The Nature of Explanation in Linguistic Theory

Elegant and parsimonious analyses have been a point of pride among linguists since at least the time of the Neogrammarians. Since Chomsky's (1962) pioneering work on the goals of linguistic theory, this has been subsumed under the rubric of explanation. In addition to describing a set of data, an analysis must also be achieve an explanation of the phenomena (explanatory adequacy, in Chomsky's work). But what precisely renders a linguistic account explanatorily adequate? What are the empirical and theoretical trade-offs that come into play when linguists aim for explanation? These questions are at the core of this volume. Renowned scholars weigh in on the nature on explanation in linguistic theory and suggest answers to these fundamental questions.

John Moore is an associate professor and Maria Polinsky is a professor in the Department of Linguistics at the University of California, San Diego.

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12/1/2003