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Birth
Born Avram Noam Chomsky in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. -
Revolutionary Idea
Proposed that "We are all born with an innate knowledge of grammar that serves as the basis for all language acquisition". In simpler terms that for us humans, language is a "basic instinct". -
Walk it Like I Talk it
Proposed that walking upright for long periods of time sets us apart from our closest genetic monkeys, the great apes. Walking is both innate and learned, so while every human child is born with the underlying mechanisms needed to do so, the skill will never manifest without proper guidance.f -
Universal Grammar Theory
Theory suggests that every language has some of the same laws. If the basic grammar laws are the same for all languages, a child only needs to follow the particular set of rules that his peers follow in order to understand and produce their native language. In other words, his/her environment determines which language they will use, but they are born with the tools to learn any language effectively. -
Noam Chomsky on Universal Grammar
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Observation and Memorization
This theory states that our understanding of language is built solely on experience, not an internal language processing feature. New York University used new technology to test his theory. The team recruited people to listen to word phrases spoken in both English and Mandarin Chinese, using predictable sentences like “New York never sleeps” grammatically correct yet less predictable sentences like “Pink toys hurt girls”. The sentences were designed so all indications of grammar were missing. -
Noam Chomsky: Origins of Language
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Bibliography Part 1
- Dovey, Dana. “Our Brains Are Hardwired To Learn Grammar.” Medical Daily, 16 Dec. 2015, https://www.medicaldaily.com/noam-chomskys-theory-universal-grammar-right-its-hardwired-our-brains-364236.
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Bibliography Part 3
- Murza, Kimberly. “Noam Chomsky on Universal Grammar and the Genetics of Language with Captioning.” YouTube, YouTube, 11 May 2012, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vbKO-9n5qmc.
- Nyu. “Chomsky Was Right, NYU Researchers Find: We Do Have a ‘Grammar’ in Our Head.” NYU, 7 Dec. 2015, https://www.nyu.edu/about/news-publications/news/2015/december/chomsky-was-right-nyu-researchers-find-we-do-have-a-grammar-in-our-head.html.
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Bibliography Part 4
- ThePublicMindDenver. “Noam Chomsky Speaks about Universal Linguistics: Origins of Language.” YouTube, YouTube, 7 Dec. 2015, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Sw15-vSY8E.
- Tool Module: Chomsky's Universal Grammar, https://thebrain.mcgill.ca/flash/capsules/outil_rouge06.html.
- “Universal Grammar.” EnglishClub, https://www.englishclub.com/grammar/theory/universal.htm.
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Bibliography Part 2
- ThePublicMindDenver. “Noam Chomsky Speaks about Universal Linguistics: Origins of Language.” YouTube, YouTube, 7 Dec. 2015, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Sw15-vSY8E. Tool Module: Chomsky's Universal Grammar, https://thebrain.mcgill.ca/flash/capsules/outil_rouge06.html. “Universal Grammar.” EnglishClub, https://www.englishclub.com/grammar/theory/universal.htm.
