key term - Noam Chomsky

Definition

Noam Chomsky is a renowned linguist and cognitive scientist who proposed the theory of language acquisition known as generative grammar. He argues that humans have an innate ability to acquire and generate language.

Related terms

Generative Grammar: This term refers to Chomsky's theory that suggests humans possess an inherent ability to generate infinite sentences using a finite set of grammatical rules.

Universal Grammar: Universal Grammar is another concept put forth by Chomsky, which proposes that there are underlying linguistic structures and principles shared by all languages.

Linguistics:

Linguistics is the scientific study of language, including its structure, history, and how it is acquired and used by individuals.