|
|
Article: Exceptions to the rule; at least two human languages contain grammatical features that put them outside some well-known grammars. (African language Bambara and Swiss dialect of German can't be described by context-free phrase-structure grammar)
- Article from:
- Science News
- Article date:
- November 16, 1985
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1985 Science Service, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
|
In the African language Bambara, the phrase wuluniyninanyinina o wulunyininanyinina means "whoever searches for dog serchers." Although this expression doesn't slip smoothly into typical cocktail party chatter, the recent recognition of this type of grammatical construction settles a longstanding linguistic dispute. At issue is the nature of the simplest grammer that encompasses all human languages.
"Striking discoveries about human languages are not very common in science," says linguist Geoffrey K. Pullum of the University of California at Santa Cruz. "But this is a nice instance of a genuinely new discovery about natural languages."
The finding may ...