LING 1010 Exam QUESTIONS WITH DETAILED
VERIFIED CORRECT ANSWERS
Two steps to understanding the structure of language:
• Description (gathering data)
• Explanation (formulating hypotheses, building theories)
The argument from Universals:
Linguistic Universals deliver a potential argument for the Innateness Hypothesis (IH).
If all languages have things in common, there has to be an explanation for that. In specific cases
universals can be used as an argument for the IH. Specifically, universals that are (a) unique to
language (i.e. not shared with other mental modules) and (b) hard to explain in any other way
than to say that they are 'built-in'.
We Still Live Here - Âs Nutayuneân
the story of the revitalization of the Wampanoag language, the first time a language with no
native speakers has been revived in the United States
Diversity
Idea that languages can differ in all aspects of grammar (phonology, morphology, syntax and
semantics)
Unity
All languages seem to share certain properties
•Shared properties are called (linguistic) universals
Linguistic universals
things that are true for all languages
Chomsky
, _____________ claims that recursion is a language-unique universal
These properties must be part of UG
Chomsky stated: when the stimulus (the input) is so 'poor' that it fails to reveal certain
properties of languages, then:
A property that languages share with other kinds of human behavior (such as the use of signs
or hierarchical structure) is not language-unique
A property that languages share with other kinds of human behavior (such as the use of signs or
hierarchical structure) is not language-unique
Language universals that might not be language-unique universals
•All communication systems are based on signs (form - meaning packages)
•Hierarchical structure (is not unique to human language)
•Recursion (if there are other systems that use it too)
Examples of alternative explanations for language-unique universals
1. biological explanations
2. cognitive explanations
3. historical explanations
Functional explanations
alternative explanations for language-unique universals are called
Alternative explanations for language universals
1. Monogenesis
2. Evolution
3. Neural architecture
4. Other biological constraints
5. Principles of communication/sign systems
Monogenesis (Alternative explanations language universals)
VERIFIED CORRECT ANSWERS
Two steps to understanding the structure of language:
• Description (gathering data)
• Explanation (formulating hypotheses, building theories)
The argument from Universals:
Linguistic Universals deliver a potential argument for the Innateness Hypothesis (IH).
If all languages have things in common, there has to be an explanation for that. In specific cases
universals can be used as an argument for the IH. Specifically, universals that are (a) unique to
language (i.e. not shared with other mental modules) and (b) hard to explain in any other way
than to say that they are 'built-in'.
We Still Live Here - Âs Nutayuneân
the story of the revitalization of the Wampanoag language, the first time a language with no
native speakers has been revived in the United States
Diversity
Idea that languages can differ in all aspects of grammar (phonology, morphology, syntax and
semantics)
Unity
All languages seem to share certain properties
•Shared properties are called (linguistic) universals
Linguistic universals
things that are true for all languages
Chomsky
, _____________ claims that recursion is a language-unique universal
These properties must be part of UG
Chomsky stated: when the stimulus (the input) is so 'poor' that it fails to reveal certain
properties of languages, then:
A property that languages share with other kinds of human behavior (such as the use of signs
or hierarchical structure) is not language-unique
A property that languages share with other kinds of human behavior (such as the use of signs or
hierarchical structure) is not language-unique
Language universals that might not be language-unique universals
•All communication systems are based on signs (form - meaning packages)
•Hierarchical structure (is not unique to human language)
•Recursion (if there are other systems that use it too)
Examples of alternative explanations for language-unique universals
1. biological explanations
2. cognitive explanations
3. historical explanations
Functional explanations
alternative explanations for language-unique universals are called
Alternative explanations for language universals
1. Monogenesis
2. Evolution
3. Neural architecture
4. Other biological constraints
5. Principles of communication/sign systems
Monogenesis (Alternative explanations language universals)
