universal grammar

American  

noun

Linguistics.

1. a grammar that attempts to establish the properties and constraints common to all possible human languages.

2. an innate system of principles underlying the human language faculty.

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universal grammar British  

noun

1. linguistics (in Chomskyan transformation linguistics) the abstract limitations on the formal grammatical description of all human languages, actual or possible, that make them human languages

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

universal grammar

This still distinguishes Terrace's theory of language from Chomsky's, who argues that there is a "universal grammar" embedded in the neurology of every human brain which is unique to our species.

From Salon ● Jun. 25, 2023

Noam Chomsky’s concept of universal grammar has come under attack in recent years, but to Adger—a Chomsky fan—this is evidence that at least some components of language are universally hard-wired.

From Slate ● Oct. 30, 2019

Noam Chomsky’s idea of a universal grammar underpinning all languages was based on a rather narrow empirical base.

From The Guardian ● Jul. 27, 2018

Chomsky’s theories of universal grammar and recursion are supported by massive evidence and landmarks in modern linguistics and neuroscience.

From Washington Post ● Sep. 16, 2016

But universal grammar, as conceived by modern science, is as yet in its infancy; its materials are still in the process of being collected.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 12, Slice 3 "Gordon, Lord George" to "Grasses" by Various