The Problem of Simplicity in Formal Syntax

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

1 Academy of Wisdom and Philosophy of Iran

2 Department of Linguistics, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad

3 Ferdowsi University of Mashhad

Abstract

It is believed that achieving simplicity in describing a system is a prominent component for defining the scientific methods. It also is one of the fundamental goals of the philosophy of science. To be more efficient, linguistics in general and generative linguistics in particular try to obtain a high degree of simplicity. In order to analyze simplicity, this article compares two dominant theories in which tendency to simplicity is a methodological commitment .The first one is a "syntactic theory" introduced by Chomsky as X bar theory, and the other is a logical theory"type theory" used by R. Montague for logical syntactic analysis of language .This analysis is based on two reasons as the theories both a) have the same conclusion and b) use formal methods. Formalization has two consequences: generalization and precision. Generalization in itself is an outcome of simplicity, in which the more quantitative relations results in a more simple system. Furthermore, a precise examination indicates that such formal methods do not necessarily lead to the same results. This is due to internal relations among elements and principles in the theory. The following analysis will show that such anticipation is not always realizable and describing simplicity is not always simple. Based on Gillies theory, it concludes that for comparison between the two theories, explanatory surplus principle is a firm criterion.

Keywords

References

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Journal of Researches in Linguistics
Volume 2, Issue 3 - Serial Number 3
December 2010
Pages 101-119

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