Hi Dr Pinker. I'm a psychology and linguistics double major at the University of Pittsburgh. A lot of the time, linguistics students here are inundated with either one side or the other of the generativist/functionalist debate. From what I've read of your work, you tend to side with the generativists. What's the strongest argument you've heard for a functionalist perspective?
parph32048 karma
Hi Dr Pinker. I'm a psychology and linguistics double major at the University of Pittsburgh. A lot of the time, linguistics students here are inundated with either one side or the other of the generativist/functionalist debate. From what I've read of your work, you tend to side with the generativists. What's the strongest argument you've heard for a functionalist perspective?
View HistoryShare Link