15 Questions
According to Chomsky, what is Universal Grammar?
A theory of language acquisition
Who were the 13th century speculative grammarians?
Grammarians who postulated universal rules underlying all grammars
What was the Scottish school of universal grammarians known for?
Distinguishing themselves from the philosophical language project
What did Otto Jespersen argue about the early grammarians' formulation of universal grammar?
They tried to derive too much from Latin
According to the theory of Universal Grammar, what is the basic postulate?
There are innate constraints on what the grammar of a possible human language could be
What is the Poverty of the Stimulus argument?
The argument that children are not exposed to enough linguistic stimuli to acquire language
What is the main proposition of the theory of Universal Grammar?
There are universal properties of natural human languages
What is the abbreviation UG* used for in the context of this text?
The subset of Universal Grammar that is specific to language
What does Chomsky mean by 'merge' in the context of Universal Grammar?
The mechanism for combining symbols in a particular way
What is the main argument in favor of the idea that language acquisition involves genetic endowment, external data, and principles not specific to the Faculty of Language?
Children understand syntactic categories before they can produce them
What is the meaning of the term 'I-languages' in the context of this text?
The brain states that correspond to knowing how to speak and understand a particular language
What is Merge and why is it important in Universal Grammar?
Merge is a universal property independent of genetics and environment that causes language to be the way it is.
What are linguistic universals and how are they studied?
Linguistic universals are generalizations extracted from a variety of grammars and studied through the analysis of the reasons behind certain linguistic behaviors.
What are the three leading hypotheses for how language evolved, as presented by Hauser, Chomsky, and Fitch?
The second hypothesis states that the Faculty of Language is a derived adaptation for language.
What is the main point of debate among syntacticians regarding Universal Grammar?
Whether UG constraints are essentially universal due to being 'hard-wired'.
Test your knowledge on the concept of Merge in Universal Grammar with this quiz. Explore how Merge shapes language and its universality, and discover Chomsky's theories on its possible application in other areas.
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