Is Universal Grammar ready for retirement? A short review of a longstanding misinterpretation

Mendívil Giró, José Luis (Universidad de Zaragoza)

Resumen: In this paper I consider recent studies that deny the existence of Universal Grammar (UG), and I show how the concept of UG that is attacked in these works is quite different from Chomsky’s, and thus that such criticisms are not valid. My principal focus is on the notions of ‘linguistic specificity’ and of ‘innateness’, and I conclude that, since the controversy about UG is based on misinterpretations, it is rendered sterile and thus does unnecessary harm to linguistic science. I also address the underlying reasons for these misunderstandings and suggest that, once they have been clarified, there is much scope for complementary approaches that embrace different research traditions within current theoretical linguistics.

Idioma: Inglés

DOI: 10.1017/S0022226718000166

Año: 2018

Publicado en: JOURNAL OF LINGUISTICS 54 (2018), 1-30
ISSN: 0022-2267

Factor impacto JCR: 1.125 (2018)

Categ. JCR: LINGUISTICS rank: 69 / 182 = 0.379 (2018) - Q2 - T2

Factor impacto SCIMAGO: 0.675 - Language and Linguistics (Q1) - Philosophy (Q1) - Linguistics and Language (Q1)

Financiación: info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/ES/MINECO-FEDER/FFI2017-82460-P

Tipo y forma: Article (PostPrint)

Área (Departamento): Área Lingüística General (Dpto. Lingüíst. Gral. e Hisp.)