Rethinking and formalising the state across languages: a unified computational learning theory account
Summary
This paper rethinks the linguistic notion of 'state' as a systemic morphosyntactic mechanism across synthetic languages, formalizing it as a set-valued function over grammatical templates within a Template-Based Modular Cognitive framework and offering a unified computational learning theory account.
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# Rethinking and formalising the state across languages: a unified computational learning theory account Source: [https://arxiv.org/abs/2608.00523](https://arxiv.org/abs/2608.00523) [View PDF](https://arxiv.org/pdf/2608.00523) > Abstract:The linguistic notion of state has traditionally been restricted to the construct \(annexation\) state of Afroasiatic languages and treated as a language\-specific morphosyntactic phenomenon\. This article argues instead that the state is a systemic, context\-dependent morphosyntactic mechanism that selects grammatical templates across synthetic languages\. Within the Template\-Based Modular Cognitive framework, taking Riffian as its primary empirical basis, the proposed theory provides a unified explanation for diverse nominal marking patterns traditionally analysed independently and is formalised as a symbolic computational model in which the state is represented by a set\-valued function over grammatical templates\. A learning algorithm based on finite\-set operations acquires and predicts state\-dependent grammatical configurations\. Beyond nominal morphology, the framework has broader implications for theories of nominal structure and lexical cognition, in particular offering a unified analysis of determiner\-noun structure\. These results suggest that the state constitutes one instance of a broader class of syntactically conditioned dependencies that also includes agreement and grammatical case\. ## Submission history From: Mohamed El Idrissi \[[view email](https://arxiv.org/show-email/336a3c4e/2608.00523)\] **\[v1\]**Sat, 1 Aug 2026 08:34:22 UTC \(814 KB\)
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