Chomsky, Noam (1989)
The Concept of Language

Author

Linguist Noam Chomsky, professor at MIT, discusses the ways in which language changes over time and how the idea of a national language is a modern phenomenon. In this University of Washington interview, Upon Reflection host Al Page speaks with Chomsky about how languages are systems of communication rooted in human nature.

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“#”―Noam Chomsky (1989) The Concept of Language

Differences between languages

Reason for evolution of languages

"Human life is a pretty complicated affair" [04:20] ―Noam Chomsky (1989) The Concept of Language

The idea of national language is a modern phenomenon.

The concept of the "pure" national language is mythological and has no factual basis. #national_language

[08:37] "There is no such thing as a language. There are just lots of different ways of speaking which people have which are more or less similar to one another. And some of them may have prestige associated with them."―Noam Chomsky (1989) The Concept of Language
#Language

[09:10] "Let's take Black English today. Black English is considered not quite proper English. On the other hand if Blacks happen to have all the power and own all the corporation and Whites were working for them it would be the other way around."―Noam Chomsky (1989) The Concept of Language
#Black_English

[09:30] Why does language have rules? Why are we taught these rules in Grade school?

[09:40] "When you're taught rules of your own language in Grade school the chances are pretty strong that what you are being taught is false - otherwise you would not have to be taught it."
[...]
"One of the things you learn in Grade school is the literate language. In English, the literate standard is not so radically different from what say you and I grew up with, but it's somewhat different. The literate standard is not what I learned in the streets. It's not very different, but it's a little different. And when I went to school I was taught the literate standard. Now the literate standard has some principles associated with it some of which are of a real language, some of which are artificial. They were made up by people that had crazy ideas about language."―Noam Chomsky (1989) The Concept of Language

Growth

"In fact, the reason you have to teach them [rules of language] is they are not the person's language. Your actual language nobody teaches you. Your language just grows in your head."―Noam Chomsky (1989) The Concept of Language
#Growth

"Your actual language nobody teaches you."

"You stick a young child in an environment where people are speaking language and that child can no more help knowing that language - the child can't help growing. It's just part of human growth, for some component of the brain to pick up the language. You can't learn it and you don't learn it any more than you learn to see."―Noam Chomsky (1989) The Concept of Language
#Growth

"... the child can't help growing. It's just part of human growth. [...] You don't learn it any more than you learn to see."―Noam Chomsky (1989) The Concept of Language
#Growth

the system that grows in the brain is sometimes different to what is approved... difficult to what grew in your brain

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#Language

#Growth