Edge and universalism vs. particularism

[Prof. Dr. Christian Lehmann]

Dear Frans and fellow typologists,



I would like to second Frans in every respect. Some specialists have been confounding the theory of universal grammar with linguistic universal research. As far as empirically based knowledge goes, there is no universal grammar. But since grammar does not exhaust language, that does not entail that nothing about language is universal.



Apparently the history of our discipline is doomed to follow the motion of a pendulum: after North American structuralism ("languages could differ from each other without limit and in unpredictable ways" [Martin Joos 1957]), we have had Generative Grammar ("Grammatica una et eadem est secundum substantiam in omnibus linguis, licet accidentaliter varietur" [Roger Bacon 1244]); and apparently it is now time to swing back to Joos. Wilhelm von Humboldt had already gotten it right: The task of science in the field of the humanities, especially linguistics, is to seek the unity in the diversity (thus, sinngemäß, Humboldt 1836). This task requires abstraction. In some fundamental sense, linguistic particularism alias relativism is a refusal of abstraction.
Maybe some colleages have to be asked to take our task as scientists more seriously.


Best wishes to all of you,

Christian Lehmann

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Prof. Dr. Christian Lehmann
Seminar für Sprachwissenschaft
Universität
D - 99092 Erfurt

www.christianlehmann.eu
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