * Jobs * Calls & Conferences * Publications * Language Resources * Text & Computer Tools * Teaching & Learning * Mailing Lists * Search *
* *
LINGUIST List 18.2822

Fri Sep 28 2007

Diss: Syntax: Sprouse: 'A Program for Experimental Syntax'

Editor for this issue: Luiza Newlin Lukowicz <luizalinguistlist.org>

To post to LINGUIST, use our convenient web form at http://linguistlist.org/LL/posttolinguist.html.
Directory
        1.    Jon Sprouse, A Program for Experimental Syntax
Message 1: A Program for Experimental Syntax
Date: 27-Sep-2007
From: Jon Sprouse <jsprouseuci.edu>
Subject: A Program for Experimental Syntax
E-mail this message to a friend

Institution: University of Maryland
Program: Department of Linguistics
Dissertation Status: Completed
Degree Date: 2007

Author: Jon Sprouse

Dissertation Title: A Program for Experimental Syntax

Dissertation URL: http://www.socsci.uci.edu/~jsprouse/cv/

Linguistic Field(s): Syntax

Dissertation Director:
Howard Lasnik

Dissertation Abstract:

There has always been interest in the methodology of acceptability judgment
collection, and in particular the reliability of the results. The past
several years have seen an increase in the number of studies employing
formal experimental techniques, or experimental syntax, to refine the data
underlying syntactic theories. This dissertation argues that experimental
syntax has the potential to be more than just a methodological footnote to
theoretical syntax: experimental syntax can be used to investigate the
relationship between acceptability judgments and the nature of grammatical
knowledge.

Each chapter applies the tools of experimental syntax to a claim about the
nature of grammatical knowledge that is based upon acceptability judgments.
The claims include: that grammatical knowledge is gradient, that
grammatical knowledge is sensitive to context, that the stability or
instability of acceptability reflects underlying differences in the form of
grammatical knowledge, that processing effects affect acceptability, and
that acceptability effects have little to contribute to theories of the
nature of dependency forming operations.

Using constraints on wh-movement as an empirical basis of the research, the
results of these studies suggest that experimental syntax can lead to new
insights into the nature of gramamtical knowledge and its relationship with
acceptability.




Read more issues|LINGUIST home page|Top of issue



Please report any bad links or misclassified data

LINGUIST Homepage | Read LINGUIST | Contact us

NSF Logo

While the LINGUIST List makes every effort to ensure the linguistic relevance of sites listed
on its pages, it cannot vouch for their contents.