Editing Linguistic universal (section)

== Universal grammar ==
{{Main|Universal grammar}}
[[Noam Chomsky]]'s work related to the [[innateness hypothesis]] as it pertains to our ability to rapidly learn any language without formal instruction and with limited input, or what he refers to as a [[poverty of the stimulus]], is what began research into linguistic universals. This led to his proposal for a shared underlying grammar structure for all languages, a concept he called ''[[universal grammar]]'' (UG), which he claimed must exist somewhere in the human brain prior to [[language acquisition]]. Chomsky defines UG as "the system of principles, conditions, and rules that are elements or properties of all human languages... by necessity."<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|title=Reflections on Language|last=Chomsky|first=Noam|publisher=Pantheon Books|year=1975|location=New York}}</ref> He states that UG expresses "the essence of human language,"<ref name=":0" /> and believes that the structure-dependent rules of UG allow humans to interpret and create an infinite number of novel grammatical sentences. Chomsky asserts that UG is the underlying connection between all languages and that the various differences between languages are all relative with respect to UG. He claims that UG is essential to our ability to learn languages, and thus uses it as evidence in a discussion of how to form a potential 'theory of learning' for how humans learn all or most of our cognitive processes throughout our lives. The discussion of Chomsky's UG, its innateness, and its connection to how humans learn language has been one of the more covered topics in linguistics studies to date. However, there is division amongst linguists between those who support Chomsky's claims of UG and those who argued against the existence of an underlying shared grammar structure that can account for all languages.