Four arguments for “the language instinct” 1. L is universal 2. all have similar structure 3. The rapidity and similarity of acquisition 4. Biological evidence

Consider each of these four arguments in detail

A1.language is universal (26) No human culture ever reported without a language Little correlation between sophistication of culture with sophistication of Language "Stone age societies...but not Stone age languages..27”

There’s no serious distinction between language and dialect. All languages are dialects of universal human language. "A Language is a dialect with an army and navy." (Weinrich)

A2. L is similar in structure everywhere A stream of speech Sequence of syllables Sequence of phonological segments (phonemes) Sequence of words (morphemes) Hierarchically organized phrases Recursive structures, e.g phrases in phrases Hierarchically organized clause(s) Meaningful linguistic expression

The same descriptive terms apply to all Ls

But not all universals qualify as "instincts." Why should we think language is an instinct? We must try to rule out common experiences and universal cognition/perception as much as possible. Piaget, for example, believed Language was just “clothes” we put on thoughts, labels with no functional structure themselves. For Piaget and others, language itself was not that interesting beyond its general functions.

We also should worry about cultural transmission of knowledge from generation to generation. This is surely a part of language, but is it ALL?? Here are several reasons for thinking "No!”

A3 language acquisition suggests instinct Humans acquire language uniformly under a range of environments and intelligences; smart non-humans (e.g. apes) don't.

normal acquisition by children is predictable They have "structure dependent knowledge" p – What the aphasic woman in video lacked! – “The bird that the cat watched was hungry.” – Word comprehension & order alone won’t do!

Which one has the “instinct?”

an instinct implant?

Universal stages of acquisition

Little correlation between acquisition and intelligence in humans other than in “content” word vocabulary. This is due to intelligence and culture.

Lexical growth

atypical acquisition suggests instinct acquisition of sign by deaf children, e.g. NSL (video) Creation of Creoles from pidgins by children (video)

A4. biological evidence for the "LI” Universal brain and vocal tract - one can speak any language Localization and independence of functions Specific language impairments (SLI) Recent genetic comparisons with apes

localization and independence of functions Penfield’s brain “labels” aphasia case p.46 and video split-brain cases (Gazzaniga) Much evidence for specific functional impairments - cognition without language or partial language. A case of language without cognition?

Penfield’s brain labels Image of labeled living brain

specific biological language impairments (SLI) 48 1.Gopnik's family (“grammar genes”) 2.Williams syndrome (video) 3. Autism??

Vocal tract diagram

Universal “alphabet” of sounds

Question: What do you see?

production

Answer! “Dogs”

Missing parts?

Could Pinker (and I) be wrong? Not all dialects have been studied – The claims about Piraha Could Piaget be right? Cognitive structures are directly reflected in language structures? Could language have been invented once or even several times, and learned by each person by their general learning processes?

The Piraha Read -- Colapinto, J. (2007). The interpreter: Has a remote Amazonian tribe upended our understanding of language? The New Yorker, 83(8),