I agree with you completely, Craig. What I perhaps neglected to say is
that every mind is deeply embedded in a cultural context that influences
the creation and expression of meaning.

Decontextualizing syntactic structures makes perfect sense if one
believes that that part of language processing is sequestered in
specialized parts of the brain operating according to their own
particular algorithms. Hence the desire to explain syntax on its own
terms. But that's not the school of linguistics I subscribe to.
 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Johanna Rubba   Associate 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.  756-2596
• E-mail: [log in to unmask] •      Home page: http://www.cla.calpoly.edu/~jrubba
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