
Published online:
22 August 2013
Published in print:
02 May 2008
Online ISBN:
9780262280204
Print ISBN:
9780262134989
Contents
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1.1 Methodological Issues 1.1 Methodological Issues
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1.1.1 The Three Degrees of Simplicity 1.1.1 The Three Degrees of Simplicity
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1.1.1.1 The Simplicity of the Data 1.1.1.1 The Simplicity of the Data
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1.1.1.2 The Simplicity of the Questions 1.1.1.2 The Simplicity of the Questions
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1.1.1.3 The Simplicity of the Theories 1.1.1.3 The Simplicity of the Theories
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1.1.2 Errors 1.1.2 Errors
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1.1.2.1 Error as Deviation 1.1.2.1 Error as Deviation
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1.1.2.2 Error as Omission 1.1.2.2 Error as Omission
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1.1.2.3 Error as Tool 1.1.2.3 Error as Tool
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1.1.3 Formalism 1.1.3 Formalism
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1.1.3.1 Formalism Is Concise 1.1.3.1 Formalism Is Concise
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1.1.3.2 Formalism Is Deductive 1.1.3.2 Formalism Is Deductive
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1.1.3.3 Formalism Is Heuristic 1.1.3.3 Formalism Is Heuristic
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1.2 A Sample of Syntax 1.2 A Sample of Syntax
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1.2.1 Linearity 1.2.1 Linearity
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1.2.2 Discreteness 1.2.2 Discreteness
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1.2.3 Recursion 1.2.3 Recursion
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1.2.4 Dependence 1.2.4 Dependence
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1.2.5 Locality 1.2.5 Locality
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1.3 The Ark of Babel 1.3 The Ark of Babel
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1.3.1 Limits of Variation 1.3.1 Limits of Variation
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1.3.2 Grammar as a Limit for Experience 1.3.2 Grammar as a Limit for Experience
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1.3.3 Simple Languages and Complex Languages: The Genesis of Creoles 1.3.3 Simple Languages and Complex Languages: The Genesis of Creoles
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Cite
Moro, Andrea, 'Hidden Texture', The Boundaries of Babel: The Brain and the Enigma of Impossible Languages (Cambridge, MA , 2008; online edn, MIT Press Scholarship Online, 22 Aug. 2013), https://doi.org/10.7551/mitpress/9780262134989.003.0002, accessed 18 Apr. 2025.
Abstract
This chapter starts by addressing methodological issues as applied to linguistics, which include simplicity, errors, and formalism. It then introduces some fundamental aspects of human languages. The chapter concludes with a naturalistic example that linguists mention to show how biologically determined language acquisition models are present in nature in species other than humans.
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