| The Logic of Markedness Contributor(s): Battistella, Edwin L. (Author) |
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ISBN: 0195103947 ISBN-13: 9780195103946 Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA OUR PRICE: $207.90 Product Type: Hardcover - Other Formats Published: August 1996 Annotation: Theories of language espoused by linguists during much of this century have assumed that there is a hierarchy to the elements of language such that certain constructions, rules, and features are unmarked while others are marked; "happy" for example, is unmarked or neutral, while "unhappy" is marked. This opposition, referred to as markedness, is one of the concepts which both Chomskyan generative grammar and Jakobsonian structuralism appear to share, yet which each tradition has treated differently. Edwin Battistella studies the historical development of the concept of markedness in the Prague School structuralism of Roman Jakobson, its importation into generative linguistics, and its subsequent development within Chomsky's "principles and parameters" framework. He traces how structuralist and generative linguistics have drawn on and expanded the notion of markedness, both as a means of characterizing linguistic constructs and as a theory of the innate language faculty. Rather than proposing a new theory of markedness, The Logic of Markedness studies the evolution of the concept and its treatment in two different but related linguistic frameworks, and as such will appeal to many linguists interested in markedness, in Jakobsonian and Chomskyan theories of grammar, and in language acquisition. |
| Additional Information |
| BISAC Categories: - Language Arts & Disciplines | Linguistics - General - Language Arts & Disciplines | Grammar & Punctuation |
| Dewey: 415 |
| LCCN: 96018869 |
| Lexile Measure: 1530 |
| Physical Information: 0.83" H x 6.47" W x 9.57" (1.15 lbs) 192 pages |
| Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
| Publisher Description: Theories of language espoused by linguists during much of this century have assumed that there is a hierarchy to the elements of language such that certain constructions, rules, and features are unmarked while others are marked; play for example, is unmarked or neutral, while played or player is marked. This opposition, referred to as markedness, is one of the concepts which both Chomskyan generative grammar and Jakobsonian structuralism appear to share, yet which each tradition has treated differently. Battistella studies the historical development of the concept of markedness in the Prague School structuralism of Roman Jakobson, its importation into generative linguistics, and its subsequent development within Chomsky's principles and parameters framework. He traces how structuralist and generative linguistics have drawn on and expanded the notion of markedness, both as a means of characterizing linguistic constructs and as a theory of the innate language faculty. |