Language Universals PDF

Language Universals There are specific properties that all human languages share. Some examples: — In all languages, a finite set of elements is used to create an infinite set of expressions. — All languages have ways of forming questions. — All languages have means for negating an utterance. — All...

Language Universals There are specific properties that all human languages share. Some examples: — In all languages, a finite set of elements is used to create an infinite set of expressions. — All languages have ways of forming questions. — All languages have means for negating an utterance. — All languages have means for indicating when an action takes place. Language Universals Noam Chomsky expanded on the idea of universals and proposed that there is a Universal Grammar (UG), which is a set of universal properties, possessed by all languages and all language varieties. Universal Grammar can be thought of as a blueprint for human language. The blueprint specifies what is true of all languages and it indicates specific ways in which languages vary. Language Universals According to UG, all languages share certain kinds of building blocks and rules. There are no ‘primitive’ languages or language varieties that are not governed by rules. Language Universals Chomsky’s hypothesis: the child comes into the world equipped with Universal Grammar. Thus the child is ‘wired’ for language with a blueprint for how language is structured. If children are essentially ‘wired’ to learn language, then this would explain how they are able to do it so quickly and so successfully. Lila Gleitman: “the things that are true of all languages are the candidates for what the child comes into the world knowing.” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xfiHd6DyuTU