Jacqueline van Kampen
2010
Proceedings of the 8th International Conference on the Evolution of Language, pages 321-328, 2010
Negated sentences in Dutch child language are analyzed. It is argued that, rather than an innate UG structure, the child's acquisition procedure explains a temporary rise and fall of negative concord. It is further suggested that natural preferences of the acquisition procedure ...MORE ⇓
Negated sentences in Dutch child language are analyzed. It is argued that, rather than an innate UG structure, the child's acquisition procedure explains a temporary rise and fall of negative concord. It is further suggested that natural preferences of the acquisition procedure are a substantive source for grammatical universals. This evades the assumption that the evolution of the human brain as such has already produced an innate repertoire of grammatical universals.