This work investigates first-language (L1) influence on second-language (L2) acquisition of embedded aspect, comparing participants with homogeneous L1 background (Russian) in Greece (L2 Standard Modern Greek) and Cyprus (L2 Cypriot Greek), where verb complementation takes a finite form instead of an infinitival as in Russian. The focus of the experimental study is on those embedded sentential ...

The biolinguistic perspective regards the language faculty as an ‘‘organ of the body,’’ along with other cognitive systems. Adopting it, we expect to find three factors that interact to determine (I-) languages attained: genetic endowment (the topic of Universal Grammar), experience, and principles that are languageor even organism-independent. Research has naturally focused on I-languages and ...

The most straightforward theory of how phonologization interacts with Universal Grammar to determine typology is that UG defines the cognitively possible grammars ("hard" typology), while phonologization determines how frequent they are ("soft" typology). This paper argues instead that some soft typology has a cognitive source, and proposes a formal explanation. Phonological patterns relating t...

results the results of this study showed high reliability and validity of smartphone in regarding ug with icc > 0.95. the highest reliability for both methods was in elbow supination and the lowest was in the elbow flexion (0.84). objectives the study was designed to compare the smartphone inclinometer-based app and ug in evaluation of rom of elbow. materials and methods the maximum rom of elbo...

With over a decade of fruitful Universal Grammar (UG)-based research in second language acquisition (SLA), White (in press) suggests that "...perhaps the time has come to stop asking the broad question: is UG available to second language (L2) learners or not? ... but it is now the turn of a somewhat more detailed focus on the precise nature of the linguistic competence of language learners". Th...

some scholars have argued that there is a negative correlation between the onset age of l2 acquisition and performance on different measures of l2 knowledge. a kind of biological scheduling is assumed to be responsible for this maturational constraint on language development. the present study asks whether and to what extent critical period effects can be found for universal properties of langu...

We investigate a model of language evolution, based on population game dynamics with learning. First, we examine the case of two genetic variants of universal grammar (UG), the heart of the human language faculty, assuming each admits two possible grammars. The dynamics are driven by a communication game. We prove using dynamical systems techniques that if the payoff matrix obeys certain constr...