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Indirect Address: Using Computer Science to Map New Ontological Alignments Between Phonology and Neurobiology

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Indirect Address: Using Computer Science to Map New Ontological Alignments Between Phonology and Neurobiology

Matamoros, Camila (2016) Indirect Address: Using Computer Science to Map New Ontological Alignments Between Phonology and Neurobiology. Masters thesis, Concordia University.

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Abstract

An important goal of biolinguistics is to go beyond explanatory adequacy, to be able to generalize to other fields in the natural sciences (cf.Chomsky 2007). Formulated another way by Embick and Poeppel (2015) (E&P), a mutual goal for disciplines studying language, whether in neurobiology (NB) or using a computational-representational (CR) theory of mind (as linguists do), is to discover a unifying theory between them.
This thesis maps standard taxonomies of symbols and variables used in computer science, as outlined in Gallistel and King (2009), to parallels in standard phonological theory. The outcome is a finer picture of the constituent parts of the existing phonological model. Furthermore, I suggest that the resulting insights identify shared conceptual territory with NB, generating potential linking hypotheses for both correlational and integrated neurolinguistics.

Divisions:Concordia University > Faculty of Arts and Science > Classics, Modern Languages and Linguistics
Concordia University > School of Graduate Studies > Individualized Program
Item Type:Thesis (Masters)
Authors:Matamoros, Camila
Institution:Concordia University
Degree Name:M.A.
Program:Individualized Program
Date:23 September 2016
Thesis Supervisor(s):Reiss, Charles
Keywords:linguistics, phonology, Substance Free Phonology, cognitive science, biolinguistics, biophonology, computational-representational theory of mind, variables, neurobiology, linking hypotheses, correlational neurolinguistics, explanatory neurolinguistics,
ID Code:981876
Deposited By: CAMILA MATAMOROS
Deposited On:07 Nov 2016 19:51
Last Modified:18 Jan 2018 17:54

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