“LANGUAGES are wonderfully idiosyncratic. English puts its subject before its verb. Finnish has lots of cases. Mandarin is highly tonal.
Yet despite these differences, one of the most influential ideas in the study of language is that of universal grammar. Put forward by Noam Chomsky in the 1960s, it is widely interpreted as meaning that all languages are basically the same and that the human brain is born language-ready, with an in-built program that is able to decipher the common rules underpinning any mother tongue. For five decades this idea has dominated work in linguistics, psychology and cognitive science. To understand language, it implied, you must sweep aside the dazzling diversity of languages and find the common human core.
But what if the very diversity of languages is the key to understanding human communication? This is the idea being put forward by linguists Nicholas Evans of the Australian National University in Canberra and Stephen Levinson of the Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics in Nijmegen, the Netherlands.
They believe that languages do not share a common set of rules. Instead, they say, their sheer variety is a defining feature of human communication – something not seen in other animals. And that’s not all. Language diversity is the ‘crucial fact for understanding the place of language in human cognition’, Levinson and Evans argue.”
Read more at New Scientist
Wow, what a lovely and refreshing perspective on nativism. I love their proposed conclusion on page 1 of the article: “…every time a language becomes extinct, humanity loses an important piece of diversity.” It’s so true, Latin was a huge important piece of diversity and it was a shame it became extinct (the same with Old English and Modern English).
i remember friends telling me that sometimes when they had difficulty thinking of a word, they would be able to think of it in another language. a handy communications tool!
I am highly sceptical of this.
The article made me think of Stephenson’s sci-fi novel ‘Snow Crash’ which touched on the subject of language diversity and why it is so very diverse – a fiction piece of course but very thought-provoking!
did no one else notice the poor grammar?
“…seen in other animals. And that’s not all. Language diversity is the ‘cr…”