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Article published In: Historiographia Linguistica
Vol. 25:3 (1998) ► pp.345–372

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On comparing linguistic theories

Further notes on the generative semantics/interpretive semantics debate in American linguistics

 | The University of Chicago Press
 | The University of Chicago
Published online: 1 January 1998
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https://doi.org/10.1075/hl.25.3.07huc
Summary
The article examines several issues raised in recent critiques of Ideology and Linguistic Theory (Huck & Goldsmith 1995) and finds no reason either to reject or to revise the original conclusion that Interpretivist arguments purporting to establish the superiority of Interpretive Semantics over Generative Semantics were weak and were justifiably dismissed by proponents of the latter. It also briefly discusses the particular use of the term ‘ideology’ and its application in an analysis of linguistic thought.
Résumé
L’article examine certaines questions soulevées dans les compte-rendus du livre Ideology and Linguistic Theory (Huck & Goldsmith 1995). Les auteurs n’y trouvent aucune raison de rejeter ou de réviser leur conclusion centrale, à savoir que les arguments interprétivistes qui visaient à établir la superiorité de la Sémantique Interprétive par rapport à la Sémantique Générative étaient faibles, et que le rejet de ces arguments par les partisans de la Sémantique Générative était justifié. Ils discutent également brièvement de leur usage particulier du terme ‘idéologie’ et de son rôle dans une analyse des théories linguistiques.
Zusammenfassung
In diesem Aufsatz werden verschiedene Kritikpunkte untersucht, die in Besprechungen des Buches Ideology and Linguistic Theory (Huck & Goldsmith 1995) erhoben wurden. Die Autoren legen dar, weshalb sie keinen Grund sehen, ihre ursprüngliche Schlußfolgerung aufzugeben oder zu revidieren, derzufolge interpretivistische Argumente, die die Überlegenheit der Interpretativen Semantik gegenüber der Generativen Semantik zeigen sollten, in der Tat schwach waren und zu Recht von Anhängern der letzteren zurückgewiesen wurden. Die Autoren diskutieren außerdem kurz ihren besonderen Gebrauch des Begriffes ‘Ideologie’ und seine Anwendung in der Analyse linguistischen Denkens.
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