Language universals : universal grammar and language acquisition

Abstract EN

The article deals with the universals in language that are common.

A brief historical statement about the rise of syntax as a separate part of logic and how syntax and logic were related within philosophy in the 13th century and then later in the l Sth century is followed with a discussion of the idea of universality of grammar and that languages are similar in their deep structure which represents the common characteristics and basic concepts in thought and language.

These are realized in the surface structure with forms that represent syntactic and phonological rules of different languages.

Structuralists attacked the idea of a universal grammar.

However, it is revived in Chomsky's writings in the fifties and sixties of the twentieth century.

He considers the two terms: Language Universals" and "Universal Grammar" as equivalent.

The article also deals in detail with Chomsky's theory about language universals that include, among other characteristics, the inborn ability of a child to learn language, whatever the language spoken in the society he is born in.

Though languages differ in their surface structures, there are common characteristics among them that are enough to facilitate children's acquisition of language and at the same time set human languages distinct from non-human means of communication.