L103 Discussion: Week 4

L103 Discussion, Week 4:
Learning and constraints

Language learning 1

  • Figuring out what a word refers to
  • Figuring out what the bounds on the meaning/function of a morpheme are
    • Nouns
    • Adjectives
    • Verbs
    • Sentence "adverbs"
    • Grammatical morphemes
  • Figuring out what the bounds on a rule are
  • Figuring out what the form for a particular meaning/function is
  • The usefulness and the apparent absence of negative evidence
  • The "poverty of the stimulus"
  • The need for constraints
    • Genetic constraints
      • innatist (nativist) perspective
      • Relationship to the search for universals
      • The parameter-setting approach to learning grammar
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© 2003. Indiana University and Michael Gasser.
URL: www.indiana.edu/~gasser/L103/Discussion/mg4.html
6 Feb, 2003