What is the ultimate object of explanation in linguistics? What are the pre-analytical observations, the observations against which all theoretical constructs are tested? Columbia School (CS) proposes a radical answer: the observations in linguistics, and hence its ultimate object of explanation,… read more
What is the theoretical justification for positing such constructs as conjugation classes, declension classes, parts of speech, grammatical gender, and agreement rules? This paper argues that no grammatical category or construct should be taken as an a priori given; each must be justified by the… read more
This paper argues that William Diver’s signal-meaning pair is Saussure’s signe linguistique in all basic respects, and that Diver’s innovation of a grammatical system is the functional equivalent of Saussure’s langue. Thus Columbia School linguistics rests squarely on a Saussurean foundation. In… read more