Autonomy of syntax
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In linguistics the autonomy of syntax is the assumption that syntax is arbitrary and self-contained with respect to meaning, semantics, pragmatics, and other factors external to language.[1] The autonomy of syntax is advocated by linguistic formalists, and in particular by generative linguistics, whose approaches have hence been called autonomist linguistics.
The autonomy of syntax is at the center of the debates between formalist and functionalist linguistics,[1] and in same cases it is contrasted with the principle of iconicity.
Over the decades, multiple instances have been found of cases in which syntactic structures are actually determined or influenced by semantic traits, and some formalists and generativts have reacted to that by shrinking those parts of semantcs that they consider autonomous. Over the decades, in the changes that Noam Chomsky has made to his generative formulation, there has been a shift from a claim of the autonomy of the syntax to that of an autonomy of grammar.[1]
See also
Notes and references
- ^ a b c Croft (1995) Autonomy and Functionalist Linguistics, in Language Vol. 71, No. 3 (Sep., 1995), pp. 490-532
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