An
alternative mechanism?
lSome problems with the evolutionary nativism
position:
ˇDoesn’t
really explain why language is unique
ˇNot
specific about how natural selection is going to work
ˇIs
everything in language optimally tailored?
ˇAre
there alternative mechanisms?
lA new hypothesis:
Language itself is an evolutionary system. Understanding linguistic evolution may
explain some of the structure of language without a strongly
constraining innate LAD, or biological evolution through natural
selection.