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Children master language quickly and with relative ease, supported by both biological predisposition and reinforcement. B. F. Skinner (1957) proposed that language is learned through reinforcement, while Noam Chomsky (1965) argued that language acquisition mechanisms are biologically determined.
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Potentially recursive structures emerge quickly when a new language community forms.

Annemarie Kocab1, Ann Senghas2, Marie Coppola3

  • 1Harvard University, Department of Psychology, United States of America.

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Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Recursion in language, the ability to embed sentences, emerged early in Nicaraguan Sign Language (LSN). This syntactic embedding, crucial for complex thought, was observed in LSN signers but not in homesigners, suggesting community interaction drives linguistic recursion.

Keywords:
Language emergenceLanguage evolutionLengua de Señas NicaragüenseRecursionSign language

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Area of Science:

  • Linguistics
  • Cognitive Science
  • Developmental Psychology

Background:

  • Human languages exhibit recursion, enabling infinite expression from finite elements.
  • Nicaraguan Sign Language (LSN) is a recently emerged language, offering insights into language genesis.
  • Homesign systems, predating LSN, represent individual gestural communication.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the origins of syntactic recursion in language.
  • To examine the development of recursive structures in Nicaraguan Sign Language (LSN).
  • To compare recursive embedding in LSN signers and homesigners.

Main Methods:

  • Studied four groups: homesigners and three generations of LSN signers.
  • Employed a task eliciting sentences with relative clauses (recursive embedding).
  • Analyzed the production of embedded predicates and verb forms.

Main Results:

  • LSN signers consistently produced embedded predicates functioning as relative clauses.
  • Embedded verbs in LSN were shorter than unembedded verbs.
  • Homesigners did not show systematic embedding or verb reduction in embedded contexts.

Conclusions:

  • Potentially recursive syntactic embedding can emerge early in a new language.
  • Homesign systems may lack widespread or systematically marked embedded predicates.
  • Language community interaction might be a key factor in the emergence of recursive linguistic structures.