GRK 275:  Economy and Complexity in Language

• Subject Area: Linguistics
• Term: from 1996 to 2005
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 271529

The basic goal of the program is to investigate the organisation of linguistic knowledge in terms of the economy, optimality, and minimality of the principles, operations, and inventories that guide and control the generation of highly complex structures. With this approach - transposition of language-theoretical developments in generative linguistics into the more general frame of cognitive studies - well known facts and problems may be viewed in a new light that may enable more general solutions but also raise new interesting issues as a result of this wider cognitive perspective. Simplicity, economy, and optimality are not only viewed as guiding principles in theory-building in the traditional sense but are considered constitutive characteristics of cognition itself. This innovative and promising perspective leading to far-reaching consequences from a relatively narrow defined set of assumptions, raises special questions that are reflected in the program: (a) How is the complexity of the structures interrelated with the economy of the elements and the principles constituting knowledge of language? (b) What are the predictions of these complex interactions for the factors and conditions that rule language change, language acquisition, language disorders as well as the different modes of language use? The program is subdivided into four research areas: 1)Derivation of universal structural laws from grammar inherent principles, 2) Ellipsis, 3) Lexical and phrasal structure building: comparison of complexity, 4) Aspects of information structure in semantics, syntax and phonology.

• DFG Programme: Research Training Groups
• Applicant Institution: Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin; Universität Potsdam
• Participating Institution: Leibniz-Zentrum Allgemeine Sprachwissenschaft (ZAS)
• Spokespersons: Professorin Dr. Karin Donhauser; Professor Dr. Peter Staudacher
• Participating Researchers: Professorin Dr. Artemis Alexiadou; Professor Dr. Manfred Bierwisch; Professorin Dr. Ria de Bleser; Professor Dr. Gisbert Fanselow (†); Professorin Dr. Caroline Féry; Professorin Dr. Gerda Haßler; Professor Dr. Peter Kosta; Professor Dr. Manfred Krifka; Professor Dr. Ewald Lang (†); Professor Dr. Bernd Pompino-Marschall (†); Professor Dr. Douglas Saddy; Professor Dr. Jürgen Weissenborn; Professor Dr. Christopher Wilder