Gavarró, Anna. 2026. Language Acquisition Device and Parameter Setting.

Autors:

Gavarró, Anna

Títol:

Language Acquisition Device and Parameter Setting

Editorial: Nesi, H., Milin, P. (Eds.), International Encyclopedia of Language and Linguistics, 3e. Vol 9.
Col·lecció: International Encyclopedia of Language and Linguistics
Data de publicació: 2026
Pàgines: 6
ISBN13: 9780323955041

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Text complet

In the context of poverty of stimulus and a modular theory of the mind, the role of linguistics is not only to characterize
mental grammars, but also to explain how children develop them, given the variation attested in the languages of the world.
The language acquisition device is proposed as an inborn system, that guides the child in building mental grammars.
Parameters were posited as an economical way of encoding language variation. Building a learning model of parameter
setting has proven to be a herculean task given the feasibility condition imposed on them by the cognitive limitations of
humans. Empirical studies, on the other hand, provide evidence that parameter setting is achieved earlier than previously
thought, at least for morphosyntactic parameter.