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Starlings vs Chomsky

Can common birds make the linguist eat his words?

By Jocelyn Selim
May 1, 2006 5:00 AMNov 12, 2019 4:51 AM
starling1.jpg
Male European starlings (Sturnus vulgaris) constantly add new sounds to their repertoires, picking up nearly any auditory object they can find, including the sounds of car alarms, squeaky doors, human speech and the vocalizations of other species. | Daniel Baleckaitis

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Noam Chomsky, that noted linguist, has theorized that one of the main hallmarks that distinguishes human language from the squeaks and rumblings of birds and beasts is the ability to use something called recursive grammar. Essentially, recursive grammar is what enables us to insert an explanatory clause in the midst of a sentence, such as the 'that noted linguist,' in the preceding sentence.

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