Publications
Publication details [#41958]
Helasvuo, Marja-Liisa. 2003. Emergent grammar. In Östman, Jan-Ola, Jef Verschueren, Jan Blommaert and Chris Bulcaen, eds. Handbook of Pragmatics. 2001 Installment. John Benjamins.
Publication type
Article in book
Publication language
English
Keywords
Place, Publisher
John Benjamins
Annotation
In Hopper’s emergent grammar approach, grammar is not a discrete, predefined set of rules which are presupposed by discourse, but rather, it is an open-ended collection of forms that emerges in actual language use. There is a heavy emphasis on repetition or routinization. It is also discussed where emergent grammar stands in the field of linguistics, looking for possible connections. In sum, emergent grammar can be viewed as an understanding of the nature of human language; it does not offer a concrete framework of analysis for all facets of language it discusses (inter alia, a method for analyzing language as a tool for social interaction). It provides a detailed view on the ontology of grammar and language, and an insightful discussion of the implications of this ontology for the study of different languages.