What do all languages have in common? - Cameron Morin
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0:07 - 0:10Language is endlessly variable.
-
0:10 - 0:13Each of us can come up with
an infinite number of sentences -
0:13 - 0:14in our native language,
-
0:14 - 0:17and we’re able to do so from an early age—
-
0:17 - 0:20almost as soon as we start
to communicate in sentences. -
0:20 - 0:22How is this possible?
-
0:22 - 0:26In the early 1950s, Noam Chomsky
proposed a theory -
0:26 - 0:31based on the observation that the key
to this versatility seems to be grammar: -
0:31 - 0:35the familiar grammatical structure
of an unfamiliar sentence -
0:35 - 0:37points us toward its meaning.
-
0:37 - 0:40He suggested that there are
grammatical rules -
0:40 - 0:45that apply to all languages,
and that the rules are innate— -
0:45 - 0:50the human brain is hardwired to process
language according to these rules. -
0:50 - 0:53He labelled this faculty
universal grammar, -
0:53 - 0:57and it launched lines of inquiry
that shaped both the field of linguistics -
0:57 - 1:02and the emerging field
of cognitive science for decades to come. -
1:02 - 1:05Chomsky and other researchers
set out to investigate -
1:05 - 1:08the two main components
of universal grammar: -
1:08 - 1:11first, whether there are, in fact,
grammar rules -
1:11 - 1:13that are universal to all languages,
-
1:13 - 1:18and, second, whether these rules
are hardwired in the brain. -
1:18 - 1:21In attempts to establish
the universal rules of grammar, -
1:21 - 1:26Chomsky developed an analytical tool
known as generative syntax, -
1:26 - 1:32which represents the order of words
in a sentence in hierarchical syntax trees -
1:32 - 1:34that show what structures are possible.
-
1:34 - 1:38Based on this tree, we could suggest
a grammar rule -
1:38 - 1:41that adverbs must occur in verb phrases.
-
1:41 - 1:44But with more data,
it quickly becomes clear -
1:44 - 1:47that adverbs can appear
outside of verb phrases. -
1:47 - 1:51This simplified example illustrates
a major problem: -
1:51 - 1:55it takes a lot of data
from each individual language -
1:55 - 1:57to establish the rules for that language,
-
1:57 - 1:59before we can even begin to determine
-
1:59 - 2:03which rules all languages
might have in common. -
2:03 - 2:06When Chomsky proposed universal grammar,
-
2:06 - 2:09many languages lacked the volume
of recorded samples -
2:09 - 2:12necessary to analyze them
using generative syntax. -
2:12 - 2:14Even with lots of data,
-
2:14 - 2:18mapping the structure of a language
is incredibly complex. -
2:18 - 2:24After 50 years of analysis, we still
haven’t completely figured out English. -
2:24 - 2:27As more linguist data
was gathered and analyzed, -
2:27 - 2:31it became clear that languages
around the world differ widely, -
2:31 - 2:35challenging the theory that there were
universal grammar rules. -
2:35 - 2:39In the 1980s, Chomsky revised his theory
-
2:39 - 2:41in an attempt to accommodate
this variation. -
2:41 - 2:46According to his new hypothesis
of principles and parameters, -
2:46 - 2:49all languages shared certain
grammatical principles, -
2:49 - 2:53but could vary in their parameters,
or the application of these principles. -
2:53 - 2:58For example, a principle is
“every sentence must have a subject," -
2:58 - 3:02but the parameter of whether the subject
must be explicitly stated -
3:02 - 3:04could vary between languages.
-
3:04 - 3:06The hypothesis of principles
and parameters -
3:06 - 3:11still didn’t answer the question of which
grammatical principles are universal. -
3:11 - 3:16In the early 2000s, Chomsky suggested
that there’s just one shared principle, -
3:16 - 3:22called recursion, which means structures
can be nested inside each other. -
3:22 - 3:23Take this sentence,
-
3:23 - 3:27which embeds a sentence within a sentence
within a sentence. -
3:27 - 3:31Or this sentence, which embeds
a noun phrase in a noun phrase -
3:31 - 3:32in a noun phrase.
-
3:32 - 3:36Recursion was a good candidate
for a universal grammar rule -
3:36 - 3:38because it can take many forms.
-
3:38 - 3:42However, in 2005 linguists
published findings -
3:42 - 3:45on an Amazonian language called Piraha,
-
3:45 - 3:49which doesn’t appear to have
any recursive structures. -
3:49 - 3:52So what about the other part
of Chomsky’s theory, -
3:52 - 3:55that our language faculty is innate?
-
3:55 - 3:58When he first proposed universal grammar,
-
3:58 - 4:02the idea that there was a genetically
determined aspect of language acquisition -
4:02 - 4:05had a profound, revolutionary impact.
-
4:05 - 4:10It challenged the dominant paradigm,
called behaviorism. -
4:10 - 4:15Behaviorists argued that all animal
and human behaviors, including language, -
4:15 - 4:18were acquired from the outside
by the mind, -
4:18 - 4:21which starts out as a blank slate.
-
4:21 - 4:25Today, scientists agree that behaviorism
was wrong, -
4:25 - 4:29and there is underlying,
genetically encoded biological machinery -
4:29 - 4:30for language learning.
-
4:30 - 4:33Many think the same biology
responsible for language -
4:33 - 4:37is also responsible for other
aspects of cognition. -
4:37 - 4:40So they disagree with Chomsky’s idea
-
4:40 - 4:45that there is a specific, isolated,
innate language faculty in the brain. -
4:45 - 4:49The theory of universal grammar
prompted the documentation and study -
4:49 - 4:52of many languages
that hadn’t been studied before. -
4:52 - 4:57It also caused an old idea to be
reevaluated and eventually overthrown -
4:57 - 5:01to make room for our growing
understanding of the human brain.
- Title:
- What do all languages have in common? - Cameron Morin
- Speaker:
- Cameron Morin
- Description:
-
View full lesson: https://ed.ted.com/lessons/what-do-all-languages-have-in-common-cameron-morin
Language is endlessly variable. Each of us can come up with an infinite number of sentences in our native language, and we’re able to do so from an early age— almost as soon as we start to communicate in sentences. How is this possible? In the early 1950s, Noam Chomsky proposed a theory that the key to this versatility was grammar. Cameron Morin details Chomsky's theory of universal grammar.
Lesson by Cameron Morin, directed by Eoin Duffy.
- Video Language:
- English
- Team:
- closed TED
- Project:
- TED-Ed
- Duration:
- 05:02
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