The present volume is an edited collection of original contributions which
all deal with the issue of recursion in human language(s). All
contributions originate as papers that were presented at a conference on
the topic of recursion in human language organized by Dan Everett in March
22, 2007. For the purpose of this collection all articles underwent a
double-blind peer-review process. The present chapters were written in the
course of 2008.
Although the ‘recursive’ nature of linguistic expressions, i.e. the
apparent possibility of producing an infinite number of expressions with
finite means, has been noted for a long time, no general agreement seems to
exist concerning the empirical status as well as mathematical formalization
of this ‘characteristic’ of human languages or of the grammars that lie
behind these utterances that make up these languages.
Renewed interest in this subject was sparked by recent claims that
‘recursion’ is perhaps the sole uniquely human and as such universal trait
of human language (cf. Chomsky, Hauser and Fitch 2000). In this volume, the
issue of recursion is tackled from a variety of angles. Some articles cover
formal issues regarding the proper characterization or definition of
recursion, while others focus on empirical issues by examining the kinds of
structure in languages that suggest recursive mechanism in the grammar.
Most articles discuss syntactic phenomena, but several involve morphology,
the lexicon and phonology. In addition, we find discussions that involve
evolutionary notions and language disorders, and the broader cognitive
context of recursion.