Linguistics Lecture Series Spring 2007

Ray Jackendoff (Tufts University)

• The Peculiar Logic of Value
  Thursday, February 8, 2007 @ 6:00pm
  Location: Wang Center, Lecture Hall 2
  
  Abstract:
  How do humans conceptualize systems of value? The hypothesis is that value is conceptualized as an abstract (non-perceptible) property attributed to objects, persons, and actions. The value of an entity plays a role in a suite of inference rules which affect the way one reasons about the entity and acts on it. There are several distinct types of value, including Affective value (does it feel good or bad?); Utility (is it good for me?); Prowess (is so-and-so good at doing such-and-such); Normative value, which includes moral value as a subcase (is it good of so-and-so to do such-and-such?); Personal Normative value (is so-and-so a good person?); and Esteem (does so-and-so have a good reputation?). In addition, values can be differentiated as subjective (is it good for me? For you?) verses objective (is it good, period?). Each of these kinds of value plays a different role in the ecology of the value system. I will work through several important inference rules that determine the interaction of multiple values in determining one's course of action and one's expectations of others' actions. In particular, I will develop formal treatments of fairness, reciprocity, restitution, honoring, shaming, and apology, and I will address the question of what constitutes ''true'' altruism rather than concealed self-interested behavior. It will be possible to ask what aspects of values are culture-dependent, and what aspects are consequences of human (and even primate) universals.
  
  
  
• The week after week construction and its theoretical challenges
  Friday, February 9 @ 3:30pm
  Location: Wang Center, Lecture Hall 2
  
  Abstract:
  The English NPN (week after week) construction is productive with five prepositions -- by, for, to, after, and (up)on -- with a variety of meanings, including succession, juxtaposition, and comparison; it also has numerous idiomatic cases. This mixture of regularity and idiosyncrasy lends itself to a Construction Grammar account, in which the lexicon includes specified syntactic structures matched with meanings. However, the internal syntactic structure of NPN violates standard principles of phrase structure, and the required identity of the two nouns (in most cases) presents descriptive problems. Furthermore, when NPN appears in NP positions, it can take normal NP complements such as relative clauses, and it has quantificational semantics despite the absence of a lexical quantifier. These peculiarities collectively present severe challenges to linguistic theory; a partial solution will be offered in terms of the Parallel Architecture developed in my Foundations of Language.
  
  

The Lecture Hall 2 is accessible to persons with disabilities. Those who need special accommodations should contact the department of Linguistics.

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