paradigms

[Daniel L. Everett]

Jonathan,

It probably isn't going to be productive to discuss this on the list.
The facts are too detailed.

But you can rest assured that the points about what theories are for
aren't really necessary at this level of discussion. Saying that you
want to derive the facts rather than say that they are merely memorized
adds no new information to anyone's processor, at least not anyone
reading such a list.

Wrt paradigms, there are similar arguments to be made for phonemic
charts, i.e. that they actually derive facts, not merely list them.

In fact, I would go farther and say that one cannot even understand
simple verb formation in some languages without a careful understanding
of the culture involved as well, as Andrew Pawley, inter alia, has
pointed out. But that would be gratuitous, since it would require
several full-blown articles to develop the idea and consequences.

But this is all better left to the journals and papers. I therefore
withdraw my query.

Cheers,

Dan


------------------------------------------

Daniel L. Everett
Professor of Phonetics & Phonology
Postgraduate Programme Director
Department of Linguistics
The University of Manchester
Oxford Road
Manchester, UK M13 9PL
http://ling.man.ac.uk/info/staff/de
Fax: 44-161-275-3187
Office: 44-161-275-3158

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