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Some observations on the typology of linguistic theories

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 July 2000

FARRELL ACKERMAN
FARRELL ACKERMAN
Affiliation:
University of California, San Diego
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Abstract

Gilles Fauconnier & Eve Sweetser (eds.),Space, worlds, and grammar. Chicago & London: University of Chicago Press, 1996. 355 Pp.

Masayoshi Shibatani & Sandra Thompson (eds.),Grammatical constructions: their form and meaning. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1996. Pp. xvii+345.

Several years ago a volume of articles appeared called The view from Building 20 (Hale & Keyser 1993). As suggested by the title, the contributions reflected trends guiding the theoretical paradigm pre-eminently associated with MIT. After reading this collection, a colleague quipped that she wondered how well the view from Building 20 accorded with the broad research world beyond it. In this connection, the two books under review represent perspectives on language analysis which encourage one to pause and consider the present theoretical landscape in linguistics, and, less directly, the role of linguistics within modern cognitive science. Among their other merits, both books provide a rich and useful illustration of some of the perspectives on language analysis outside of Building 20. In doing so, they also help to define a more interesting research landscape than that usually characterized as an opposition between ‘formalists’ versus ‘cognitive/functionalists’.

Type
REVIEW ARTICLE
Information
Journal of Linguistics , Volume 36 , Issue 2 , July 2000 , pp. 365 - 381
Copyright
© 2000 Cambridge University Press

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Footnotes

I would like to acknowledge the encouragement and help of Chris Barker, Charles J. Fillmore, Mark Gawron, Adele Goldberg, Svetlana Godjevac, Paul Kay, John Moore, Masha Polinsky, Gert Webelhuth, and the editorial staff of the Journal of Linguistics, especially Maggie Tallerman and Bob Borsley. Infelicities of exposition and misunderstandings remain my own.