Processing local transitions versus long-distance syntactic hierarchies - PubMed (original) (raw)

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Processing local transitions versus long-distance syntactic hierarchies

Angela D Friederici. Trends Cogn Sci. 2004 Jun.

Abstract

A recent study by Fitch and Hauser reported that finite-state grammars can be learned by non-human primates, whereas phrase-structure grammars cannot. Humans, by contrast, learn both grammars easily. This species difference is taken as the critical juncture in the evolution of the human language faculty. Given the far-reaching relevance of this conclusion, the question arises as to whether the distinction between these two types of grammars finds its reflection in different neural systems within the human brain.

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