ABSTRACT
The chapter presents the view on language under the Strong Minimalist Thesis (SMT). SMT investigates language as a natural object, which obeys underlying simple laws. Language results from a combination of laws of language [first factor, Universal Grammar (UG)] and general laws of nature (third factor, computational efficiency and simplicity). There is a basic distinction between human language, an efficient internal system, and the various forms that may externalize it. Language generating thought is a universal and uniform internal capacity with hierarchical order as its underlying principle. The fundamental laws of language are invisible and implemented in UG by means of a recursive structure-building device operating on atoms of computations and sets formed from these. Linear order of language-particular resources represents a superficial phenomenon belonging to externalization only. Consequently, cross-linguistic variation is a purely external phenomenon, an effect of the mapping to PHON targeting spoken and sign languages likewise.
