MARKEDNESS

The extent to which a particular linguistic form can be regarded as untypical, by comparison with others. Markedness theory states that, in a pair of minimally contrasted forms, one is likely to be more striking (‘marked’) than the other. Consider the sentences I can (/k ə n/) swim and I CAN (/k æ n/) swim; the second is ‘marked’ because it is less usual and is emphatic.

The concept of markedness can be applied to phonology, morphology, lexis, syntax and word order. However, very mixed criteria (frequency, lack of inflection, regularity, neutral meaning etc.) are applied in determining whether one form is more primary than another.

Markedness applies within a single language, but it has also been suggested that certain features are ‘unmarked’ universally. They can be identified because they are less complex than other possible forms or because they are found to occur in most of the world’s languages.

Awareness of unmarked forms is said to form part of an innate Universal Grammar (UG) which supports first language acquisition. An individual’s language competence is represented as consisting of an unmarked core grammar, which forms part of UG and a periphery which contains exceptions to the rules, which have resulting from anachronisms, idioms etc. We are innately endowed with the core grammar but acquire the periphery through contact with the native language.

Chomskyan accounts make a further distinction (within the core grammar) between universal principles which apply to all languages and parameters which have to be set in relation to the language being acquired. An example of the latter is the Pro-drop Parameter, which has to be set either (a) to license the omission of a pronoun in Spanish (Vivan aquı´) or (b) to enforce an obligatory pronoun in English (They live here). An important issue here is whether parameters are neutral at the outset or set at a ‘default’ (i.e. unmarked) value. Observational evidence suggests that pronoun omission is the unmarked setting: infants often miss out subject pronouns in the early stages of producing English.

The view that certain forms are universally unmarked has been used to account for the way in which language learners transfer certain features of their native language into a foreign language and not others. Eckman’s (1977) Markedness Differential Hypothesis suggests that transfer is most likely to affect areas of the target language which are not just different from the native language but are relatively more marked. Thus, English speakers appear to have little difficulty in omitting pronouns when they learn a ‘Pro-drop’ language such as Spanish; but Spanish speakers sometimes have trouble adding the compulsory pronoun in English. This again suggests that the Pro-drop situation may be the unmarked one. (But see also principles and parameters).

See also: Language universals, Universal Grammar

 Further reading: Archibald (1996: 512–20); Cook and Newson (1996)

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