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2 - What is acquired?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 June 2012

Barbara C. Lust
Affiliation:
Cornell University, New York
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Summary

What is language?

In this chapter, we, like children, seek “… the discovery of the place of human language in the universe.”

(Hockett 1977, 163)

It is impossible to study the acquisition of language scientifically unless we address the question, “what is language?,” i.e., “what is acquired?” (2.1 and 2.2). We sketch an overview of the linguistic computation children must acquire when they acquire a language, laying down a number of fundamental concepts and terms (2.3). We sketch the basic design of human language knowledge and the basic architecture of the human Language Faculty (2.4). We provide a framework for investigation into the nature of language acquisition. These foundations allow us to form the “essential questions of language acquisition” (2.5).

Attempting to define language

Language is first and foremost symbolic. Sounds, words and sentences represent and capture an infinity of possible meanings and intentions. We can produce, understand and think of an infinity of possible statements, questions, commands or exclamations. These may concern the future, the past, what has occurred and what has not, what is possible or impossible. Through language, we can tell the truth or lie, regret or hope. We can deploy an infinity of demands, requests, contradictions, ranging from poetry to propaganda. The next sentence we say or understand is almost certainly going to be one we have never heard or said before, suggesting that this symbolic capacity of language is in a real sense limitless.

Type
Chapter
Information
Child Language
Acquisition and Growth
, pp. 9 - 27
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2006

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  • What is acquired?
  • Barbara C. Lust, Cornell University, New York
  • Book: Child Language
  • Online publication: 05 June 2012
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511803413.003
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  • What is acquired?
  • Barbara C. Lust, Cornell University, New York
  • Book: Child Language
  • Online publication: 05 June 2012
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511803413.003
Available formats
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Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • What is acquired?
  • Barbara C. Lust, Cornell University, New York
  • Book: Child Language
  • Online publication: 05 June 2012
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511803413.003
Available formats
×