universal grammar
Americannoun
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a grammar that attempts to establish the properties and constraints common to all possible human languages.
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an innate system of principles underlying the human language faculty.
noun
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
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
The new version of the theory, called principles and parameters, replaced a single universal grammar for all the world’s languages with a set of “universal” principles governing the structure of language.
From Salon • Sep. 10, 2016
In accordance with these ideas culled from universal grammar, the forms of the conjugations in the various languages will now be considered.
From The Philosophic Grammar of American Languages, as Set Forth by Wilhelm von Humboldt With the Translation of an Unpublished Memoir by Him on the American Verb by Brinton, Daniel Garrison
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