language acquisition device

American  

noun

Psycholinguistics.

1. a hypothesized innate mental faculty present in infants that enables them to construct and internalize the grammar of their native language on the basis of the limited and fragmentary language input to which they are exposed. LAD

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Etymology

Origin of language acquisition device

First recorded in 1960–65

Example Sentences

By being in the environment, hearing the language and most important, understanding the language, somehow or other something kicks in in the brain called the LAD — the language acquisition device.

From Salon