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The human language faculty as an organ.

S R Anderson1, D W Lightfoot

  • 1Department of Linguistics, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06520-8236, USA. stephen.anderson@yale.edu

Annual Review of Physiology
|June 9, 2000
PubMed
Summary

Human language acquisition stems from an innate, biologically determined capacity specific to our species. This language faculty develops naturally, distinguishing it from general learning mechanisms and highlighting its unique biological basis.

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Area of Science:

  • Linguistics
  • Cognitive Science
  • Evolutionary Biology

Background:

  • The study of language and cognition increasingly supports a biologically determined, innate capacity for human language.
  • This capacity is specific to language and the human species, developing through regular maturational processes.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To explore the biological underpinnings of human language acquisition.
  • To differentiate language learning from general cognitive mechanisms.
  • To investigate the domain-specificity and species-specificity of the language faculty.

Main Methods:

  • Analysis of language acquisition in human children.
  • Examination of dissociations between language and other cognitive functions.
  • Review of cross-species language learning attempts.

Main Results:

  • Human language knowledge appears to grow from an innate capacity rather than being solely learned through general induction.
  • Evidence suggests domain-specificity, with language control dissociating from other cognitive functions.
  • Species-specificity is supported by universal language acquisition in children and failed attempts to teach language to other species.

Conclusions:

  • Human language acquisition is facilitated by a specific, innate biological capacity, comparable to other biological structures.
  • The concept of a 'language organ' is functional, not necessarily tied to a specific anatomical location.
  • Language development is a biologically guided process unique to humans.

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