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Structuring Variation in Romance Linguistics and Beyond: In honour of Leonardo M. Savoia
Edited by Mirko Grimaldi, Rosangela Lai, Ludovico Franco and Benedetta Baldi
[Linguistik Aktuell/Linguistics Today 252] 2018
► pp. 365–378

Chapter 25
Remarks on the vulnerability of grammar

| University of Pisa

This paper deals with the special status of morphological features in a series of contexts that are crucial for the understanding of the architecture of human grammar: language pathology and impairment, L1/L2 acquisition, language evolution, language contact. The critical review of data referring to different domains and to different languages enlightens the special vulnerability of morphology. In language impairments, as well as in communicative exchanges occurring in multilingual contexts, morphological categories are not perfectly acquired. Empirical evidence relative to atypical contexts shows a peculiar asymmetry in the structure of language: alongside early development and strength of lexicon and phonology, late appearance and vulnerability of morphology. However, the weakness of morphology does not imply a minor role of this component into the grammar.

Keywords: faculty of language, morphology, language pathology, specific language impairment, language acquisition
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Language pathologies
  • 3.Language pathologies and memory
  • 4.Morphology in language acquisition
  • 5.Language evolution
  • 6.Concluding remarks
  • Acknowledgment
  • Notes
  • References
Published online: 19 December 2018
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/la.252.25mar
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