generative grammar

チョムスキー以前の言語学では、文法とは言語データから帰納的に導かれた規則にしかすぎなかった。ところが、チョムスキーが提唱した生成文法とは、演繹的にあらゆる文を生成することができる規則の集まりである。

言語の脳科学/酒井邦嘉


実験手法や分析機械の進歩により、今や言語はサイエンスの対象となった。

記号や数式を理解できなくても、言葉なら人間は誰しも使用可能なものである。
それ故に高度に抽象化され、思想となり、文学や哲学と姿を変えて紡ぎ出されてきた。思想をサイエンスの言語を使用して客観的に再構築しようとする試み。


脳と心の問題
　　　↓
脳の言語野とその発生を司るマスター遺伝子の問題。


A forkhead-domain gene is mutated in a severe speech and language disorder.

Lai CS, Fisher SE, Hurst JA, Vargha-Khadem F, Monaco AP.
Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics, University of Oxford, Roosevelt Drive, Oxford OX3 7BN, UK.

Individuals affected with developmental disorders of speech and language have substantial difficulty acquiring expressive and/or receptive language in the absence of any profound sensory or neurological impairment and despite adequate intelligence and opportunity. Although studies of twins consistently indicate that a significant genetic component is involved, most families segregating speech and language deficits show complex patterns of inheritance, and a gene that predisposes individuals to such disorders has not been identified. We have studied a unique three-generation pedigree, KE, in which a severe speech and language disorder is transmitted as an autosomal-dominant monogenic trait. Our previous work mapped the locus responsible, SPCH1, to a 5.6-cM interval of region 7q31 on chromosome 7 (ref. 5). We also identified an unrelated individual, CS, in whom speech and language impairment is associated with a chromosomal translocation involving the SPCH1 interval. Here we show that the gene FOXP2, which encodes a putative transcription factor containing a polyglutamine tract and a forkhead DNA-binding domain, is directly disrupted by the translocation breakpoint in CS. In addition, we identify a point mutation in affected members of the KE family that alters an invariant amino-acid residue in the forkhead domain. Our findings suggest that FOXP2 is involved in the developmental process that culminates in speech and language.

Nature. 2001 Oct 4;413(6855):465-6.
PMID: 11586359 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE




この本は文系の学問を専攻した人こそ読むべきだと思う。