The Evidential Basis of Linguistic Argumentation (Studies in Language Companion Series)

Currently, one of the methodological debates in linguistics focuses on the question of what kinds of __data__ are allowed in different linguistic theories and what subtypes of data can work as __evidence__ for or against particular hypotheses. The first part of the volume puts forward a methodological framework called the ‘p-model’ that is expected to account for the data/evidence problem in linguistics. The aim of the case studies in the second part is to show how this framework can be __applied__ to the everyday research practice of the working linguist, and how it can increase the __effectiveness__ of linguistic theorising. Accordingly, the case studies exemplify that the p-model can come to grips with diverse __object__-scientific quandaries in syntax, semantics and pragmatics. The third part includes case studies that illustrate how it copes with __meta__scientific issues such as inconsistency in linguistic theories and the relationship between thought experiments and real experiments. 1. András Kertész & Csilla Rákosi: Introduction: The state of the art and the structure of the book Part I. The methodological framework 2. András Kertész & Csilla Rákosi: The p-model of data and evidence in linguistics Part II. Object-theoretical applications 3. Károly Bibok: The plausibility of approaches to syntactic alternation of Hungarian verbs 4. Katalin Nagy C.: Methods and argumentation in historical linguistics. A case study 5. Enikő Németh T.: Hungarian verbs of natural phenomena with explicit and implicit subject arguments. Their use and occurrence in the light of data 6. Helga Vanda Koczogh: The development of a taxonomy of verbal disagreements in the light of the p-model 7. György Rákosi: A case of disagreement. On plural reduplicating particles in Hungarian 8. Zoltán Vecsey: A plausibility-based model of shifted indexicals Part III. Metatheoretical applications 9. András Kertész & Csilla Rákosi: Thought experiments and real experiments as converging data sources in pragmatics 10. Csilla Rákosi: Data and the resolution of inconsistency in Optimality Theory 11. András Kertész & Csilla Rákosi: Conclusions Currently, one of the methodological debates in linguistics focuses on the question of what kinds of data are allowed in different linguistic theories and what subtypes of data can work as evidence for or against particular hypotheses. The first part of the volume puts forward a methodological framework called the ‘p-model’ that is expected to account for the data/evidence problem in linguistics. The aim of the case studies in the second part is to show how this framework can be applied to the everyday research practice of the working linguist, and how it can increase the effectiveness of linguistic theorising. Accordingly, the case studies exemplify that the p-model can come to grips with diverse object -scientific quandaries in syntax, semantics and pragmatics. The third part includes case studies that illustrate how it copes with meta scientific issues such as inconsistency in linguistic theories and the relationship between thought experiments and real experiments. This chapter provides a survey about the most frequent methods of inconsistency resolution in Optimality Theory. With the help of the p-model, inconsistencies in OT are divided into two main groups. The first group includes conflicts that are deemed to be fatal and are solved usually by the modification of the theory: namely, clashes between "linguistic data" (acceptability judgements) and applications of the model (results of the evaluation procedure). The second group consists of conflicts that are, in contrast, tolerable in the view of OT theorists: inconsistencies between constraints and t Puts forward a methodological framework called the 'p-model' that is expected to account for the data/evidence problem in linguistics. This book shows how this framework can be applied to the everyday research practice of the working linguist, and how it can increase the effectiveness of linguistic theorising. Edited By András Kertész, University Of Debrecen And Mta-de Research Group For Theoretical Linguistics, Csilla Rákosi, Mta-de Research Group For Theoretical Linguistics. Includes Bibliographical References And Indexes.