Are languages shaped by learners? Evidence from artificial language learning

a job talk by Dr. Jennifer Culbertson

Thursday, February 9, 2012 3:00 PM to 4:00 PM EST
a-447

The existence of typological universals--apparent asymmetries among possible grammatical systems--has been used to argue that languages do not vary freely, but are constrained by a set of linguistic principles. However, the connection between typology and the linguistic system is necessarily indirect. New experimental methods seek to provide direct behavioral evidence linking the biases of *language learners* to typological preferences, showing that constraints operating during acquisition actually shape languages in ways that parallel typological universals. In this talk I introduce one such method--artificial language learning--and discuss the results of several studies focused on word order which suggest that learning biases can provide an explanation for universals in this domain.