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What Complexity Differences Reveal About Domains in Language*
Author(s) -
Heinz Jeffrey,
Idsardi William
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
topics in cognitive science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.191
H-Index - 56
eISSN - 1756-8765
pISSN - 1756-8757
DOI - 10.1111/tops.12000
Subject(s) - phonology , syntax , linguistics , hierarchy , generative grammar , theoretical linguistics , computer science , artificial intelligence , natural language processing , cognitive science , psychology , philosophy , economics , market economy
An important distinction between phonology and syntax has been overlooked. All phonological patterns belong to the regular region of the Chomsky Hierarchy, but not all syntactic patterns do. We argue that the hypothesis that humans employ distinct learning mechanisms for phonology and syntax currently offers the best explanation for this difference.