LING 1010 1st EditionExam # 2 Study Guide The Innateness Hypothesis1. What does the Innateness Hypothesis refer to when it comes to the knowledge of language?The Innateness Hypothesis says that humans are born with an innate capacity to learn language. It means that we don’t just learn language because of what we are exposed to because the inputwe receive is too weak to produce such a strong output of language. We hear errors and are always making new sentences due to recursion which is also support for the Innateness Hypothesis devised by Noam Chomsky. 2. How does the knowledge of language relate to other cognitive abilities? The knowledge of language is much greater than other cognitive abilities. Infants can speak before they can do most other things.3. Does modularity support the Innateness Hypothesis?Yes, because it says that there are different modules of the brain that each have specific functions and having a language module would show that we have an innate capacity for language since our brain has something that controls language.4. List the four arguments for innateness.Universals The Poverty of the StimulusStages of Language AcquisitionCritical Period EffectUniversals- certain properties that can be found in all languages.1. Why are language universals used as an argument for the Innateness Hypothesis?Those who believe in the Innateness Hypothesis ask, how would it be possible for languages to share so many different qualities and characteristics if there wasn’t an innate component to language? Also, if people assume that the Universal Grammar specifies these universals then all languages must have them. They provide a good explanation that there are universals, but it isn’t necessarily logically compelling because it is impossible to prove. Just because P could havecaused Q doesn’t mean that it did. R or S could have also caused Q.2. What are metapatterns?Metapatterns are patterns that human languages have that usually happen in the natural world.These notes represent a detailed interpretation of the professor’s lecture. GradeBuddy is best used as a supplement to your own notes, not as a substitute.3. What are some alternative explanations for language universals?Monogenesis: all languages come from one mother languageEvolution: all evolved things have hierarchical structure Language came after people dispersed across the planetNeural architecture: all languages are fulfilled through the same brain design4. What is recursion? Why is it a problem to claim that recursion is a language-unique property?Recursion is imbedding the same thing within itself and in language this can be applied to words and sentences. Chomsky claimed that this is a language-unique universal, but this is a problem because there is an Amazon language without recursion. Also other cognitive systems use recursion besides language. 5. What are some language unique universals?The design of grammar that includes the lexicon and six checking components.The design of each component that has basic units, combination constraints, and repair rules.The universal toolkit and its design features.All languages have nouns and verbs along with other word categories.All languages have ways to form questions.All languages have affixes.6. What are the types of universals? Include an example of each.a. Absolute: Something is either true or untrue of all languages. Ex. All languages have hierarchical structure and complex words and sentences.b. Implicational: If a language has one property it will also have another property. Ex. If a language has the vowel phonemes /e/ and /o/, it will also have /i/ and /o/.c. Disjunctive: Each language has either one property or another. (parameters) Ex. In phrase structure, the verb either precedes the object or it follows it; it cannot do both.d. Hidden vs. Overt: Hidden universals can be based on the study of one language, but that isn’t a good idea. They regard the mental grammar. They focus on hidden properties and have a statistical flavor meaning they are often stated as laws or principles. Overt universals are based on surveys of large numbers of languages and focus on shallow, observable, measurable properties of utterances. They also have a statistical flavor, but are often stated as tendencies. Hidden universals are reflected in the overt universals, but often not perfectly. Example of hidden universal: phonemes that underlie speech sounds. Example of overt universal: reflections of other factors, such as the environment or general aspects of human biology and behavior7. Why is not a problem to have exceptions to hidden universals in regards to the Innateness Hypothesis?It isn’t a problem because this hypothesis doesn’t state that every part of language is innate, only some, so just because there are some exceptions to hidden universals doesn’t mean that that language doesn’t have an innate component. Principles and Parameters Theory1. What are parameters? What is the difference between marked and unmarked parameters?Parameters are half universals. They say P or Q is true of any given language, but not both. P may be more common than Q. If this is the case we call the more common choice unmarked and the other marked. Another definition for parameters is when hidden universals have exceptions or when they show limited diversity. Parameters are language-specific properties that need input or nurture.2. What are principles?Principles are full universals that are true of all languages. They are core properties of language that are shared and rely of nature because they are innate.3. What is realism vs. nominalism?Realism says that universals exist and are reflected in things we can observe. Plato said they exist in the world of forms and Chomsky said they exist in the genes and brain. Nominalism is the opposite of realism and says that universals are just names for observed similarities. It says the similarities are actually unexplainable.The Poverty of the Stimulus Argument1. What does this argument state?It states that children receive such poor input, net they still produce such rich output during the process of language acquisition.2. What are the properties of the input?a. Incomplete- children aren’t exposed to all types of sentences and words yet they still produce them, they might not understand a question, but they know a correct questionb. Limited-children are only exposed to a finite or limited amount of