This chapter discusses the nature of human language and linguistics. It addresses fundamental beliefs about language, including that language is rule-governed, creative, universal, innate, and learned. Most linguistic signs are arbitrary and symbolic rather than iconic. The chapter differentiates between linguistic competence, which is a speaker's implicit knowledge of grammar rules, and performance, which can be imperfect. It also notes that while languages differ on the surface, they share underlying universals.
This chapter discusses the nature of human language and linguistics. It addresses fundamental beliefs about language, including that language is rule-governed, creative, universal, innate, and learned. Most linguistic signs are arbitrary and symbolic rather than iconic. The chapter differentiates between linguistic competence, which is a speaker's implicit knowledge of grammar rules, and performance, which can be imperfect. It also notes that while languages differ on the surface, they share underlying universals.
This chapter discusses the nature of human language and linguistics. It addresses fundamental beliefs about language, including that language is rule-governed, creative, universal, innate, and learned. Most linguistic signs are arbitrary and symbolic rather than iconic. The chapter differentiates between linguistic competence, which is a speaker's implicit knowledge of grammar rules, and performance, which can be imperfect. It also notes that while languages differ on the surface, they share underlying universals.
On the Evolution of Language
First Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology to the
Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, 1879-80,
Government Printing Office, Washington, 1881, pages 1-16