A HORNBOOK OF HAZARDS FOR LINGUISTS,
Abstract
A critical analysis is presented of some beliefs about language and linguistics to which most contemporary linguists assent but which nevertheless hinder their theoretical work. The beliefs are: that the data of linguistics are concrete physical objects; that linguistic method is primarily descriptive; that linguistic laws are laws of nature comparable to physical laws; that linguistics is an empirical science using inductive methods; that (contrariwise) linguistics is a formal science comparable to logic; that languages are codes; that the notion of correctness has no place in linguistics (particularly, that linguistics provides no basis for statements about correct usage); that the meanings of words are arbitrary; that meanings are associations and hence subjective; that (contrariwise) meanings are things-out-in-the-world and hence too plentiful; that individual words can be either ambiguous or meaningless; that words point to reality; that only nouns, verbs, adjectives and adverbs are meaningful; that linguists need to invent their own theory of meaning before they can get on with their work; that (contrariwise) linguists need have nothing to do with the meanings of words; that the notion of units of meaning both makes sense and is useful; that all sentences possess information content; that the notion of well-formedness adds something important to grammatical theory; that structure takes priority over meaning in constructing a grammar; and that speaking a language depends upon the prior reconstruction of the theory of that language. The purpose of the analysis is to invite linguists to free themselves from these beliefs. (Author)
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Apr 01, 1967
- Accession Number
- AD0658904
Entities
People
- Alice Koller
Organizations
- Connecticut College