English Grammar - Second Term 2012 November 16th, 2012 Ginneth Viviana Hernández Galvis Department of Foreign Languages Universidad Nacional de Colombia
What is Special about Language?
Language, as said by Chomsky, is a biological component of the mind. It exists as a complex organism that has several components each of them with an internal integrity. The two main components that the language has are the conceptual-intentional interface and the sensory-motor interface. The first one provides the internalization of thoughts, interpretations and plans. On the other hand, the second one represents the different sensory modalities (sound, sign, etc.) used to externalize the thoughts. They are the means to convey others what one is thinking. At the end for Chomsky and also for me, the language of an individual consists, at the very least, of a generative process that produces an infinite range of structured expressions based on a finite number of elements.
Noam Chomsky
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body languageFor instance, there are just a limited number of words that allow us to construct an infinite number of sentences.
According to Chomsky the language system development emerged in our minds, millions of years after separation from any other surviving creature. This language system development even though it took place in a short period of time, was carried out step by step with a smoothly transition. During that time period, the ability that enables us to communicate by making use of finite units to create infinite structures (language) was produced in the human mind. Chomsky affirms that the language growth just in a single individual. However, I disagree in this aspect. The human capacity of generate, codify and interpret language, arose, evolve and diversify over time though the social necessity of communication. The human necessity that at first was characterized by simple sounds to alert the community of danger...