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Essentialism gives way to motivation

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 October 2009

Adele E. Goldberg
Adele E. Goldberg
Affiliation:
Department of Linguistics, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08540. adele@princeton.eduhttp://www.princeton.edu/~adele
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Abstract

The recognition that contentful universals are rare and often “banal” does not undermine the fact that most non-universal but recurring patterns of language are amenable to explanation. These patterns are sensical or motivated solutions to interacting and often conflicting factors. As implied by the Evans & Levinson's (E&L's) article, linguistics would be well served to move beyond the essentialist bias that seeks universal, innate, unchanging categories with rigid boundaries.

Type
Open Peer Commentary
Information
Behavioral and Brain Sciences , Volume 32 , Issue 5 , October 2009 , pp. 455 - 456
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2009

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