In this paper, we prove decidability properties and new results on the position of the family of languages generated by (circular) splicing systems within the Chomsky hierarchy. The two main results of the paper are the following. First, we show that it is decidable, given a circular splicing language and a regular language, whether they are equal. Second, we prove the language generated by an ...

The central claim of the paper is that NL stringsets are regular. Three independent arguments are offered in favor of this position: one based on parsimony considerations, one employing the McCullogh-Pitts (1943) model of neurons, and a purely linguistic one. It is possible to derive explicit upper bounds for the number of (live) states in NL acceptors: the results show that finite state NL par...

Opacity is a natural language phenomenon where phonological process rendered non-surface-true by virtue of its interaction with other processes. Phonologists have long been fascinated opaque generalizations both from typological standpoint (What kinds are found?) and theoretical one (Which formal tools permit an analysis opacity?). This review aims to ( a) discuss the breadth in light phonologi...

It is a well-known theorem by Chomsky and Schützenberger (1963) that every context-free language can be represented as a homomorphic image of the intersection of a Dyck language and a regular language. This paper gives a Chomsky-Schützenberger-type characterization for multiple context-free languages, which are a natural extension of context-free languages, with introducing the notion of multip...

Within the Principles-and-Parameters approach to UG (including the recent Minimalist Program), the process of language acquisition is interpreted as the process of fixing the values of parameters in one of the permissible ways (see e.g. Chomsky 1995:6). Under this view, the data from child language can (in principle) be especially valuable, in evaluating the parameters proposed through the inve...

We propose an analysis for expletive-associate constructions within the minimalist framework outlined by Chomsky (1991, and later). Specifically, we argue that the expletive is an argument expression that must raise to the (most) external subject position in order to satisfy the Extended Projection Principle and check nominative case, while number agreement is checked by the associate. We prese...

It is in LSLT, first circulated in 1955, that Chomsky sets out in more detail the theory of generative grammar. In this work "the 'realist' position" is assumed. The theory is "understood as a psychological theory that attempts to characterize the innate human 'language faculty'" (Chomsky 1975:37). Hence from its earliest beginnings the central motivation for the study of generative grammar (ge...

Weir [43] proved a Chomsky-Schützenberger-like representation theorem for the string languages of tree-adjoining grammars, where the Dyck language Dn in the Chomsky-Schützenberger characterization is replaced by the intersection D2n ∩ g(D2n), where g is a certain bijection on the alphabet consisting of 2n pairs of brackets. This paper presents a generalization of this theorem to the string lang...

Chomsky cannot help wondering at the fact that we, despite so vast evidence, have little knowledge about the obvious evidence. A good example, I think, is the child’s way of first language acquisition. A great many researchers have studied various aspects of child language acquisition at different stages of the child’ life and have brought to light many details of language development. However,...

Chomsky (1957) o ered prescient suggestions about how to formulate theories of understanding for the spoken languages that human children can naturally acquire. We can view his proposal as a prolegomenon to a theory of meaning that combines a layered theory of syntax with an account of how humans can naturally use expressions in acts of referring, asserting, querying, and so on; cp. Austin (196...