Noam Chomsky and Language Creativity PDF

Noam Chomsky (a linguist) and Creativity of Language — Sentences cannot simply be memorized or learned by imitation. Another aspect of linguistic creativity comes from child development. Children are highly productive in their use of language: I hate you mommy. I holded the baby rabbits. Noam Ch...

Noam Chomsky (a linguist) and Creativity of Language — Sentences cannot simply be memorized or learned by imitation. Another aspect of linguistic creativity comes from child development. Children are highly productive in their use of language: I hate you mommy. I holded the baby rabbits. Noam Chomsky (a linguist) and Creativity of Language — There is no limit to how long a sentence can be: ¡ John bought a car ¡ John bought a green car ¡ John bought a green car yesterday from the man who lived down the street. ¡ John bought a green car yesterday from the man who lived down the street and he bought an old lawnmower from the woman who wears strange hats in the winter… Creativity is a universal property of human language. Two Ways of Looking at Language — So why don’t we usually use sentences that go on and on and on if we have that capacity? Two Ways of Looking at Language — Linguistic Competence ¡ What you know in your mind ¡ What you can in theory do — Linguistic Performance ¡ What actually comes out of your mouth ¡ What you do do ¡ Subject to physical limitations such as memory, breath, fatigue, nerves, etc.