Connectionism for cognitive linguistics

Zusammenfassung

Connectionism provides a challenge to current theorizing and modeling in theoretical cognitive linguistics. It has been acknowledged that cognitive linguistics must provide an integrated description and explanation of the knowledge (a) of language structure, (b) of language use, (c) of language acquisition and (d) of the physical mechanisms implementing knowledge, use and acquisition. So far cognitive linguistics has mostly concentrated on the definition of the knowledge of language structure in terms of systems of rules or a set of principles (constraints). Language use is currently specified by algorithms for parsers etc. This is usually confined to uses of regular language. Basic ideas have been advanced about how acquisition of language regularity could be specified in terms of a set of parameters for a system of basic principles for natural languages. No ideas have been given about the empirically justifiable or falsifiable structure of embodiment in physical mechanisms, though it has been acknowledge that we would be concerned with the structure of a biological system.