Linguistic Subfields and Genetics

I am not a natural born lexicographer. Far from it. 

I have written one small dictionary for Sasi, a Khoisan language of Botswana. Now, I find myself starting another dictionary, for the Kpele dialect of Ewe. So I have some idea of what it takes to write a dictionary of a certain sort. But I am forcing myself to do it, and it does not come naturally. 

I believe that every linguist is basically born into the field that they adopted. Their innate disposition, including various skills, lead them to the field that they choose: syntax, phonology, semantics, lexicography, sociolinguistics. There would only be only a correlation between genetics and final behavioral outcome, but my hypothesis is that a correlation exists. 

To be more concrete: My hypothesis is that within the set of professional linguists, it will be possible to discover a correlation between genetic traits and career choice (defined broadly into one of several categories: syntax, phonology, semantics, sociolinguistics, lexicography). This is an example of a polygenic index, as described in Dalton Conley’s recent book ‘The Social Genome’. For a summary of the concept, see: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polygenic_score

My prediction is that if there were a study of identical twins born apart, both of whom became linguists, then they would choose the same field in linguistics (with a greater than random probability). For example, they would both be syntacticians. Since linguistics is a relatively small field, I doubt any actual cases exist, but the prediction is clear.

It is not a question of IQ, because there are absolutely brilliant linguists (genius level linguists) in all subfields. IQ seems to be a different notion. Rather, it is question of propensity to do certain kinds of analysis. If anything, I am a natural born syntactician. I love to manipulate sentences, and witness the effect on acceptability and meaning. I could play with sentences all day long, and never tire of it. It is a source of endless fascination. 

But keeping track of all the intricacies of lexical items and making sure to create uniform lexical entries becomes tiring for me. It does not inspire me in the same was as syntax. For me, lexicography is an obligation as a field linguist, not an adventure. It is something I need to do, because the information is important. For the languages I work with, nobody else is in a position to do the work. So I am obliged.

Responding to Reviewers: 10 Pieces of Advice

It is often necessary to respond to reviewer comments. For example, if you submit a paper, and the editor’s decision is “revise and resubmit” or “accept with major revisions”, you will be required to respond to reviewer comments. 

I have responded to reviewer comments hundreds of times throughout my career, not only for papers and books, but also grant applications.

This blog post lists some pieces of advice that you might find useful.

The History of Semantics at MIT

This blog post was inspired by a recent Facebook thread on my Facebook page discussing one of Barbara Partee’s talks on the history of formal semantics:

https://www.facebook.com/christhadcollins/posts/10110116321662099

How to Review a Syntax Paper

Objective

The objective of a review for a linguistics journal is to evaluate whether a submission advances the scientific study of human language. If the submission makes such an advance, it should be accepted. If it does not, it should be rejected.

Embracing Failure in Linguistics

Working in linguistics can be mentally and emotionally challenging. The field is set up in a way to measure performance at almost every turn, and often there is a negative outcome. I will give a list of some types of failure and rejection, and then give general advice on how to handle them. I suggest that failure should be seen in a positive light, as an opportunity for growth. It should not be feared, but rather embraced, and it should definitely not lower your self-esteem.

The Beginning of Syntax (Version 3)

In this post, I argue that we, as a field, are at the beginning of the scientific study of natural language syntax. There are two aspects to this claim. First, work in generative syntax, even on a well-studied language like English, has just uncovered the tip of the iceberg in terms of documenting the relevant facts and generalizations. Second, we are also at the very beginning of understanding the mechanisms of UG that account for these generalizations.

An Interview with Paul Postal: Supplementary Materials

This post includes supplementary materials for the post 'An Interview with Paul Postal'.

Ten Cultural Differences between Togo and Botswana

These are things I noticed while living on and off in these countries (in the Peace Corps in Togo, and doing linguistic research in both Togo and Botswana) over the last 35 years. Many of these differences extend to other countries so that the difference might be really West African versus southern Africa. They are all rather superficial, since I am essentially a stranger looking from the outside in.

Statement of Purpose Examples

People from other countries often find writing a Statement of Purpose (SOP) for linguistics graduate school in North America to be frustrating and mystifying. To help address this issue, I am posting a set of example SOPs from current and past graduate students as examples.

Grading E-Mail

Everybody knows somebody who is terrible at e-mail. Here is a system of e-mail grades for your colleagues, students and friends. At the end of each year (December 31), just send them their grade, and the description of what the grades mean. I guarantee that you will see a notable improvement in their e-mail performance the following year.

Writing a Statement of Purpose for Linguistics Graduate School

All linguistics graduate schools require prospective students to write a Statement of Purpose (SOP). And faculty members of those schools place great weight on them. From personal experience, I can say that the SOP is the most important document that I read when evaluating a student application.

So what exactly is a SOP and why is it so important?

Two Kinds of Data in Syntactic Fieldwork: Experimental and Non-Experimental

[This is a revision of an earlier post (October 9, 2019), responding to feedback that I received at that time.]

Two Poles in North American Linguistics Departments

In this post, I will lay out the contours of two evolving poles in North American linguistics departments: psycholinguistics/computational versus fieldwork/documentation. I am not claiming that any particular department exactly matches the descriptions I have given below. Many departments are a mix of the two basic types, but my feeling is that things are changing very rapidly and departments are tending to gravitate toward one of the two poles (more frequently toward the psycholinguistics/computational pole).

Remembering Sam Epstein (by Chris Collins)

Sam Epstein was professor at Harvard from 1988 to 1997. During this time, he directed the thesis work of a string of stellar syntax students, including (amongst others) Hisa Kitahara, Geoffrey Poole, Dianne Jonas, Erich Groat, John O’Neill and Marylse Baptista. These students were all an integral part of the Cambridge syntax community. I often saw them at MIT talks, and when I went to Harvard to attend a talk. Some of them are still close colleagues today (most notably Erich Groat, with whom I have had the pleasure of collaborating in recent years).

Summary of OWG Blog (December 16, 2019)

My blog recently passed 20,000 page views (not including my own page views). In honor of that occasion, I have decided to summarize the statistics for my blog as of today.

Fieldwork Tip of the Day

June 24, 2022

Don't be afraid to explore. 

June 24, 2022

If you elicit a sentence, take the time to ask the question: "Is there another way of saying it?" or "Can this be said in another way?". It is often possible to elicit interesting and unexpected variants using such a technique.

June 24, 2022

If you elicit a sentence, if often helps to have the consultant repeat it at a slower rate. It is often the case that when a sentence is repeated at a slower rate, certain interesting details pop out.

June 24, 2022

Record everything: words, sentences, texts. Even if you are doing syntactic elicitation, record everything. There are two reasons for this: First, if you record, you or other people can verify your data later. Second, by having a recording, you can revisit the data from another angle. You never know what you might find interesting or important in the future.

January 17, 2020
Any fieldwork task can take at least twice as long as the best estimate (and maybe much longer). Therefore, you should set realistic goals, and give yourself plenty of time to accomplish them.

December 10, 2019
Your consultants on a particular language will all have different strengths. Learn to find and develop those strengths. For example, even if two consultants are both fluent native speakers, they may differ in their abilities to do certain tasks (e.g., folk tales, syntactic elicitation, lexical elicitation, tone matching, etc.).

November 16, 2019
Test all equipment (including cables, batteries, chargers, adaptors) before going to the field.

November 15, 2019
Try to have a backup of all equipment (two recorders, two mics, two cables of each kind, two more SD cards). Include backup equipment in the budget.

November 14, 2019
Avoid recording in a room with cement walls. There will be echo. If you must do so, hang blankets on the walls.

November 2, 2019
You can learn as much about the syntax of a language by trying to learn how to speak it as you can by any other means (e.g., elicitation, texts).

November 1, 2019
Download e-copies of all your manuals and put them in one place on your computer, including manuals for cameras, mics, speakers, audio recorders, etc. These are searchable, and might come in handy in the field.

Syntactic Tip of the Day

May 11, 2022

When you discover a paper relevant to your topic, study it. But then look at the references in that paper, and track down those references that are also relevant to your topic. In this way, you build a kind of web/net of references and ideas. If you are a grad, don't wait for your advisor to serve up each relevant reference for you, track them down on your own.

May 11, 2022

I want to know what the alternative positions are. To the extent I understand them, I can argue against them. Even if I think a position is completely wrong, I want to really absorb it, to master it, and to know what it would be like to believe such a position. Then, I can argue against it.

March 7, 2022

The best way to strengthen your analysis is to be able to discuss it at length with a critic. If you get this opportunity, be grateful for it.

November 12, 2021

If you are having problems with a construction, think it over just before going to sleep at night. In the morning, when you wake up, you might have a new perspective on the construction.

April 1, 2021

The specific technical proposals in Chomsky's thesis, LSLT and Syntactic Structures are far less important than the kinds of questions that Chomsky started to ask that led him to those proposals. Those questions where roughly: What is the generative system that we need to postulate to account for the data? How can we argue for one generative system over another? What is the relation of this generative system to the speakers's ability to use language? These were completely new questions (as I understand it). The analysis of the auxiliary system in Syntactic Structures was a kind of proof of concept showing the value of this shift in research questions, but the shift itself was the most important thing. And of course, the important discoveries of the subsequent years were a direct consequence of the shift in the questions asked.

March 31, 2021

If you cite a reference in the text, use page numbers (e.g., Clements 1975: 140). Doing so helps the reader look up the information that you cite. If the whole book or paper is relevant, the page number can be omitted (e.g., “Chomsky 1957 marks the beginning of generative syntax.”).

December 12, 2020

Get your hands dirty! When faced with a syntactic problem, turn it inside out. 

Generate a large number of sentences and test them for acceptability. 

Be adventurous, and you might discover something really interesting.

November 13, 2020

Don't be afraid to say "I don't know." These words will liberate you,

and pretending you know something when you don't will imprison you.

October 26, 2020

Be prepared to be perplexed by simple and obvious facts.

Be willing to admit that you do not have an explanation for those facts.

September 8, 2020

Writing syntax papers takes lots of practice. It may take you four or five attempts (in trying to write different papers) to catch on, and even then there will be lots of room for improvement.

April 23, 2020
The secret to getting grants in linguistics: If you apply for four grants (including reapplications), then on average three will be declined and one awarded.

April 7, 2020
Here is a skill syntax students should know: Suppose there is an analysis involving A'-movement of an empty operator. Show that the proposed A'-movement is subject to island constraints.

December 29, 2019
If you are looking for a syntax topic, go to the border wars. For example, there are many interesting problems at the syntax-semantics interface (implicit arguments, anaphora, negation), that have alternative syntactic and semantic analyses. And the other borders are just as volatile: syntax-morphology, syntax-phonology and syntax-pragmatics.

December 25, 2019

Grammaticality judgments should be given in context. A sentence judged as marginal or ungrammatical out of context (out of the blue) might seem better in context. A skill that syntacticians develop is to find contexts that render a sentence grammatical, if there are any.

Some notes on the EPP (by Jeffrey Punske)

The EPP can be a vexing principle for early practitioners of Chomskyan syntactic theories. This is, in part, because the theoretic apparatus that underlie the EPP have been shifted away from. Yet, the EPP in some form generally remains. Thus, the goal of this blog post is to sketch a brief history of the EPP and outline its current status. I will also discuss some remaining potential issues with the EPP.

Golden Oldies in Syntax

Why read the Golden Oldies?

I define a golden oldie as a paper in the framework of generative syntax written in the 60s and 70s (roughly between and including Chomsky (1957) “Syntactic Structures” and Chomsky (1981) “Lectures on Government and Binding”).

The Power of Editors

This note was originally posted on Facebook on January 25, 2019. There have been some minor changes. I got some great feedback from Pauline J. on that post, in case readers are interested in pursuing what other people think. These notes are based on my experiences with journals, editors and reviewers over the last ten years or so. I want to emphasize here that I greatly appreciate the time that editors and reviewers put into their jobs.