What do all languages have in common? - Cameron Morin

Reviewer: Nika Kotnik

Language is endlessly variable.

Jezik pozna neskončno oblik.

Each of us can come up with an infinite number of sentences

Vsak od nas lahko sestavi neskončno povedi

in our native language,

v materinem jeziku,

and we’re able to do so from an early age—

in to od zgodnjega otroštva,

almost as soon as we start to communicate in sentences.

skoraj takoj, ko se začnemo sporazumevati v povedih.

How is this possible?

Kako je to mogoče?

In the early 1950s, Noam Chomsky proposed a theory

V zgodnjih 50-ih letih je Noam Chomsky predstavil teorijo,

based on the observation that the key to this versatility seems to be grammar:

ki temelji na opažanju, da je ključni del te vsestranskosti slovnica:

the familiar grammatical structure of an unfamiliar sentence

znana slovnična struktura neznane povedi

points us toward its meaning.

nam nakaže njen pomen.

He suggested that there are grammatical rules

Menil je, da obstajajo slovnična pravila,

that apply to all languages, and that the rules are innate—

ki veljajo za vse jezike, in da so ponotranjena,

the human brain is hardwired to process language according to these rules.

torej možgani vedo, kako po teh pravilih obdelati jezik.

He labelled this faculty universal grammar,

To značilnost je poimenoval univerzalna slovnica

and it launched lines of inquiry that shaped both the field of linguistics

ter sprožil raziskave, ki so v naslednjih desetletjih oblikovale

and the emerging field of cognitive science for decades to come.

področje jezikoslovja ter novo področje kognitivne znanosti.

Chomsky and other researchers set out to investigate

Chomsky in drugi znanstveniki so se lotili raziskav

the two main components of universal grammar:

dveh glavnih sestavin univerzalne slovnice:

first, whether there are, in fact, grammar rules

prvič, ali dejansko obstajajo slovnična pravila,

that are universal to all languages,

ki veljajo za vse jezike,

and, second, whether these rules are hardwired in the brain.

in drugič, ali so ta pravila ponotranjena v možganih.

In attempts to establish the universal rules of grammar,

Da bi potrdil univerzalna pravila slovnice,

Chomsky developed an analytical tool known as generative syntax,

je Chomsky razvil analitično orodje, imenovano generativna skladnja,

which represents the order of words in a sentence in hierarchical syntax trees

ki predstavlja zaporedje besed v povedi skozi hierarhična sintaktična drevesa,

that show what structures are possible.

ki prikazujejo možne strukture.

Based on this tree, we could suggest a grammar rule

Na podlagi tega drevesa lahko predlagamo slovnično pravilo,

that adverbs must occur in verb phrases.

da se prislovi morajo pojaviti v glagolskih frazah.

But with more data, it quickly becomes clear

Z več podatki pa hitro postane jasno,

that adverbs can appear outside of verb phrases.

da prislovi lahko obstajajo tudi izven glagolskih fraz.

This simplified example illustrates a major problem:

Ta poenostavljen primer prikazuje veliko težavo:

it takes a lot of data from each individual language

potrebujemo veliko podatkov o vsakem jeziku,

to establish the rules for that language,

da bi ugotovili pravila tega jezika,

before we can even begin to determine

preden sploh lahko začnemo ugotavljati,

which rules all languages might have in common.

katera pravila bi lahko bila skupna vsem jezikom.

When Chomsky proposed universal grammar,

Ko je Chomsky predlagal univerzalno slovnico,

many languages lacked the volume of recorded samples

veliko jezikov ni imelo dovolj zabeleženih vzorcev,

necessary to analyze them using generative syntax.

da bi jih lahko analizirali z generativno skladnjo.

Even with lots of data,

Celo z ogromno podatki

je neverjetno težko orisati strukturo jezika.

mapping the structure of a language is incredibly complex.

After 50 years of analysis, we still haven’t completely figured out English.

Po 50 letih analiz še vedno nismo povsem dognali angleščine.

As more linguist data was gathered and analyzed,

Z vse več zbranimi in analiziranimi jezikoslovnimi podatki,

it became clear that languages around the world differ widely,

je postalo jasno, da se jeziki po svetu zelo razlikujejo,

challenging the theory that there were universal grammar rules.

kar je prineslo dvom v teorijo, da obstajajo univerzalna pravila slovnice.

In the 1980s, Chomsky revised his theory

V 80-ih je Chomsky prevetril svojo teorijo,

in an attempt to accommodate this variation.

da bi vzel v zakup te razlike.

According to his new hypothesis of principles and parameters,

Njegova nova hipoteza načel in parametrov pravi,

all languages shared certain grammatical principles,

da si vsi jeziki delijo določena slovnična načela,

but could vary in their parameters, or the application of these principles.

a se lahko razlikujejo v parametrih ali uporabi teh načel.

For example, a principle is “every sentence must have a subject,"

Načelo je, denimo, da mora “vsaka poved imeti osebek”,

but the parameter of whether the subject must be explicitly stated

vendar se parameter o tem, ali je osebek izrecno omenjen,

could vary between languages.

lahko med jeziki razlikuje.

The hypothesis of principles and parameters

Hipoteza načel in parametrov

still didn’t answer the question of which grammatical principles are universal.

tudi ne pojasni, katera slovnična načela so univerzalna.

In the early 2000s, Chomsky suggested that there’s just one shared principle,

V začetku 21. stoletja je Chomsky dejal, da obstaja le eno skupno načelo,

called recursion, which means structures can be nested inside each other.

imenovano rekurzija, kar pomeni, da strukture lahko gnezdijo druga v drugi.

Take this sentence,

Vzemimo tole poved,

which embeds a sentence within a sentence within a sentence.

ki nosi stavek znotraj stavka znotraj stavka.

Or this sentence, which embeds a noun phrase in a noun phrase

Ali pa tole poved, ki vgnezdi samostalniško frazo v samostalniško frazo

in a noun phrase.

v samostalniško frazo.

Recursion was a good candidate for a universal grammar rule

Rekurzija je bila dobra kandidatka za univerzalno slovnično pravilo,

because it can take many forms.

saj ima mnogo oblik.

However, in 2005 linguists published findings

Vendar so leta 2005 jezikoslovci objavili izsledke raziskav

on an Amazonian language called Piraha,

na amazonskem jeziku piraha,

which doesn’t appear to have any recursive structures.

ki ne kaže nobenih rekurzivnih struktur.

So what about the other part of Chomsky’s theory,

Kaj pa drugi del Chomskyjeve teorije,

that our language faculty is innate?

da je jezik ponotranjen?

When he first proposed universal grammar,

Ko je prvič predložil idejo univerzalne slovnice,

the idea that there was a genetically determined aspect of language acquisition

je teza, da obstaja genetski vidik učenja jezika,

had a profound, revolutionary impact.

imela globok in revolucionaren vpliv.

It challenged the dominant paradigm, called behaviorism.

Izzvala je prevladujočo paradigmo, ki ji pravimo behaviorizem.

Behaviorists argued that all animal and human behaviors, including language,

Behavioristi trdijo, da se vseh živalskih in človeških ravnanj, tudi jezika,

were acquired from the outside by the mind,

naučimo od zunaj, s pomočjo uma,

which starts out as a blank slate.

ki je na začetku kot čisto prazen list.

Today, scientists agree that behaviorism was wrong,

Danes se znanstveniki strinjajo, da je bil behaviorizem zgrešen

and there is underlying, genetically encoded biological machinery

in da obstaja temeljni, genetsko kodiran biološki sistem

for language learning.

za učenje jezika.

Many think the same biology responsible for language

Mnogi menijo, da je biologija, ki je odgovorna za jezik,

is also responsible for other aspects of cognition.

odgovorna tudi za druge vidike kognicije.

Ne strinjajo se torej s Chomskyjem,

So they disagree with Chomsky’s idea

that there is a specific, isolated, innate language faculty in the brain.

da obstaja posebna izolirana jezikovna sposobnost možganov.

Teorija univerzalne slovnice je sprožila dokumentiranje in študij

The theory of universal grammar prompted the documentation and study

of many languages that hadn’t been studied before.

mnogih jezikov, ki dotlej niso bili obravnavani.

It also caused an old idea to be reevaluated and eventually overthrown

Zaradi nje so tudi ponovno ocenili in na koncu zavrgli eno od starih idej,

to make room for our growing understanding of the human brain.

da bi napravili prostor za boljše razumevanje človeških možganov.