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The importance of being modular

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 November 2004

PIETER A. M. SEUREN
PIETER A. M. SEUREN
Affiliation:
Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics
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Abstract

William Croft,Radical Construction Grammar: syntactic theory in typological perspective. New York: Oxford University Press, 2001. Pp. xxviii+416.

My reason for writing this review article is that I want to highlight a particular basic opposition in linguistic theory and methodology. On the one hand, we have what is usually called COGNITIVISM, represented in the book under review by the new theory of Radical Construction Grammar, henceforth RCG. On the other hand, there is a variety of schools, together forming a large majority in the field, whose theoretical overlap may be characterized by the term MODULARITY. I argue against cognitivism and in favour of the modularity view, and I am using the book under review as an opportunity to define the issue and put forward the arguments.

Type
Review Article
Information
Journal of Linguistics , Volume 40 , Issue 3 , November 2004 , pp. 593 - 635
Copyright
2004 Cambridge University Press

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