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Date: | Mon, 11 Sep 2000 17:02:54 -0500 |
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Johanna,
I'm very grateful for your metaphor involving a fuel injector (whatever
that might be) because it illuminates the issue so clearly. Surely, a
grammarian who defines grammatical terms only with other grammatical
terms is just like a mechanic who explains engine parts exclusively by
their relationship with other engine parts, but is unwilling or unable to
describe the extrinsic purpose of the engine in non-automobilese,
i.e., transporting people from one spot to another. Who cares how a
machine -- or a sentence -- works if no one knows what it is for?
David
> Maybe some people don't like the idea of defining one grammatical term
> by referring to other grammatical terms. But grammar is a system of
> interdependencies. No one would object to defining a fuel injector by
> referring to other car parts and their functions; indeed, there is no
> other way to understand the concept of a fuel injector. Grammar deals
> with the parts of language and their functions. These all work in
> concert to connect meanings to each other.
>
> I wouldn't go near true/false judgments with a ten-foot pole. There is a
> whole tradition in the philosophy of language, along with a
> counter-tradition, which explores truth/falsity as a metric for defining
> linguistic units. Keyword: truth-conditional semantics. There are
> lengthy works that defend the notion that true/false judgments are
> crucial to defining a sentence, and others that argue against that
> claim. Have fun wading through all that!
>
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> Johanna Rubba Assistant Professor, Linguistics
> English Department, California Polytechnic State University
> One Grand Avenue • San Luis Obispo, CA 93407
> Tel. (805)-756-2184 • Fax: (805)-756-6374 • Dept. Phone. 756-259
> • E-mail: [log in to unmask] • Home page: http://www.calpoly.edu/~jrubba
> **
> "Understanding is a lot like sex; it's got a practical purpose,
> but that's not why people do it normally" - Frank Oppenheimer
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>
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