ABSTRACT
The study of language structure is a study of generalizations, and the study of language acquisition is the study of how children form these generalizations. The essence of language, as Chomsky has emphasized, is its productivity: From a finite set of linguistic units such as morphemes, and a finite set of procedures for arranging these units, a speaker of a language can produce, comprehend, and judge an infinite set of utterances. He can do this in novel situations to express and comprehend the expression of novel needs, thoughts, and wishes. He can simultaneously avoid the production of, and judge to be deviant, an even larger infinite set of ungrammatical utterances.
