Which author is most associated with 'universal grammar'?

Which author is most associated with 'universal grammar'?

• A. Noam Chomsky
• B. Sigmund Freud
• C. B.F. Skinner
• D. Jean Piaget

Answer: (A)

Universal grammar is the idea that humans are born with an innate set of grammatical principles that underlie all languages, helping children quickly learn complex syntax from limited input. This view suggests there’s a built-in linguistic blueprint shared across languages, which explains why kids acquire language so rapidly and with remarkable generalization. The author most closely tied to this concept is Noam Chomsky, who argued that language ability comes from an internal faculty and that languages reveal common structural features despite surface differences. This perspective stands apart from Freud’s psychoanalysis, Skinner’s behaviorism, and Piaget’s cognitive-development theory, which explain behavior and learning without positing an inherent, universal grammatical module. So the association with universal grammar points to Chomsky.

Universal grammar is the idea that humans are born with an innate set of grammatical principles that underlie all languages, helping children quickly learn complex syntax from limited input. This view suggests there’s a built-in linguistic blueprint shared across languages, which explains why kids acquire language so rapidly and with remarkable generalization. The author most closely tied to this concept is Noam Chomsky, who argued that language ability comes from an internal faculty and that languages reveal common structural features despite surface differences. This perspective stands apart from Freud’s psychoanalysis, Skinner’s behaviorism, and Piaget’s cognitive-development theory, which explain behavior and learning without positing an inherent, universal grammatical module. So the association with universal grammar points to Chomsky.