Andrea Moro
Encyclopedia
Andrea Moro is an Italian
linguist
.
Moro is currently full professor of general linguistics at the Institute for Advanced Study IUSS Pavia, Italy. His main fields of research are syntax
and neurolinguistics
.
In the first field, he has made notable contributions to the theory of clause
structure (in particular with respect to the theory of the copula discovering inverse copular constructions
, to the notion of expletive
proposing that an element like there and its equivalent across languages is a raised expletive predicate
rather than an inserted expletive subject
, and to the theory of syntactic movement
(by proposing a weak version of the theory of antisymmetry
, i.e. dynamic antisymmetry
) according to which movement is the effect of a symmetry-breaking process in the computational system that underlies syntax.
As for the other field, he explored the neurological correlates of artificial languages which do not follow the principles of Universal Grammar
providing evidence that Universal Grammar
properties cannot be cultural, social or conventional artifacts: in fact, he and the team of people he worked with showed that recursive syntactic rules, that is rules based on recursion
selectively activate a neurological network (including Broca's area) whereas non-recursive syntactic rules do not. He also explored the correlates between the representation of the world in the brain and the structure of syntax, specifically the relationship between sentential negation
and the brain).
For a critical evaluation of the impact of these contribution in linguistics and neurolinguistics see respectively: Chomsky 1995, Den Dikken 2006, Everaert et al. 2006, Graffi 2000, Hale -Keyser (2003), Kayne 2011), Richards 2010 among others and Chomsky 2004, Kaan et al. 2002, Marcus 2003, Newmeyer 2005.
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
linguist
Linguistics
Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. Linguistics can be broadly broken into three categories or subfields of study: language form, language meaning, and language in context....
.
Moro is currently full professor of general linguistics at the Institute for Advanced Study IUSS Pavia, Italy. His main fields of research are syntax
Syntax
In linguistics, syntax is the study of the principles and rules for constructing phrases and sentences in natural languages....
and neurolinguistics
Neurolinguistics
Neurolinguistics is the study of the neural mechanisms in the human brain that control the comprehension, production, and acquisition of language. As an interdisciplinary field, neurolinguistics draws methodology and theory from fields such as neuroscience, linguistics, cognitive science,...
.
In the first field, he has made notable contributions to the theory of clause
Clause
In grammar, a clause is the smallest grammatical unit that can express a complete proposition. In some languages it may be a pair or group of words that consists of a subject and a predicate, although in other languages in certain clauses the subject may not appear explicitly as a noun phrase,...
structure (in particular with respect to the theory of the copula discovering inverse copular constructions
Inverse copular constructions
- The unified theory of copular sentences :Copular sentences are sentences containing the copula. A copular sentence may contain a noun phrase, the copula and another phrase. A subfield of research which has been particularly studied is the case of the copula cooccurring with two noun phrases...
, to the notion of expletive
Syntactic expletive
Syntactic expletives are words that perform a syntactic role but contribute nothing to meaning. Expletive subjects are part of the grammar of many non-pro-drop languages such as English, whose clauses normally require overt provision of subject even when the subject can be pragmatically inferred...
proposing that an element like there and its equivalent across languages is a raised expletive predicate
Predicate (grammar)
There are two competing notions of the predicate in theories of grammar. Traditional grammar tends to view a predicate as one of two main parts of a sentence, the other being the subject, which the predicate modifies. The other understanding of predicates is inspired from work in predicate calculus...
rather than an inserted expletive subject
Subject (grammar)
The subject is one of the two main constituents of a clause, according to a tradition that can be tracked back to Aristotle and that is associated with phrase structure grammars; the other constituent is the predicate. According to another tradition, i.e...
, and to the theory of syntactic movement
Syntactic movement
Syntactic movement is a fact that must be expressed somehow by every grammar of human languages and was first captured by structuralist linguists who called it "discontinuous constituents"; other terms are "displacement", or simply "movement"...
(by proposing a weak version of the theory of antisymmetry
Antisymmetry
In linguistics, antisymmetry is a theory of syntactic linearization presented in Richard Kayne's 1994 monograph The Antisymmetry of Syntax. The crux of this theory is that hierarchical structure in natural language maps universally onto a particular surface linearization, namely...
, i.e. dynamic antisymmetry
Dynamic antisymmetry
Antisymmetry is a theory of syntactic linearization presented in Richard Kayne's 1994 monograph The Antisymmetry of Syntax. The crux of this theory is that hierarchical structure in natural language maps universally onto a particular surface linearization, namely specifier-head-complement branching...
) according to which movement is the effect of a symmetry-breaking process in the computational system that underlies syntax.
As for the other field, he explored the neurological correlates of artificial languages which do not follow the principles of Universal Grammar
Universal grammar
Universal grammar is a theory in linguistics that suggests that there are properties that all possible natural human languages have.Usually credited to Noam Chomsky, the theory suggests that some rules of grammar are hard-wired into the brain, and manifest themselves without being taught...
providing evidence that Universal Grammar
Universal grammar
Universal grammar is a theory in linguistics that suggests that there are properties that all possible natural human languages have.Usually credited to Noam Chomsky, the theory suggests that some rules of grammar are hard-wired into the brain, and manifest themselves without being taught...
properties cannot be cultural, social or conventional artifacts: in fact, he and the team of people he worked with showed that recursive syntactic rules, that is rules based on recursion
Recursion
Recursion is the process of repeating items in a self-similar way. For instance, when the surfaces of two mirrors are exactly parallel with each other the nested images that occur are a form of infinite recursion. The term has a variety of meanings specific to a variety of disciplines ranging from...
selectively activate a neurological network (including Broca's area) whereas non-recursive syntactic rules do not. He also explored the correlates between the representation of the world in the brain and the structure of syntax, specifically the relationship between sentential negation
Negation
In logic and mathematics, negation, also called logical complement, is an operation on propositions, truth values, or semantic values more generally. Intuitively, the negation of a proposition is true when that proposition is false, and vice versa. In classical logic negation is normally identified...
and the brain).
For a critical evaluation of the impact of these contribution in linguistics and neurolinguistics see respectively: Chomsky 1995, Den Dikken 2006, Everaert et al. 2006, Graffi 2000, Hale -Keyser (2003), Kayne 2011), Richards 2010 among others and Chomsky 2004, Kaan et al. 2002, Marcus 2003, Newmeyer 2005.
Selected bibliography
- Marco Tettamanti, Rosa Manenti - Pasquale A. Della Rosa - Andrea Falini - Daniela Perani - Stefano F. Cappa and Andrea Moro (2008) "Negation in the brain. Modulating action representation." NeuroImage Volume 43, Issue 2, 1 November 2008, Pages 358-367.
- Moro, A. (2011) "A closer look at the Turtle's eyes" Proceedings of the National Academy of Science PNAS