universal grammar (ug) is a theory in linguistics, usually credited to noam chomsky, proposing that the ability to learn grammar is hard-wired into the brain. the theory suggests that linguistic ability manifests itself without being taught (see the poverty of the stimulus argument), and that there are properties that all natural human languages share. it is a matter of observation and experimentation to determine precisely what abilities are innate and what properties are shared by all languages. ==argument== the theory of universal grammar proposes that if human beings are brought up under normal conditions (not conditions of extreme sensory deprivation), then they will always develop language with a certain property x (e.g., distinguishing nouns from verbs, or distinguishing function words from lexical words). as a result, property x is considered to be a property of universal grammar in the most general sense (here not capitalized). there are theoretical senses of the term universal grammar as well (here capitalized). the most general of these would be that universal grammar is whatever properties of a normally developing human brain cause it to learn languages that conform to universal grammar (the non-capitalized, pretheoretical sense). using the above examples, universal grammar would be the innate property of the human brain that causes it to posit a difference between nouns and verbs whenever presented with linguistic data. as chomsky puts it, "evidently, development of language in the individual must involve three factors: (1) genetic endowment, which sets limits on the attainable languages, thereby making language acquisition possible; (2) external data, converted to the experience that selects one or another language within a narrow range; (3) principles not specific to fl." [fl is the faculty of language, whatever properties of the brain cause it to learn language.] so (1) is universal grammar in the first theoretical sense, (2) is the linguistic data to which the child is exposed. occasionally, aspects of universal grammar seem to be describable in terms of general details regarding cognition. for example, if a predisposition to categorize events and objects as different classes of things is part of human cognition and directly results in nouns and verbs showing up in all languages, then it could be assumed that rather than this aspect of universal grammar being specific to language, it is more generally a part of human cognition. to distinguish properties of languages that can be traced to oth
Cognitive_science Language_acquisition Linguistic_universals Linguistics Philosophy_of_language