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How did humans develop the capacity for language?

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Question added by Amal Brahmi , Primary teacher , Ajyal Alghad
Date Posted: 2015/03/31
OMAR BA'OBEID
by OMAR BA'OBEID , TELECOMS / SCADA SPECIALIST , PETRO MASILA Exploration & Production Co. Ltd.

You can develop your own language by reading more books, watching TV programs, getting in touch with native people, attending courses .... all these can be a great boost to enhance your language capacity.

Jamal Uddin
by Jamal Uddin , Translation Project Manager , Translation Specialists

Chomsky (1983) said that humans "grow" language just like any other inherited trait or organ because of a built in language apparatus. Chomsky proposed that people learn English, as well as any other language, with all its richness because we are designed to learn languages based upon a common set of principles, which we may call universal grammar. Chomsky's universal grammar theory asserts that it is the sum total of all the immutable principles that heredity builds into the language organ. These principles cover grammar, speech sounds, and meaning. Put differently, universal grammar is the inherited genetic endowment that makes it possible for us to speak and learn human languages.

Reference

Chomsky, N. (1983). Things no amount of learning can teach. Interview by John Gliedman. Omni, 6(11).

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