Linguistic
Universals
(from Fromkin & Rodman, 1988, p.
18-19, as cited in de Valenzuela,
1998, pp. 125-6)
1. Wherever humans exist, language exists.
.
2. There are no "primitive" languages
-- all languages are equally complex and equally capable of expressing
any idea in the universe. The vocabulary of any language can be expanded
to include new words for new concepts.
.
3. All languages change through time.
.
4. The relationship between the sounds
and meanings of spoken languages and between the gestures (signs) and meanings
of sign languages are for the most part arbitrary.
.
5. All human languages utilize a finite
set of discrete sounds (or gestures) that are combined to form meaningful
elements or words, which themselves form an infinite set of possible sentences.
.
6. All grammars contain rules for the
formation of words and sentences of a similar kind.
.
7. Every spoken language includes discrete
sound segments like p, n, or a, which can be defined
by a finite set of sound properties or features. Every spoken language
has a class of vowels and a class of consonants.
.
8. Similar grammatical categories (for
example, noun, verb) are found in all languages.
.
9. There are semantic universals, such
as "male" or "female," "animate" or "human," found in every language in
the world.
.
10. Every language has a way of referring
to past time, forming questions, issuing commands, and so on.
.
11. Speakers of all languages are capable
of producing and comprehending an infinite set of sentences. Syntactic
universals reveal that every language has a way of forming sentences such
as:
Linguistics is an interesting
subject.
I know that linguistics is an interesting
subject.
You know that I know that linguistics
is an interesting subject.
Cecilia knows that you know that I know
that linguistics is an interesting subject.
Is it a fact that Cecilia knows that you
know that I know that linguistics is an interesting subject?
12. Any normal child, born anywhere in the
world, of any racial, geographical, social, or economic heritage, is capable
of learning any language to which he or she is exposed. The differences
we find among languages cannot be due to biological reasons.