[Lexicog] Defining verbs, etc.

[John Roberts]

rtroike at email.arizona.edu wrote:

Baker is simply following Chomsky's assertion that there are four 
lexical categories, N, V, A, and P.

The way I see it, this is something of a serious problem for generative 
syntax. In generative syntax phrase structure is based on lexical 
categories. X projects to XP, where X is a lexical category. (X can also 
be a functional category.) Therefore lexical categories are the basis 
for universal syntax.  But if lexical categories are defined by 
morphosyntactic properties idiosyncratic to individual languages then 
how can they be universal? And generativists cannot resort to any kind 
of a semantic definition of lexical categories that might apply to all 
languages because then - horror of horrors - syntax would be based on 
semantics! So Baker's solution to define the lexical categories of 
verbs, nouns and adjectives in terms of "universal" syntax is actually 
required if the theory is to be sustained.

John Roberts


-- 
********************
John R Roberts
SIL International Linguistics Consultant
dr_john_roberts at sil.org
********************


 
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