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Plenary talk 1 Formal and variationist analyses of language: a case study in Bislama
Miriam Meyerhoff University of Edinburgh
The study of microparametric variation in syntax shares a number of interests with quantitative sociolinguistics: both identify differences between closely related varieties of a language (differences that, in many cases, are well below the level of speakers' conscious awareness). Both also seek to define precisely the constraints giving rise to such subtle differences. Yet historically the connections between formal linguistics and variationist sociolinguistics have been fragile. At times, each has portrayed the other as marginal to, or a complete distraction from, the important work of linguistics. At such times that an explanation from one tradition does work its way into the other, it is viewed suspiciously as a cuckoo in the nest. A major obstacle between the fields is the fundamental question of how to deal with intra-individual variation. Formal linguists tend to be sympathetic to the notion of competing grammars, while variationist data supports the notion of inherent variability. Competing grammars allows variation to be modelled in terms of an autonomous syntax, and it is therefore attractive to formal linguists. However, inherent variability remains a viable alternative especially where there is not clear cluster of structural properties arguing for an entirely different grammar. Since even formal linguists generally attribute the emergence of competing grammars to discourse factors, it remains unclear these non-syntactic factors, but not other aspects of language in use, can be drawn on in the analysis of syntactic variation. I present data dealing with the grammar of argument deletion in Bislama. Both subject and object deletions are examined, and I argue that the syntax of Bislama emerges at the interface between formal theory, discourse, and socio-cultural factors. The data raises questions about whether creoles are 'simpler' than any other natural language, and whether we can sustain a notion of strict modularity. |