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A note on methodology in linguistics

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 October 2009

Robert Freidin
Robert Freidin
Affiliation:
Program in Linguistics, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544-5264. freidin@princeton.edu
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Abstract

Evans & Levinson's (E&L's) critique of Universal Grammar fails because their methodology is flawed, as illustrated in their discussion of the Subjacency Condition. The lack of explicit analysis leads the authors to a false conclusion that is refuted by work published in this journal twenty years ago. They miss the point that unanalyzed data cannot disprove grammatical hypotheses.

Type
Open Peer Commentary
Information
Behavioral and Brain Sciences , Volume 32 , Issue 5 , October 2009 , pp. 454 - 455
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2009

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