Recursion : a computational investigation into the representation and processing of language /

This text examines one of the most contested topics in linguistics and cognitive science: the role of recursion in language. It offers a precise account of what recursion is, what role it should play in cognitive theories of human knowledge, and how it manifests itself in the mental representations...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Lobina, David J. (Author)
Format: eBook
Language:English
Published: Oxford : Oxford University Press, 2017.
Series:Oxford studies in biolinguistics.
Subjects:
Online Access:Connect to the full text of this electronic book
Table of Contents:
  • Cover; Recursion: A Computational Investigation into the Representation and Processing of Language; Copyright; Dedication; Contents; General preface; Preface; Acknowledgements; List of figures and tables; List of abbreviations; Putting up barriers; 1: Preliminaries; 1.1 Of algorithms; 1.2 Segue; 2: Recursive generation in language; 2.1 The introduction; 2.2 The progress of the theory; 2.3 The conflation of structures and mechanisms: A quick-fire review of the literature; 2.4 Via Via; 3: The derivations into the interfaces; 3.1 The issue; 3.2 The components of linguistic derivations.
  • 3.2.1 Interface conditions3.2.2 The nature of lexical items; 3.2.3 The internal structure of merge; 3.2.4 General computational principles; 3.3 The non-recursive shape of derivations and the generativity of language; 4: The universality and uniquenessof recursion-in-language; 4.1 The issues; 4.2 Universality claims; 4.3 Uniqueness claims; 4.4 Concluding remarks; 5: On recursive parsing; 5.1 The problem; 5.2 Syntactic processing reduced to its core: the computational load of building SHCs; 5.3 Experimental data; 5.3.1 Experiment 1; 5.3.2 Experiment 2; 5.4 Discussion.
  • 5.5 Remarks regarding a certain theory6: Probing recursion; 6.1 The alternatives; 6.2 Recursive processes in problem-solving tasks; 6.3 Recursive representations without recursive processes; 6.3.1 Artificial grammar learning; 6.3.2 Self-embedded structures and reasoning; 6.3.3 Recursive signatures?; 6.4 Concluding remarks; Putting it all together; Postface; References; Index.