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

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

His universal grammar was put forward as an innate component of the human mind — and it promised to reveal the deep biological underpinnings of the world’s 6,000-plus human languages.

From Salon • Sep. 10, 2016

Percival's favorite topics, when evening came and we rested from our stony labors, were the modern languages and the philosophy of universal grammar.

From The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 04, No. 21, July, 1859 by Various