lcc2 flash

Term    Definition

Faculty of Language - Broad (FLB)   Includes sensory-motor, conceptual-intentional systems, and recursion.

Faculty of Language - Narrow (FLN)              Refers only to recursion, proposed to be uniquely human.

Merge  Combines linguistic elements into hierarchical structures.

Recursion       Embeds phrases within phrases; allows infinite sentence generation.

Lexicon            Mental dictionary of structured, mind-dependent word meanings.

Externalization            Turning internal language representations into speech/sign.

Internalization             Understanding and thinking using language structures.

I-Language      Individual's internal, mental representation of language.

❓ Flashcards: Q&A Practice

(Flip these to test your deeper understanding!)

Question         Answer

What distinguishes FLN from FLB?  FLN includes only recursion; FLB includes recursion plus sensory-motor and conceptual-intentional systems.

Why is recursion considered uniquely human?              It enables infinite sentence generation and has no known parallel in animal communication.

What does the 'Merge' operation do?           It combines two linguistic elements into a new syntactic structure.

What role does Broca’s area play in language?              It's involved in syntactic computations and hierarchical sentence processing.

How is language different from birdsong?              Birdsong lacks hierarchical syntax and recursion seen in human language.

What is the significance of the Pirahã language?       It challenges the universality of recursion in human languages.

Why is externalization not central to language design?            Because language's primary role is internal thought, not communication.

What evidence supports the innateness of language?       The poverty of the stimulus and universal grammar suggest language is hardwired.