KEY IDEAS IN LINGUISTICS KEY IDEAS IN LINGUISTICS AND THE PHILOSOPHY OF LANGUAGE KEY IDEAS IN LINGUISTICS Edited by Siobhan Chapman and Christopher Routledge AND THE This book offers introductory entries on eighty ideas that have shaped the study of language up to the present day. Entries are written by experts in the fields of PHILOSOPHY OF LANGUAGE linguistics and the philosophy of language to reflect the full range of approaches AND THE PHILOSOPHY OF LANGUAGE and modes of thought. Each entry includes a brief description of the idea, an account of its development, and its impact on the field of language study. The book is written in an accessible style with clear descriptions of technical terms, guides to further reading, and extensive cross-referencing between entries. A useful additional feature of this book is that it is cross-referenced throughout with Key Thinkers in Linguistics and the Philosophy of Language (Edinburgh, 2005), revealing significant connections and continuities in the two related disciplines. Ideas covered range from Sense Data, Artificial Intelligence, and Logic, through Generative Semantics, Cognitivism, and Conversation Analysis, to Political Correctness, Deconstruction, and Corpora. Features • The only single-volume reference book to focus specifically on ideas from both linguistics and the philosophy of language • Accessibly written for use at all levels, including undergraduate, postgraduate, academic, and other general readers in the fields of linguistics and the philosophy of language • Extensively cross-referenced both within itself and with Key Thinkers in Linguistics and the Philosophy of Language to provide a unique reference resource and Christopher RoutledgeEdited by Siobhan Chapman Siobhan Chapman is Senior Lecturer in English Language at the University of Liverpool. http://siobhanchapman.co.uk Christopher Routledge is a freelance writer and editor. http://chrisroutledge.co.uk ISBN 978 0 7486 2619 9 Edinburgh University Press Edited by Siobhan Chapman and Christopher Routledge 22 George Square Edinburgh EH8 9LF Edinburgh www.eup.ed.ac.uk Cover illustration: Image © Corbis 2007 Cover design: Michael Chatfield Pantone 330 Key Ideas in Linguistics and the Philosophy of Language Key Ideas in Linguistics and the Philosophy of Language Edited by Siobhan Chapman and Christopher Routledge Edinburgh University Press © in this edition Edinburgh University Press, 2009 © in the individual contributions is retained by the authors Edinburgh University Press Ltd 22 George Square, Edinburgh Typeset in 10/12pt Sabon by Servis Filmsetting Ltd, Stockport, Cheshire, and printed and bound in Great Britain by MPG Biddles Ltd, King’s Lynn, Norfolk A CIP record for this book is available from the British Library ISBN 978 0 7486 2618 2 (hardback) ISBN 978 0 7486 2619 9 (paperback) The right of the contributors to be identified as authors of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. Contents Preface vii Intuition 103 Acknowledgements ix Language Games 106 Notes on Contributors x Language of Thought 110 Langue/Parole 113 Acceptability/Grammaticality 1 Linguistic Relativity 116 Adequacy 2 Linguistic Variable 119 Ambiguity/Vagueness 3 Logic 120 Analytic Philosophy 4 Logical Form 127 Analytic/Synthetic 11 Logical Positivism 128 Artificial Intelligence 14 Mentalism 130 Behaviourism 17 Metaphor 131 Cognitivism 21 Minimalism 134 Compositionality 24 Modality 138 Connotation/Denotation 25 Model-theoretic Semantics 139 Continuity 26 Names 142 Conventional Meaning 28 Nonnatural Meaning 144 Conversation Analysis 29 Optimality Theory 145 Corpora 36 Ordinary Language Philosophy 149 Correspondence Theory 42 Performative 155 Creativity 43 Phoneme 156 Deconstruction 44 Politeness 157 Deduction/Induction 47 Political Correctness 161 Definite Descriptions 54 Port-Royal Logic 163 Descriptivism 57 Possible World Semantics 164 (Critical) Discourse Analysis 58 Poststructuralism 170 Distinctive Features 65 Presupposition 173 Emic/Etic 66 Private Language 179 Empiricism/Rationalism 67 Propositional Attitudes 181 Feminism 74 Propositions 185 Generative Phonology 77 Prototype 186 Generative Semantics 78 Psychoanalysis 189 Glossematics 79 Relevance Theory 193 Holism 81 Sense Data 199 Ideational Theories 84 Sense/Reference 200 Implicature 86 Signs and Semiotics 205 Indeterminacy 92 Situational Semantics 209 Innateness 96 Speech Act Theory 212 Integrationism 97 Structuralism 219 Intentionality 100 Systemic-Functional Grammar 225 CONTENTS Transformational-Generative Universal Grammar 247 Grammar 232 Use/Mention 251 Truth Theories 238 Truth Value 244 Index 253 Type/Token 246 vi Preface The ideas described in this book have been developed in linguistics and the philosophy of language, as well as in some related disciplines such as mathe- matics, logic and psychology. They necessarily represent only a very small pro- portion of the long tradition of the serious study of language; we have chosen them because of their impact on current work in linguistics and the philosophy of language. These two disciplines are subdivided into many different branches. Linguistics, for example, includes work undertaken in semantics, pragmatics, phonology, syntax, sociolinguistics and many other fields. In general we have not treated these individual fields as key ideas in their own right. You will not, for instance, find an entry here on ‘Pragmatics’, but you will find topics from the field of pragmatics discussed under entries such as ‘Implicature’, ‘Relevance Theory’ and ‘Speech Act Theory’. The names of different branches of linguis- tics and the philosophy of language do, however, appear in the index. Similarly, we have avoided allocating entries to descriptive categories such as ‘adjective’, ‘phrase’ or ‘conjunction’. The entries are arranged in simple alphabetical order, and aim to elucidate each key idea, offering a succinct definition followed by a more discursive account of the development of the idea and of its impact and current relevance. The book can therefore be used as a stand-alone reference work. However, it is also designed to be used in conjunction with our Key Thinkers in Linguistics and the Philosophy of Language (2005). The coverage of these two volumes is similar: broadly, the study of language in the Western tradition from antiquity to the present-day, with an emphasis on work that has been influential on lin- guistics and the philosophy of language as they are practised in the early part of the twenty-first century. However, the two are complementary in that they arrange and present the material in different ways. Key Thinkers considers dif- ferent ways of thinking about language in the context of the work of the particular figures with which they are most closely associated, drawing out con- tinuities and developments of thought in their particular historical and social context. Key Ideas focuses on the development of specific ways of thinking, sometimes across many decades or centuries, considering the influences on these ways of thinking, the relationships between them, and their overall significance. Each entry is cross-referenced both internally within this book and externally to Key Thinkers. The internal cross-references (‘See also’) draw attention to other key ideas that are relevant to the particular entry. These may be ideas that are concerned with similar or related issues (such as the reference from ‘Deduc- tion/Induction’ to ‘Empiricism/Rationalism); ideas that form a specific topic within a more general approach (such as the reference from ‘Speech Act Theory’ vii PREFACE to ‘Performative’); or conversely ideas that provide a broader framework for the discussion of the specific issue in question (such as the reference from (‘Ade- quacy’ to ‘Transformational-Generative Grammar’). Within each entry, any term that is itself a key idea with its own entry is marked with an asterisk on first use. The external cross-references (‘Key Thinkers’) point the reader towards relevant entries in Key Thinkers. The entries are all concerned with encouraging the reader to find out more, and therefore with pointing outside these two volumes to other and more detailed reading. Each entry concludes with a list of suggested readings, divided into ‘Primary sources’ and ‘Further reading’. Between them these sections give the full references of any works mentioned or quoted in the entry, along with details of other particularly salient works. The section of ‘Further reading’ may also include suggestions of useful introductions to or overviews of the relevant key idea. viii Acknowledgements A book of this kind depends on the cooperation and goodwill of a large number of people and it has been a privilege to work with all of them. We would like to take this opportunity to thank all of our contributors to this book and its companion volume Key Thinkers in Linguistics and the Philosophy of Lan- guage (2005) for their diligence and professionalism. Two individuals deserve special mention. We would like to thank Sarah Edwards and her team at Edin- burgh University Press for their enduring enthusiasm and support over the course of two lengthy book projects. Jeremy Kaye, whose father Alan S. Kaye was working on entries for this book when he died in May 2007, generously gave his time searching for material that Alan was preparing for us and deliv- ered the one entry his father had managed to complete before becoming too ill to continue. Alan was passionately committed to the study of language and a valuable contributor to