[Lingtyp] The (ab)use of the term "theory" in (generative) linguistics
Ilja Seržant
ilja.serzants at uni-leipzig.de
Wed Feb 12 14:19:15 UTC 2020
Dear David,
Shouldn't "descriptive" be rather referred to as "philological" or
"pre-theoretical" in that parlance? :-) It seems that these two words
also belong into this thread.
Best,
Ilja
Am 12.02.2020 um 11:32 schrieb David Gil:
>
> There is also the use of "theoretical" as a would-be antonym to
> "descriptive" — with the latter often preceded by words such as "just"
> or "merely", in order to reinforce the assumption that being
> "theoretical" is somehow a higher or more worthy endeavor than being
> "descriptive". Since it is clearly impossible to describe any aspect
> of language without adopting some kind of theory (e.g. with regard to
> such basic stuff as what constitutes a segment when you're
> transcribing a text), the presupposition that theory stands in
> opposition to description is both confusing, as suggested by Martin,
> but also pernicious — the latter because it expresses a totalitarian
> attitude whereby if you're not adopting the "right" theory, you're not
> adopting any theory whatsoever.
>
> On 11/02/2020 12:38, Eitan Grossman wrote:
>> Hi all,
>>
>> In oral comments and reviews, I encounter two main uses of "theory"
>> and "theoretical." One is simply an autonym of generative linguists,
>> as in "John only hangs out with theoretical linguists" or "Mary does
>> great fieldwork but we want to hire a theoretician."
>> You might also encounter something along the lines of "This abstract
>> makes some very interesting observations but does not reference the
>> theoretical literature, and it is unclear how it relates to theory."
>>
>> The other use is something like "having a point (beyond describing
>> facts)" or "referencing general linguistic literature."
>>
>> But in my experience, the first is by far the most common.
>>
>> Eitan
>>
>>
>> בתאריך יום ג׳, 11 בפבר׳ 2020, 12:16, מאת paolo Ramat
>> <paolo.ramat at unipv.it <mailto:paolo.ramat at unipv.it>>:
>>
>> Hi everyone,
>> Martin H. has written that <<there is confusion also about ]...]
>> the relation between "typology" and "theory">>. I fully agree.
>> But Martin says further that <<the term "theory" can be used as a
>> count noun , or as a mass noun ("linguistic theory", "grammatical
>> theory">>. This sounds rather strange: I had always thought that
>> mass nouns are nouns such as 'sugar', 'blood', 'sand' etc. Can we
>> consider abstract nouns like 'philosophy','theology' or even
>> 'democracy' as mass nouns? Let alone by adding an adjective as
>> in "linguistic/grammatic theory". This is not the habitual use of
>> the term and sounds confusing.
>> Paolo
>>
>>
>> prof. dr. Paolo Ramat
>> Università di Pavia (retired)
>> Istituto Universitario Studi Superiori (IUSS Pavia) (retired)
>> Accademia dei Lincei, Socio corrispondente
>> 'Academia Europaea'
>> 'Societas Linguistica Europaea', Honorary Member
>> piazzetta Arduino 11 - I 27100 Pavia
>> ##39 0382 27027
>> 347 044 98 44
>>
>>
>> Il giorno mar 11 feb 2020 alle ore 10:47 Haspelmath, Martin
>> <haspelmath at shh.mpg.de <mailto:haspelmath at shh.mpg.de>> ha scritto:
>>
>> I would talk about "confusion", not about "abuse", because
>> there are many different kinds of linguistic theories.
>> Moreover, the term "theory" can be used as a count noun (as
>> in the last sentence), or as a mass noun ("linguistic
>> theory", "grammatical theory"). Linguists rarely reflect on
>> kinds of theories, or on kinds of senses of the word
>> "theory", and the papers that Hartmut mentioned have not
>> become well-known. So there is a lot of confusion.
>>
>> In my 2010 paper on "Framework-free grammatical theory"
>> (https://zenodo.org/record/814947), I distinguished four
>> senses of "theory".
>>
>> But there is confusion also about the relation between
>> "typology" and "theory": Quite a few people have contrasted
>> them as if they were different ways of doing linguistics, or
>> different parts of research, e.g.
>>
>> Hengeveld, Kees. 1992. /Non-verbal predication: Theory,
>> typology, diachrony/. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.
>> Polinsky, Maria & Robert Kluender. 2007. Linguistic typology
>> and theory construction: Common challenges ahead. /Linguistic
>> Typology/ 11(1). 273–283.
>> Van Langendonck, Willy. 2008. /Theory and typology of proper
>> names/. Berlin: De Gruyter Mouton.
>>
>> But on the other hand, it is clear that "atheoretical
>> typology" is impossible, so this usage is confusing. See this
>> recent blogpost, which proposes an alternative:
>> https://dlc.hypotheses.org/1915
>>
>> Martin
>>
>>
>> On 11.02.20 10:18, Hartmut Haberland wrote:
>>>
>>> Jün-Tin Wang 1973. ”On the representation of generative
>>> grammars as first-order theories.” In: Radu J. Bogdan and
>>> Ilkka Niinilouto eds. /Logic,/ /Language and Probability/.
>>> Dordrecht: Reidel, 302-316
>>>
>>> Hans-Heinrich Lieb 1974. "Grammars as theories: The case for
>>> axiomatic grammar (Part I)". /Theoretical Linguistics/ 1:
>>> 39-115.
>>>
>>> Hans-Heinrich Lieb 1976. "Grammars as theories: The case for
>>> axiomatic grammar (Part II)". /Theoretical Linguistics/3: 1-98.
>>>
>>> *Fra:*Hartmut Haberland <hartmut at ruc.dk>
>>> <mailto:hartmut at ruc.dk>
>>> *Sendt:* 11. februar 2020 09:33
>>> *Til:* TALLMAN Adam <Adam.TALLMAN at cnrs.fr>
>>> <mailto:Adam.TALLMAN at cnrs.fr>
>>> *Emne:* Re: [Lingtyp] The (ab)use of the term "theory" in
>>> (generative) linguistics
>>>
>>> Hans-Heinrich Lieb has written extensively about this in the
>>> 70s, also Jün-tin Wang. Hartmut
>>>
>>>
>>> Den 11. feb. 2020 kl. 07.12 skrev TALLMAN Adam
>>> <Adam.TALLMAN at cnrs.fr <mailto:Adam.TALLMAN at cnrs.fr>>:
>>>
>>> Hello all,
>>>
>>> Does anyone have any sources that discuss the abuse of
>>> the term "theory" in generative linguistics (or in
>>> linguistics generally)? I figure that a paper like this
>>> must exist given the deeply insightful comments that I
>>> have received by some reviewers.
>>>
>>> best,
>>>
>>> Adam
>>>
>>> Adam James Ross Tallman (PhD, UT Austin)
>>>
>>> ELDP-SOAS -- Postdoctorant
>>> CNRS -- Dynamique Du Langage (UMR 5596)
>>> Bureau 207, 14 av. Berthelot, Lyon (07)
>>>
>>> Numero celular en bolivia: +59163116867
>>>
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>>
>>
>> --
>> Martin Haspelmath (haspelmath at shh.mpg.de <mailto:haspelmath at shh.mpg.de>)
>> Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History
>> Kahlaische Strasse 10
>> D-07745 Jena
>> &
>> Leipzig University
>> Institut fuer Anglistik
>> IPF 141199
>> D-04081 Leipzig
>>
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> --
> David Gil
>
> Senior Scientist (Associate)
> Department of Linguistic and Cultural Evolution
> Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History
> Kahlaische Strasse 10, 07745 Jena, Germany
>
> Email:gil at shh.mpg.de
> Mobile Phone (Israel): +972-556825895
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>
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--
Ilja A. Seržant, postdoc
Project "Grammatical Universals"
Universität Leipzig (IPF 141199)
Nikolaistraße 6-10
04109 Leipzig
URL: http://home.uni-leipzig.de/serzant/
Tel.: + 49 341 97 37713
Room 5.22
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