Language and Humanity: Is It More Than Mere Instinct?
Noam Chomsky and Steven Pinker have brought to the linguistic arena the terms Universal Grammar (UG), Generative Grammar (GG) and Language Instinct. UG/GG are based on the premise that human babies are born with an intact, generalized language instinct – language somehow is already preconfigured in...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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University of Latvia Press
2014-04-01
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| Series: | Baltic Journal of English Language, Literature and Culture |
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| Online Access: | https://journal.lu.lv/bjellc/article/view/333 |
| Summary: | Noam Chomsky and Steven Pinker have brought to the linguistic arena the terms Universal Grammar (UG), Generative Grammar (GG) and Language Instinct. UG/GG are based on the premise that human babies are born with an intact, generalized language instinct – language somehow is already preconfigured in their brains – so that much of the complex structures of human language is encoded in the human genetic inheritance. In this paper I look at the theories of language instinct, UG and GG to determine if these theories have a grounding in empirical science brought about by new technologies and new research. I also ask the question: If we indeed do have a language instinct, should it have an impact on how we view languages and teach them?
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| ISSN: | 1691-9971 2501-0395 |