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The Infinite Gift: How Children Learn and Unlearn the Languages of the World

Book by Charles Yang · 2 quotes · Language, Language Acquisition, Universal Grammar

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The Infinite Gift: How Children Learn and Unlearn the Languages of the World Quotes

“Language guardians have often blamed linguists as defenders of bad language: moral and cultural relativism is often tossed in at no extra charge. We as a profession are supposedly promoting the idea that anything goes in grammar... But no, we have never said anything goes in grammar. (...) When it comes to the proper use of language, universal grammar is the ultimate authority. It is not about what rules are deemed reasonable or popular; it is about what rules are true. And one sign for a true rule is that it appears in young children, long before they are polluted by dubious grammatical advice.”

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Book:The Infinite Gift: How Children Learn and Unlearn the Languages of the World
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“Is language actually getting better, shorter, and easier? Nowadays we often hear exactly the opposite. Teenager slang is awful, students no longer learn Latin, our children — not to mention our president — cannot put together a grammatical sentence. The whimsical poet Ogden Nash was at least half serious in his “Laments for a dying language”: Coin brassy words at will, debase the coinage; We're in an if-you-cannot-lick-them-join age, A slovenliness-provides-its-own-excuse age, Where usage overnight condones misusage. Farewell, farewell to my beloved language, Once English, now a vile orangutanguage.”

LanguageGrammar NazisLanguage Snobs
Book:The Infinite Gift: How Children Learn and Unlearn the Languages of the World
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