ヒト シゼン ゲンゴ ジョウホウ ケイサン ノ キョクショセイ ト ニシュルイ ノ SOV コウゾウ ノ ツイカ ショウコ ナマセ カツミ キョウジュ ツイトウゴウ

The SOV (subject-object-verb) word order, the most common word order among human languages (SOV: 45%, SVO: 35%, VSO: 18%, etc.), has two distinct derivations (structure-building processes). The first type of derivation yields the standard SOV structure (s-SOV), in which O remains in vP or VP, and S moves to an edge (Spec) of TP. The second type of derivation corresponds to the non-standard SOV (ns-SOV) structure, in which O moves to TP Spec, and S moves higher. A crucial difference between s-SOV and ns-SOV is that O moves to the TP edge in the latter type, but not in the former.Why does O move to the TP edge in the ns-SOV? I argue that T bears [+focus] in the ns-SOV. If so, then the T attracts O, which also bears [+focus], and T-feature checks and agrees with O-feature. I present new evidence for the ns-SOV structure. The s-SOV and the ns-SOV are connected with distinct derivations, distinct pronunciations, distinct morphologies, and distinct meanings. That is to say, the distinctions between s-SOV and ns-SOV are syntactically, phonetically, morphologically, and semantically significant. The two types of SOV structure are significantly different.Desirable consequences follow from the postulation of two types of SOV structure:(1) Quantifier floating exhibits a strictly local relationship, i. e. , a sisterhood structural relation.(2) The recent report of counterexamples against the locality condition of numeral quantifiers turns out to be evidence for the locality condition. (3) By guaranteeing the locality condition, the logical problem of language acquisition of human infants (infants acquire more than input, and the acquisition is automatic, quick, and easy) is accounted for in the simplest possible way. That is, the locality condition assures that Universal Grammar (UG: a preinstalled language software) is a simple and cost/memory-free system. UG is governed by a law of computational efficiency (economy), which is a law of nature, and which comes for free (is determined by natural laws). First language acquisition is just switch setting of the language software.(4) A law of computational efficiency, which is a law of nature, governs the human language system. As Noam Chomsky says, human language is akin to natural object such as snowflakes, which makes sense if human language phenomenon are natural objects that obey natural laws.

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