The Number Sense and the Language Instinct: Relating Syntax and Arithmetic in Human Cognition

The idea that mathematical ability and language are related in human cognition is an old one. It is commonly assumed in the philosophical tradition, in psychology and in cognitive science, generally implying that knowledge of numbers is indebted to knowledge of language. In this contribution I suggest a more specific model of the relationship between knowledge of numbers and knowledge of language in the light of developments in the neuroscience of numerical understanding and in linguistic theory. The proposed model places the evolutionary development of the syntactic component of the Faculty of Language at the basis of the transition from the innate sense of number that we share with other animals to the sophisticated mathematical ability of our species

Across the Boundary: The Formalization of the Interface Between Episodic Memory and Narrow Syntax Computation of Human Language

A growing number of studies indicate that the hippocampus plays an essential role in language processing as well as episodic memory. However, there is no consensus on how it is engaged in both domains and how it connects the two domains. From a theoretical perspective, this paper delves into the intricate relationship between episodic memory and the narrow syntax of human language. To be more specific, I focus on the functions of the hippocampus in event processing and propose that hippocampal phasic activity supports the cyclic interaction between episodic memory and narrow syntax. Through such cyclic interaction, the event in the episodic memory is assigned a linguistic format that can be communicated, while narrow syntax is provided with an interpretative engine that underlies reference. This hypothesis predicts that when episodic memory is impaired, corresponding abnormalities appear in linguistic reference

Review of Merge and the Strong Minimalist Thesis

This review first provides a summary of the central ideas in Merge and the Strong Minimalist Thesis and then presents a discussion of the more controversial points. The book offers an introduction to the Minimalist Program. The focus is on Merge, which plays a central role in the Faculty of Language because it is “the primary structure-building device of the syntax” (p. 2). The book clarifies the status of Theta Theory, Search, and Workspace, and provides a novel account of passives and obligatory control

Evaluating the Language Abilities of Large Language Models vs. Humans: Three Caveats

We identify and analyze three caveats that may arise when analyzing the linguistic abilities of Large Language Models. The problem of unlicensed generalizations refers to the danger of interpreting performance in one task as predictive of the models’ overall capabilities, based on the assumption that because a specific task performance is indicative of certain underlying capabilities in humans, the same association holds for models. The human-like paradox refers to the problem of lacking human comparisons, while at the same time attributing human-like abilities to the models. Last, the problem of double standards refers to the use of tasks and methodologies that either cannot be applied to humans or they are evaluated differently in models vs. humans. While we recognize the impressive linguistic abilities of LLMs, we conclude that specific claims about the models’ human-likeness in the grammatical domain are premature

Language Is a “Quite Useless” Tool: A Rejoinder to Fedorenko, Piantadosi, and Gibson’s “Language Is Primarily a Tool for Communication Rather Than Thought”

Contrary to the prevailing assumption that language is “primarily a tool for communication rather than thought”, I argue that language is, to invoke Oscar Wilde, “quite useless”. Arguing from aesthetic philosophy and the minimalist program for linguistic theory, I conject that language, like art, is not “for” anything—it simply is, conforming to aesthetic rather than utilitarian principles. Of course, like art, language can be a powerful instrument of communication, but its function is not that of expressing thought; it creates thoughts, “primarily” for communicating with oneself, engaging in Popperian critical rationalism, making thoughts (e.g., sentences, constructive proofs) to match Platonic objects (e.g., propositions, classical proofs)

Constraining Free Merge

Some recent influential work in the Minimalist Program takes the position that Merge, the core language ability to recursively combine two elements together, is free. However, if Merge were completely free, there would be an infinite number of possible derivations for every utterance. Thus, Merge must be constrained in some way. In this paper, I describe a computer model of language that implements a limited form of Merge that is free. I attempt to demonstrate that, within the confines of the language module, Labeling is generally sufficient to constrain Free Merge, and I discuss issues that arise regarding overgeneration of syntactic structures given Free Merge

Creative Minds Like Ours? Large Language Models and the Creative Aspect of Language Use

Descartes famously constructed a language test to determine the existence of other minds. The test made critical observations about how humans use language that purportedly distinguishes them from animals and machines. These observations were carried into the generative (and later biolinguistic) enterprise under what Chomsky in his Cartesian Linguistics, terms the “creative aspect of language use” (CALU). CALU refers to the stimulus-free, unbounded, yet appropriate use of language—a tripartite depiction whose function in biolinguistics is to highlight a species-specific form of intellectual freedom. This paper argues that CALU provides a set of facts that have significant downstream effects on explanatory theory-construction. These include the internalist orientation of linguistics, the invocation of a competence-performance distinction, and the postulation of a generative language faculty that makes possible—but does not explain—CALU. It contrasts the biolinguistic approach to CALU with the recent wave of enthusiasm for the use of Transformer-based Large Language Models (LLMs) as tools, models, or theories of human language, arguing that such uses neglect these fundamental insights to their detriment. It argues that, in the absence of replication, identification, or accounting of CALU, LLMs do not match the explanatory depth of the biolinguistic framework, thereby limiting their theoretical usefulness

Metatheoretical Linguistics: A Philosopher’s Guide

In this article, we summarise and critically evaluate Ryan Nefdt’s The Philosophy of Theoretical Linguistics: A Contemporary Outlook (2024). In this book, Nefdt brings the tools of philosophy to bear on contemporary linguistics, targeting perennial debates in syntax, semantics, pragmatics, phonology, and the evolution of language. In so doing, Nefdt sketches several tantalising paths for progress on these topics. Although some of Nefdt’s arguments are underdeveloped, this book serves as a worthwhile introduction to the philosophy of linguistics

A Theory That Never Was: Wrong Way to the “Dawn of Speech”

Recent literature argues that a purportedly long-standing theory—so-called “laryngeal descent theory”—in speech evolution has been refuted (Boë et al., 2019, https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.aaw3916). However, an investigation into the relevant source material reveals that the theory described has never been a prominent line of thinking in speech-centric sciences. The confusion arises from a fundamental misunderstanding: the argument that the descent of the larynx and the accompanying changes in the hominin vocal tract expanded the range of possible speech sounds for human ancestors (a theory that enjoys wide interdisciplinary support) is mistakenly interpreted as a belief that all speech was impossible without such changes—a notion that was never widely endorsed in relevant literature. This work aims not to stir controversy but to highlight important historical context in the study of speech evolution