福井 直樹

Surface linear (left-to-right) arrangements of human languages are actually an amalgam of the core language system and systems that are not inherently related to language. It has been widely recognized that an unbounded array of hierarchically structured linguistic expressions is generated by the simplest combinatorial operation “Merge,” and the notion of Merge-generability has been proposed as a key feature that characterizes structural dependencies among linguistic elements. Here we tested Merge-generable dependencies by using a Subject-Predicate matching task, which required both linguistic capacity and short-term memory. We used three types of dependency: Nesting, Crossing, and Grouping as the control. The Nesting dependency is totally Merge-generable, while the Crossing dependency requires some additional processes for memory-based ordering. In order to identify the regions employed for these two dependencies, we directly compared cortical responses to the sentence stimuli (with noun phrases and an adverb as the first half of stimuli, and with verbs as the latter) using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), and the following results were obtained. First, for the Nesting – Crossing contrast, significant activations were observed in the bilateral lateral premotor cortices (LPMCs) and inferior frontal gyri, left middle temporal gyrus, and bilateral angular/supramarginal gyri, indicating engagement of the syntax-related networks. In contrast, the Crossing – Nesting contrast showed focal activations in the left fusiform gyrus, lingual gyrus, and middle occipital gyrus (L. FG/LG/MOG). Secondly, for the first half of the Nesting stimuli, signal changes in the bilateral LPMCs were well fitted with the estimates of computational costs to search the workspace and to select items (Σ operations). Moreover, for the latter half of the Crossing stimuli, the signal changes in the L. FG/LG/MOG were differentially fitted with the estimates of loads related to the ordering of elements/words (numbers of Ordering). Thirdly, these fitting models were by far more likely than the exchanged estimates between bilateral LPMCs and L. FG/LG/MOG, confirming a double dissociation for primary processes with Σ and Ordering. In conclusion, these results indicate that separate cortical networks are differentially employed, and their careful elucidation will provide further insights and challenges.

現代生成文法がいかにして記述的道具立てから説明理論へ脱皮してきたかを「併合演算」が持つ特性を中心にして論じる。

現代言語学の基本目標を説明するとともに,20世紀における言語理論の進展を概説した.Saussureが「社会的所産」とみなした言語構造を人間の脳内に実在する機能(再帰的生成システム)ととらえ,それに関する明示的説明理論の構築を目指したのが生成文法理論であるが,「より深い説明」を目指す継続的試みが現在に至る理論的変遷の根本的原動力になっていることを論じた.その上で,言語学と言語障害学が将来さらに有機的に連携するためには,言語脳科学ともいうべき分野の確立が必須であるとともに,今までの生成文法理論には欠如していた「言語の社会性」を厳密に研究するためのモデル構築が望まれるということも指摘した.