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> >> English is a mongrel language... The formalized rules of English
> composition
> >> evolved from Latin- and French-based prescriptive grammars (specifically,
> >> from the Chancery in England from about 1300 to 1500), while the innate
> >> grammar hardwired into our English brains evolved from Anglo-Saxon.
> I think you're venturing into marshy ground here, Brad. I believe the growth
> of
> language over the last few thousand years is not part of the evolution of the
> human
> species because it's just too fast. Besides, if our brains are "hardwired"
> for one language, does that mean that we can't learn other languages equally
> well?
> If one is of mixed ancestry, what languages are hardwired? No, I think that
> way lies trouble...
> Didn't Minsky theorize that all human languages shared the same fundamental
> grammar?
> That explains why we in fact *can* learn other languages.
> -- Steve
You're absolutely right. I was mistaken to use the term "hardwired." I
should have said "instilled." And when I say "evolved," I am talking not
about biological evolution but cultural evolution ("a language" being a
cultural artifact and "language in general" being the thing that is
hardwired). Thanks for the correction.
Brad
--
Brad Connatser
Concurrent Communications
cwrites -at- usit -dot- net
