Linguistic Variables: Towards a Unified Theory of Linguistic Variation

LINGUISTIC VARIABLES......Page 2
Editorial page......Page 3
Title page......Page 4
Copyright page......Page 5
On This Book......Page 6
Table of contents......Page 10
PART I. ORIENTATION......Page 16
1.1 An elementary question......Page 18
1.2 A concept of linguistic variable......Page 19
1.3 Comments and examples......Page 21
1.4 Classifying linguistic variables......Page 22
1.5 Component variables......Page 24
1.6 Holistic variables......Page 26
2.1 Component approach and holistic approach (variety approach)......Page 28
2.2 Grammar approach and language approach......Page 30
2.3 Examples: grammar approach......Page 32
2.4 Examples: language approach......Page 34
2.5 Aims and scope of the present essay......Page 35
3.1 A classification of current research......Page 38
3.2 Conclusions......Page 40
3.3 Old biasses. Syntax in dialectology......Page 41
3.4 Size of research. The role of theory......Page 43
PART II. SETTING THE STAGE......Page 46
4.1 Languages as communication complexes......Page 48
4.2 Systems for communication complexes......Page 51
4.3 Different systems for a stage: example......Page 53
4.4 Chains of systems......Page 54
4.5 States of systems. Language development......Page 56
4.6 Lists of variables......Page 58
5.2 Details......Page 60
5.3 Variety structures as classification systems......Page 62
5.4 Classification criteria: external and system-based......Page 63
5.5 Criteria correlation......Page 64
6.1 Introduction......Page 66
6.2 Idiolects as 'external' and 'speaker specific'......Page 67
6.3 Idiolects as 'intermediate'......Page 68
6.4 Idiolects as 'homogeneous'......Page 69
6.5 Remark: concepts of homogeneity......Page 71
7.1 Historical languages: general objections......Page 72
7.2 Historical languages: specific objections......Page 73
7.3 Classification systems: the problem of criteria......Page 74
7.4 Classification systems: the problem of uniqueness......Page 76
8.1 The historical period division and the basic dialect division......Page 78
8.2 Problems of the basic dialect division......Page 80
8.3 Other primary classifications......Page 82
8.4 Classifications on historical periods......Page 84
8.5 Other non-primary classifications......Page 85
8.6 Summary......Page 87
PART III. A THEORY OF LANGUAGE VARIETIES......Page 90
9.1 Divisions, classifications, partitions......Page 92
9.2 Introducing criteria......Page 95
9.3 Division systems, classification systems, partition systems......Page 97
9.4 Auxiliary notions. Theorem......Page 100
9.5 The notion of place......Page 103
9.6 Explication of "variety structure"......Page 105
10.1 Example......Page 108
10.2 Criteria-determining functions......Page 110
10.3 Permissible types of non-language entities......Page 112
10.4 Points of view and criteria......Page 113
11.1 The criteria-determining function......Page 116
11.2 Permissible types of systems......Page 117
11.3 Points of view and criteria......Page 119
11.4 Example......Page 123
11.5 The correlation theorem......Page 126
12.1 Varieties and languages......Page 130
12.2 Properties of the variety relation......Page 133
12.3 Idiolect location in historical languages......Page 136
12.4 Idiolect location in varieties......Page 138
13.1 Location of idiolect systems......Page 140
13.2 Position of system components......Page 141
13.3 Variety-specific components......Page 143
13.4 Variety-specific properties......Page 145
PART IV. INTEGRATING THE COMPONENT APPROACH......Page 148
14.1 Introduction......Page 150
14.2 Orientation......Page 151
14.3 Variants of relations......Page 153
14.4 Variants of functions......Page 155
14.5 The notion of a linguistic variable in a set of systems......Page 158
15.1 On reconstructing Chomsky......Page 162
15.2 'Principles and parameters': definitions......Page 164
15.3 Discussion......Page 166
15.4 Parameter sets......Page 168
15.5 'Representation': reconstructing Seiler......Page 169
16.1 Example......Page 172
16.2 The notion of evaluation basis......Page 174
16.4 Types of evaluation grammars......Page 176
17.1 Rule-weight......Page 180
17.2 Rule interpretation......Page 181
17.3 Rule-weight......Page 183
17.4 The values of rule-weight as linguistic variables......Page 185
17.5 On reconstructing the variable rule approach......Page 186
17.6 Grammar-independentvariables: quantitative and qualitative......Page 188
18.1 Basic ideas......Page 192
18.2 Property determination by linguistic variables......Page 193
18.3 Specifying sets of systems by linguistic variables......Page 194
18.4 Example......Page 196
18.5 Permissible types of systems: integrating the component approach......Page 198
PART V. EXTENSIONS......Page 200
19.1 A note on contrastive analysis and language acquisition......Page 202
19.2 Language typology: basic ideas......Page 203
19.3 Auxiliary concepts......Page 206
19.4 Typological structures and types......Page 209
19.5 Explanations......Page 212
19.6 Variety structures and typological structures......Page 215
20.1 Introduction......Page 218
20.2 Types of 'grammars'......Page 219
20.3 Comments......Page 222
20.4 A sample grammatical statement......Page 225
20.5 Grammatical terms: non-linguistic constants......Page 228
20.6 Grammatical terms: linguistic constants......Page 230
21.1 Claim on simple grammars......Page 234
21.2 Comments......Page 236
21.3 Complex grammars: a sample statement......Page 238
21.4 Claim on complex grammars......Page 241
21.5 Comparative grammars......Page 244
21.6 Grammars, typologies, and linguistic variables......Page 247
Bibliography......Page 250
Index of Names......Page 260
Index of Subjects and Terms......Page 263
List of Symbols and Abbreviations......Page 274