Formfunction mappings from "summary" of The Evolution of Grammar by Joan Bybee,Revere Perkins,William Pagliuca
Formfunction mappings explore how language forms are used to carry out different functions. This field of study examines how certain elements of language are used to create meaning, and how they interact with and are affected by context.- Formfunction mapping is the scientific process of understanding relationships between forms and functions. It looks at how different languages are formed differently, yet their purposes are shared.
- However, recent research in linguistics has revealed that there are systematic patterns and regularities in form-function associations and in the structure of language as a whole.
- The concept of form to function mappings has been present since ancient times, when philosophers sought an explanation for why people share similar ways of expressing themselves regardless of where they live.
- All languages consist of some form-to-function relationship which is first established by the environment in terms of our cognitive architecture. Our minds encode both form and function when learning a language.
- It has also been found that even though we may use different dialects or words, two languages with the same form-function linkages can produce nearly identical interpretations. This suggests that cross-cultural similarities in language go beyond surface features such as sounds or words.
- Current linguists believe that once you understand the principles behind formfunction mappings, you gain insight into the nature of language itself, and the role it plays in allowing us to communicate efficiently with one another.
- Language can be divided into sound components (the phonetic form. and meaning components (parts of speech, word order, etc.. By looking for correlations between these two levels, linguistic studies have revealed universals in human language abilities.
