Merging Generative Linguistics and Psycholinguistics

Relating structure and time in linguistics and psycholinguistics

The field of psycholinguistics advertises its mentalistic commitments in its name. The field of linguistics does not. Psycholinguistic research frequently involves ingenious experimental designs, fancy lab equipment such as eye-trackers or electroencephalograms (EEGs), large groups of experimental subjects, and detailed statistical analyses. Linguistic research typically requires no specialized...

The Convergence of Lexicalist Perspectives in Psycholinguistics and Computational Linguistics

Weighted Constraints in Generative Linguistics

Harmonic Grammar (HG) and Optimality Theory (OT) are closely related formal frameworks for the study of language. In both, the structure of a given language is determined by the relative strengths of a set of constraints. They differ in how these strengths are represented: as numerical weights (HG) or as ranks (OT). Weighted constraints have advantages for the construction of accounts of langua...

Early generative linguistics and empirical methodology

Is There a Crisis in Generative Linguistics?

The claim is not just that one finds questionable examples in linguistics papers, but that lax data-collection standards have led to the growth of theories that are based upon bogus data. If these charges stick, then we face a genuine crisis. In order for there to be a crisis, however, it would need to be the case that (i) Intuitive judgments have led to generalizations that are widely accepted...