Article ID Journal Published Year Pages File Type
935664 Lingua 2013 16 Pages PDF
Abstract

We consider here two potential arguments for Universal Grammar other than that based on poverty of the stimulus. One stems from the limited number of notions that are grammatically encoded in the languages of the world. The other rests on the fact that of all mathematically possible orders of constituents only a subset is actually attested. Neither limitation appears to follow naturally from cognitive, historical, cultural, processing, or other factors; which makes it plausible to think of them as forced upon us by Universal Grammar, perhaps as a consequence of how it crystallized at some distant point of the evolution of our species.

Related Topics
Social Sciences and Humanities Arts and Humanities Language and Linguistics
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