Product Description: First published in 1988, this book is concerned with the definite and indefinite articles in English. It provides an integrated pragmatic-semantic theory of definite and indefinite reference, on the basis of which, many co-occurance restrictions between articles and non-modifiers are explained...read more

Product Description: In this book John A. Hawkins argues that major patterns of variation across languages are structured by general principles of efficiency in language use and communication. Evidence for these comes from languages permitting structural options from which selections are made in performance, e...read more

John Hawkins demonstrates a clear link between how languages are used and the conventions of their grammars. He sets out a theory in which performance shapes grammars and accounts for the variation patterns found in the world's languages. He backs this up with evidence from a wide array of languages. He also considers the profound consequences of this correspondence for explanations of language change and evolution, and for models of performance and acquisition. His book is of fundamental importance for linguistic theory.

Product Description: In this major new book, John A. Hawkins presents a new theory of linear ordering in syntax. He argues that processing can provide a simple, functional explanation for syntactic rules of ordering, as well as for the selection among ordering variants in languages and structures in which variation is possible...read more

Product Description: Complex adaptive systems are all around us, and include such diverse examples as the immune system, the world economy, and the study of language. The evolution of human languages has been the most recent research activity of the Santa Fe Institute...read more

Thirty papers written for this volume discuss various biological, social, psychological, and linguistic theories of why there are elements universal to all languages. American, Dutch, German, and British contributors draw from psycholinguistics and artificial intelligence as well as linguistics proper. For advanced students. Annotation copyright Book News, Inc. Portland, Or.