Advances in Biolinguistics: The Human Language Faculty and Its Biological Basis

287 Pages·2016·1.84 MB·

by  Koji Fujita, Cedric A. Boeckx

Advances in Biolinguistics
Biolinguistics is a highly interdisciplinary fi eld that seeks the rapprochement
between linguistics and biology. Linking theoretical linguistics, theoretical
biology, genetics, neuroscience and cognitive psychology, this book offers a
collection of chapters situating the enterprise conceptually, highlighting both
the promises and challenges of the fi eld, and chapters focusing on the challenges
and prospects of taking interdisciplinarity seriously. It provides concrete
illustrations of some of the cutting-edge research in biolinguistics and piques
the interest of undergraduate students looking for a fi eld to major in and inspires
graduate students on possible research directions. It is also meant to show
specialists in adjacent fi elds how a particular strand of theoretical linguistics
relates to their concerns, and in so doing, the book intends to foster collaboration
across disciplines.
Koji Fujita is Professor at the Graduate School of Human and Environmental
Studies, Kyoto University.
Cedric Boeckx is an ICREA Research Professor at the Institutió Catalana de
Recerca i Estudis Avançats and is also associated with the University of
Barcelona.

Advances in Biolinguistics
The human language faculty and
its biological basis
Edited by Koji Fujita
and Cedric Boeckx
First published 2016
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
and by Routledge
711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group,
an informa business
© 2016 Koji Fujita and Cedric Boeckx
The right of Koji Fujita and Cedric Boeckx to be identifi ed as
the authors of the editorial material, and of the authors for their
individual chapters, has been asserted in accordance with sections
77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or
reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic,
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including photocopying and recording, or in any information
storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from
the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks
or registered trademarks, and are used only for identifi cation and
explanation without intent to infringe.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Advances in biolinguistics : the human language faculty and its
biological basis / Edited by Koji Fujita and Cedric A. Boeckx.
pages cm
Includes bibliographical references and index.
1. Biolinguistics—Research. I. Fujita, Koji, 1958– editor.
II. Boeckx, Cedric, editor.
P132.A383 2016
401—dc23
2015033055
ISBN: 978-1-138-89172-2 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-315-70952-9 (ebk)
Typeset in Galliard
by Apex CoVantage, LLC
Contents
Notes on contributors viii
1 Introduction: the biolinguistic program:
a new beginning 1
KOJI FUJITA AND CEDRIC BOECKX
PART I
Computational issues 7
2 Feature-equilibria in syntax 9
HIROKI NARITA AND NAOKI FUKUI
3 On the primitive operations of syntax 29
TAKAOMI KATO, HIROKI NARITA, HIRONOBU KASAI,
MIHOKO ZUSHI AND NAOKI FUKUI
4 Case and predicate-argument relations 46
MIHOKO ZUSHI
PART II
Development, processing and variations 67
5 Structure dependence in child English: new evidence 69
KOJI SUGISAKI
6 Make a good prediction or get ready for a locality
penalty: maybe it’s coming late 83
HAJIME ONO, KENTARO NAKATANI AND NORIAKI YUSA
vi Contents
7 Some things to learn from the intersection between
language and working memory 103
GONZALO CASTILLO
8 Eliminating parameters from the narrow
syntax: rule ordering variation by third-factor
underspecifi cation 128
MIKI OBATA AND SAMUEL EPSTEIN
PART III
Conceptual and methodological foundations 139
9 On certain fallacies in evolutionary linguistics
and how one can eliminate them 141
KOJI FUJITA
10 Biological pluralism in service of biolinguistics 153
PEDRO TIAGO MARTINS, EVELINA LEIVADA, ANTONIO
BENÍTEZ-BURRACO AND CEDRIC BOECKX
11 On the current status of biolinguistics as a
biological science 170
MASANOBU UEDA
PART IV
Evolutionary considerations 187
12 Proposing the hypothesis of an earlier emergence
of the human language faculty 189
MASAYUKI IKE-UCHI
13 Two aspects of syntactic evolution 198
MICHIO HOSAKA
PART V
Topics in neurobiology 215
14 Syntax in the brain 217
NORIAKI YUSA
Contents vii
15 The central role of the thalamus in language
and cognition 230
CONSTANTINA THEOFANOPOULOU AND CEDRIC BOECKX
16 A biolinguistic approach to language disorders:
towards a paradigm shift in clinical linguistics 256
ANTONIO BENÍTEZ-BURRACO
Index 273
Contributors
Antonio Benítez-Burraco is Professor in the Department of Spanish Philology
and its Didactics, University of Huelva.
Cedric Boeckx is ICREA Research Professor at the Catalan Institute for Research
and Advanced Studies (ICREA) and at the department of General Linguistics,
University of Barcelona.
Gonzalo Castillo is a graduate student in the Department of General Linguistics,
University of Barcelona.
Samuel Epstein is the Marilyn J. Shatz Collegiate Professor of Linguistics and
an Arthur F. Thurnau Professor at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.
Koji Fujita is Professor of Linguistics at the Graduate School of Human and
Environmental Studies, Kyoto University.
Naoki Fukui is Professor of Linguistics at the Graduate School of Languages
and Linguistics, Sophia University.
Michio Hosaka is Professor of English Linguistics at the Department of English
Language and Literature, the College of Humanities and Sciences, Nihon
University.
Masayuki Ike-uchi is Professor of Linguistics at the Faculty of Liberal Arts,
Tsuda College.
Hironobu Kasai is Professor at the Center for Fundamental Education, the
University of Kitakyushu.
Takaomi Kato is Associate Professor of Linguistics at the Graduate School of
Languages and Linguistics, Sophia University.
Evelina Leivada is a member of the Cyprus Acquisition Team in Nicosia, Cyprus.
Pedro Tiago Martins is a graduate student in the Department of General
Linguistics, University of Barcelona.
Kentaro Nakatani is Professor of Linguistics in the Department of English
Literature and Language, Konan University.
Contributors ix
Hiroki Narita is Assistant Professor of Linguistics at the College of Industrial
Technology, Nihon University.
Miki Obata is Associate Professor in the Department of Science, Tokyo Uni-
versity of Science.
Hajime Ono is Associate Professor of Linguistics in the Faculty of Liberal Arts,
Tsuda College.
Koji Sugisaki is Professor of Linguistics at the College of Liberal Arts and
Sciences, Mie University.
Constantina Theofanopoulou is a graduate student in the Department of
General Linguistics, University of Barcelona.
Masanobu Ueda is Professor of Linguistics at the Graduate School of Interna-
tional Media, Communication, and Tourism Studies, Hokkaido University.
Noriaki Yusa is Professor of Linguistics in the Department of English, Miyagi
Gakuin Women’s University.
Mihoko Zushi is Professor of Linguistics at Kanagawa University, Yokohama.