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Universal Grammar Is a Universal Grammar

Casares, Ramón (2014) Universal Grammar Is a Universal Grammar. [Preprint]

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Abstract

Is Universal Grammar a universal grammar? From Chomsky's hierarchy we deduce that for each grammar there is a Turing machine, and conversely. Following this equivalence, it is immediate to conclude that a universal Turing machine is equivalent to a universal grammar. Meanwhile, in linguistics, Universal Grammar is the human brain circuitry that implements the faculty of language. So the definitive answer is achieved only when we show that the human brain is Turing complete, and that language uses this capability. So yes: Universal Grammar is a universal grammar, because the human brain circuitry that implements the faculty of language is Turing complete.

Item Type:Preprint
Keywords:Universal Grammar, Turing completeness, language evolution
Subjects:Biology > Evolution
Computer Science > Language
Linguistics > Syntax
ID Code:9229
Deposited By: Casares, Dr Ramón
Deposited On:10 May 2014 00:08
Last Modified:10 May 2014 00:08

References in Article

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[Arbib 1987] Michael Arbib, "Brains, Machines, and Mathematics", Second Edition; Springer-Verlag, New York, 1987, ISBN 978-0-387-96539-0.

[Casares 2014] Ramón Casares, "Resolution Machinery"; http://cogprints.org/9209/.

[Chomsky 1959] Noam Chomsky, "On Certain Formal Properties of Grammars"; in Information and Control, Volume 2, Issue 2, pp. 137-167, June 1959.

[Chomsky 2005] Noam Chomsky, "Three Factors in Language Design"; in Linguistic Inquiry, Volume 36, Number 1, pp. 1-22, Winter 2005.

[Turing 1936] Alan Turing, "On Computable Numbers, with an Application to the Entscheidungsproblem"; in Proceedings of the London Mathematical Society, Volume s2-42, Issue 1, pp. 230-265, 1937. Received 28 May, 1936. Read 12 November, 1936.

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