Linguistic universal

A linguistic universal is a statement that is true for all natural languages. For example, All languages have nouns and verbs. or All spoken languages have consonants and vowels (but not sign languages, to which phonological universals have no relevance). Research in this area of linguistics is closely tied to linguistic typology, and intends to reveal information about how the human brain processes language. The field was largely pioneered by the linguist Joseph Greenberg, who from a set of some thirty languages derived a set of basic universals, mostly dealing with syntax.

Related Topics:
Noun - Verbs - Consonant - Vowel - Sign language - Phonological - Linguistics - Linguistic typology - Human brain - Language - Joseph Greenberg - Syntax

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