Language bioprogram theory: Difference between revisions

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The '''language bioprogram theory''' or '''language bioprogram hypothesis''' ('''LBH''' – ''see the Wiktionary entry for ''[[:wikt:bioprogram|bioprogram]]'') is a theory arguing that the structural similarities between different [[creole language]]s cannot be solely attributed to their [[superstratum|superstrate]] and [[substratum|substrate]] languages. As articulated mostly by [[Derek Bickerton]],<ref>See {{Harvcoltxt|Bickerton|1981}}, {{Harvcoltxt|Bickerton|1983}} {{Harvcoltxt|Bickerton|1984}}, {{Harvcoltxt|Bickerton|1988}}, and {{Harvcoltxt|Bickerton|1991}}</ref> [[creolization]] occurs when the linguistic exposure of children in a community consists solely of a highly unstructured [[pidgin]]; these children use their innate language capacity to transform the pidgin, which characteristically has high syntactic variability,<ref>{{Harvcoltxt|Bickerton|1983|p=116}}</ref> into a language with a highly structured grammar. As this capacity is universal, the grammars of these new languages have many similarities.

{{main|Creole language}}

The '''language bioprogram theory''' or '''language bioprogram hypothesis''' (LBH – ''see [[:wikt:bioprogram]]'') is a theory arguing that the structural similarities between different [[creole language]]s cannot be solely attributed to their [[superstratum|superstrate]] and [[substratum|substrate]] languages. As articulated mostly by [[Derek Bickerton]],<ref>See {{Harvcoltxt|Bickerton|1981}}, {{Harvcoltxt|Bickerton|1983}} {{Harvcoltxt|Bickerton|1984}}, {{Harvcoltxt|Bickerton|1988}}, and {{Harvcoltxt|Bickerton|1991}}</ref> [[creolization]] occurs when the linguistic exposure of children in a community consists solely of a highly unstructured [[pidgin]]; these children use their innate language capacity to transform the pidgin, which characteristically has high syntactic variability,<ref>{{Harvcoltxt|Bickerton|1983|p=116}}</ref> into a language with a highly structured grammar. As this capacity is universal, the grammars of these new languages have many similarities.

==Syntactic similarities==