TY - JOUR A1 - Bordihn, Henning A1 - Mitrana, Victor T1 - On the degrees of non-regularity and non-context-freeness JF - Journal of computer and system sciences N2 - We study the derivational complexity of context-free and context-sensitive grammars by counting the maximal number of non-regular and non-context-free rules used in a derivation, respectively. The degree of non-regularity/non-context-freeness of a language is the minimum degree of non-regularity/non-context-freeness of context-free/context-sensitive grammars generating it. A language has finite degree of non-regularity iff it is regular. We give a condition for deciding whether the degree of non-regularity of a given unambiguous context-free grammar is finite. The problem becomes undecidable for arbitrary linear context-free grammars. The degree of non-regularity of unambiguous context-free grammars generating non-regular languages as well as that of grammars generating deterministic context-free languages that are not regular is of order Omega(n). Context-free non-regular languages of sublinear degree of non-regularity are presented. A language has finite degree of non-context-freeness if it is context-free. Context-sensitive grammars with a quadratic degree of non-context-freeness are more powerful than those of a linear degree. KW - context-free grammar KW - degree of non-regularity KW - context-sensitive KW - grammar KW - degree of non-context-freeness Y1 - 2020 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcss.2019.09.003 SN - 0022-0000 SN - 1090-2724 VL - 108 SP - 104 EP - 117 PB - Elsevier CY - San Diego, Calif. [u.a.] ER - TY - JOUR A1 - McElvenny, James T1 - Grammar, typology and the Humboldtian tradition in the work of Georg von der Gabelentz JF - Language & history : journal of the Henry Sweet Society for the History of Linguistic Ideas N2 - A frequently mentioned if somewhat peripheral figure in the historiography of late nineteenth-century linguistics is the German sinologist and general linguist Georg von der Gabelentz (1840–1893). Today Gabelentz is chiefly remembered for several insights that proved to be productive in the development of subsequent schools and subdisciplines. In this paper, we examine two of these insights, his analytic and synthetic systems of grammar and his foundational work on typology. We show how they were intimately connected within his conception of linguistic research, and how this was in turn embedded in the tradition established by Wilhelm von Humboldt (1767–1835), especially as it was further developed by H. Steinthal (1823–1899). This paper goes beyond several previous works with a similar focus by drawing on a wider range of Gabelentz’ writings, including manuscript sources that have only recently been published, and by examining specific textual connections between Gabelentz and his predecessors. KW - History of linguistics KW - typology KW - language description KW - grammar KW - Humboldtian linguistics KW - Georg von der Gabelentz KW - H . Steinthal KW - Wilhelm von Humboldt Y1 - 2017 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1080/17597536.2016.1212580 SN - 1759-7536 SN - 1759-7544 VL - 60 SP - 1 EP - 20 PB - Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group CY - Abingdon ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Haßler, Gerda T1 - Theory of signs and ideas on the relation between language and thought at the border between the 18th and 19th centuries T1 - Представления о связи между языком и мышлением во Франции на рубеже XVIII–XIX вв. BT - a case study of the ideologist’s activity in Saint Petersburg BT - и влияние идеологов в Санкт-Петербурге пример Жана-Батиста Модрю (1740–1808) JF - Vestnik Sankt-Peterburgskogo Universiteta. Jazyk i literatura N2 - The name Ideologues refers to a group of philosophers, psychologists, grammarians, educational theorists and medical specialists who for a short period from 1795 to 1805 determined the intellectual climate in France and sought to develop a science of ideas (idéologie). The Ideologues had a rather reserved attitude to Condillac’s (1714–1780) ideas and his sensualist sign theory. They strove for the perfection of language for the needs of thought and of scientific knowledge. The connections with the Ideologues can also be discerned in Russia. In the educational theory, Jean-Baptiste Maudru (1740–1808) was close to the Ideologues and, despite his insufficient knowledge of the Russian language, made some interesting remarks on the connection between the language and the national character. According to Maudru and in agreement with the Ideologues, different typologies of word order are not just an indication of greater or lesser closeness to the natural order. Rather, they indicate differences in national character, which manifest themselves in the specific character of individual languages. Maudru taught at the military academy in Saint Petersburg and published the first Russian grammar in France (Maudru 1802). In his grammar, he sought to link mechanically the specific features of languages and of national characters with the climatic influences. His attempt to revive the theory of climatic influences was criticized by Karamzin. Karamzin also treated the discussion of the metaphoric extension of word meanings as an absurd undertaking, which had no place in grammar. N2 - Под именем идеологов известна группа философов, психологов, грамматиков, педагогов и медиков, которая в течение непродолжительного периода (1795–1805) определяла духовную жизнь во Франции и хотела создать науку об идеях (idéologie). Общим для представителей данного движения было сдержанное отношение к идеям Кондильяка (1714–1780) и его сенсуалистской теории знаков, а также стремление усовершенствовать язык во имя развития мышления и научного познания. Именно идеологам мы обязаны постановкой ряда принципиальных вопросов, касающихся влияния знаков на идеи, а также изданием целой серии учебников по грамматике и трудов о значении знаков для мышления. Идеологи поддерживали личные контакты в том числе и в России. К идеологам был близок, в частности, Жан-Батист Модрю (1740–1808, Maudru), которому удалось, несмотря на ограниченность его познаний в русском языке, сделать ряд интересных наблюдений касательно связи между языком и национальным характером. Согласно Модрю и в полном соответствии с толкованием идеологов, характерное для того или иного языка расположение членов предложения указывает на нечто совершенно иное, чем просто бóльшую или меньшую степень близости к естественности, а именно на различия в национальном характере, который налагает отпечаток на особенный характер соответствующего языка. Модрю преподавал языки в CанктПетербургском Кадетском корпусе и опубликовал первый во Франции учебник по русской грамматике. Модрю попытался механически соединить специфические особенности языка и национального характера народа, возлагая ответственность на климатические факторы. Его попытку реанимировать климатическую теорию критиковал, в частности, Карамзин, который также считал толкование переносных значений слов абсурдным занятием, которому не место в рамках грамматики. KW - Ideologues KW - sign KW - grammar KW - language and thought Y1 - 2019 U6 - https://doi.org/10.21638/spbu09.2019.308 SN - 2541-9358 SN - 2541-9366 VL - 16 IS - 3 SP - 463 EP - 479 PB - St. Petersburg University Press CY - Sankt-Peterburg ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Felser, Claudia A1 - Cunnings, Ian A1 - Batterham, Claire A1 - Clahsen, Harald T1 - The timing of Island effects in nonnative sentence processing JF - Studies in second language acquisition N2 - Using the eye-movement monitoring technique in two reading comprehension experiments, this study investigated the timing of constraints on wh-dependencies (so-called island constraints) in first- and second-language (L1 and L2) sentence processing. The results show that both L1 and L2 speakers of English are sensitive to extraction islands during processing, suggesting that memory storage limitations affect L1 and L2 comprehenders in essentially the same way. Furthermore, these results show that the timing of island effects in L1 compared to L2 sentence comprehension is affected differently by the type of cue (semantic fit versus filled gaps) signaling whether dependency formation is possible at a potential gap site. Even though L1 English speakers showed immediate sensitivity to filled gaps but not to lack of semantic fit, proficient German-speaking learners of English as a L2 showed the opposite sensitivity pattern. This indicates that initial wh-dependency formation in L2 processing is based on semantic feature matching rather than being structurally mediated as in L1 comprehension. KW - trace positions KW - empty categories KW - garden-paths KW - 2nd-language KW - grammar KW - dependencies KW - plausibility KW - constraints KW - english KW - comprehension Y1 - 2012 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1017/S0272263111000507 SN - 0272-2631 VL - 34 IS - 1 SP - 67 EP - 98 PB - Cambridge University Press CY - Cambridge ER -