Emonds (1980) conjectured that in one limited domain there is a robust correlation between the complexity of a syntactic derivation and the rarity of the sentence type produced by that derivation. Other scholars, however, have hypothesized a more general correlation complexity and rarity which is not well motivated. In the three major historical periods of transformational syntax, we find typologically rare sentence types derived by means of simple operations and typologically common sentence types with complex derivations. By investigating syntactic complexity, I speculate that, in general, we cannot expect to see correlations between complexity and rarity, since implicational and frequency-based typological generalizations do not belong to the realm of I-language.
2024. Natural language syntax complies with the free-energy principle. Synthese 203:5
Brosa-Rodríguez, Antoni, M. Dolores Jiménez-López & Adrià Torrens-Urrutia
2023. Exploring the complexity of natural languages: A fuzzy evaluative perspective on Greenberg universals. AIMS Mathematics 9:1 ► pp. 2181 ff.
Culicover, Peter W.
2021. Grammatical functions. In Language Change, Variation, and Universals, ► pp. 145 ff.
Culicover, Peter W.
2021. Constructional change in Germanic. In Language Change, Variation, and Universals, ► pp. 197 ff.
Culicover, Peter W.
2021. Universals. In Language Change, Variation, and Universals, ► pp. 41 ff.
Culicover, Peter W.
2021. Language Change, Variation, and Universals,
Culicover, Peter W.
2021. Constructional economy and analogy. In Language Change, Variation, and Universals, ► pp. 242 ff.
Culicover, Peter W.
2021. Argument structure. In Language Change, Variation, and Universals, ► pp. 111 ff.
Culicover, Peter W.
2021. A′ constructions. In Language Change, Variation, and Universals, ► pp. 166 ff.
Culicover, Peter W.
2021. Learning, complexity, and competition. In Language Change, Variation, and Universals, ► pp. 68 ff.
Culicover, Peter W.
2021. Recapitulation and prospects. In Language Change, Variation, and Universals, ► pp. 274 ff.
Culicover, Peter W.
2021. Changes outside of the CCore. In Language Change, Variation, and Universals, ► pp. 225 ff.
Culicover, Peter W.
2021. Overview. In Language Change, Variation, and Universals, ► pp. 3 ff.
Culicover, Peter W.
2021. Constructions. In Language Change, Variation, and Universals, ► pp. 16 ff.
[no author supplied]
2021. Copyright Page. In Language Change, Variation, and Universals, ► pp. iv ff.
[no author supplied]
2021. List of Abbreviations. In Language Change, Variation, and Universals, ► pp. xv ff.
[no author supplied]
2021. Preface. In Language Change, Variation, and Universals, ► pp. xi ff.
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