Comments on Hyams

Abstract

Assuming, as usual, a theory of language acquisition in which the grammars of each stage pass into the next,

(1)

We may inquire into the functions f ₀, f ₁, ... , f _n which relate the successive grammars; we may also inquire into the nature and structure of the intermediate grammars, G _i . An instance of parameter setting constitutes a particular sort of restricted f _i , namely one in which the flanking grammars, G _i and G _{i + 1} , are roughly equivalent in complexity, and both are possible end points. Hyams’ paper develops, in some detail, a particular instance of the parameter setting approach — namely, by analyzing the early optional lack of subjects as following from a setting of the pro-drop parameter. From this she attempts to predict the properties of both the input and output grammars (G _i and G _{i + 1} ) at a particular point in time in the acquisition of English, as a consequence, so to speak, of the conversion of English as Italian to English as English.