Formal linguistics

Formal linguistics is the branch of linguistics which uses applied mathematical methods for the analysis of natural languages. Such methods include formal languages, formal grammars and first-order logical expressions. Formal linguistics also forms the basis of computational linguistics.

Approaches

Semiotic

Methods of formal linguistics were introduced by semioticians such as Charles Peirce and Louis Hjelmslev. Building on the work of David Hilbert and Rudolph Carnap, Hjelmslev proposed the use of formal grammars to analyse, generate and explain language in his 1943 book Prolegomena to a Theory of Language.[1][2] In this view, language is regarded as arising from a mathematical relationship between meaning and form.

The formal description of language was further developed by linguists including J. R. Firth and Simon Dik, giving rise to modern grammatical frameworks such as systemic functional linguistics and functional discourse grammar. Computational methods have been developed by the framework functional generative description among others.

Psychological

Analytical models based on semantics and discourse pragmatics were rejected by the Bloomfieldian school of linguistics[3] which adhered to William Wundt's psychological concept of placing the object into the verb phrase. Formalisms based on this convention were constructed in the 1950s by Zellig Harris and Charles Hockett. These gave rise to modern generative grammar.[2] It has been suggested that dependency relations are caused by a random mutation in the human genome.[4]

Generative models of formal linguistics, such as Head-driven phrase structure grammar (HPSG), are today widely used in natural language processing.

References
  1. Hjelmslev, Louis (1969) [First published 1943]. Prolegomena to a Theory of Language. University of Wisconsin Press. ISBN 0299024709.
  2. Seuren, Pieter A. M. (1998). Western linguistics: An historical introduction. Wiley-Blackwell. pp. 160--167. ISBN 0-631-20891-7.CS1 maint: date and year (link)
  3. Garvin, Paul L. (1954). "Prolegomena to a Theory of Language by Louis Hjelmslev; Francis J. Whitfield". Language. 30 (1): 69–96. doi:10.2307/410221.
  4. Berwick, Robert C.; Chomsky, Noam (2015). Why Only Us: Language and Evolution. MIT Press. ISBN 9780262034241.


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