Why do all human languages resemble each other? And how do children learn language so fast?
For many linguists, the answer is Universal Grammar. It’s one of the biggest ideas in linguistics, but now it might possibly be coming unstuck. What is it, and what does its acceptance or rejection mean for modern linguistics?
Linguist Daniel Midgley has something for everyone on this episode of Talk the Talk.
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Cutting Room Floor
More of what we get up to between takes.
French hold music is hilarious! Ben can’t stand the hold music. Daniel’s all about the hold music. There’s a bonus chat with a totally different random French person! And a bit more with Kylian.
Then we get deeper into Universal Grammar. It’s not just about the parameters — it’s about the principles. And we reveal what terrifies us most about Chomsky.
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Show notes
The French Number
http://www.thefrenchnumber.fr
Evidence Rebuts Chomsky’s Theory of Language Learning
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/evidence-rebuts-chomsky-s-theory-of-language-learning/
Don’t believe the rumours. Universal Grammar is alive and well.
https://medium.com/@dan.milway/dont-believe-the-rumours-universal-grammar-is-alive-and-well-58c1fbc5608b#.av7h2vini
The bonfire of Noam Chomsky: journalist Tom Wolfe targets the acclaimed linguist
http://www.vox.com/the-big-idea/2016/9/14/12910180/noam-chomsky-tom-wolfe-linguist
Tom Wolfe plays mischief with language in ‘Kingdom of Speech’
http://articles.philly.com/2016-09-11/news/75354678_1_language-evolution-darwin-urdu
Noam Chomsky on the Evolution of Language: A Biolinguistic Perspective
http://www.truth-out.org/opinion/item/37725-noam-chomsky-on-the-evolution-of-language-a-biolinguistic-perspective
Dr. Noam Chomsky’s answers to questions from r/linguistics
https://www.reddit.com/r/linguistics/comments/13buz0/dr_noam_chomskys_answers_to_questions_from/?
Universal Grammar- How Do You Back It?
https://www.reddit.com/r/linguistics/comments/16avcv/universal_grammar_how_do_you_back_it/?
What are the leading anti-UG theories?
https://www.reddit.com/r/linguistics/comments/4es4pb/what_are_the_leading_antiug_theories/
The language faculty that wasn’t: a usage-based account of natural language recursion
http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fpsyg.2015.01182/full
A Cognitive Neural Architecture Able to Learn and Communicate through Natural Language
http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0140866
Grammar rules aren’t nearly as clear-cut as we thought
http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2016/01/grammar-rules-aren-t-nearly-clear-cut-we-thought
Child language acquisition: Why universal grammar doesn’t help
http://muse.jhu.edu/article/552064
‘Avengers’ assemble to take on ‘racist, abusive coward’ Donald Trump, urge people to vote
http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/movies/avengers-assemble-take-on-racist-abusive-coward-donald-trump-urge-people-to-vote-20160921-grlnmt.html
‘Butt’ is an actual unit of measurement
http://gizmodo.com/butt-is-an-actual-unit-of-measurement-1622427091
The first fuckwit
https://stronglang.wordpress.com/2016/09/14/the-first-fuckwit/
My table
Image credit: http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-nunPOVzMWIc/T0V0fetGtxI/AAAAAAAAAEA/lesm9euhvVo/s1600/5368252303_c5af484d4f.jpg
Transcript
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