Mind & Language· 2026Q1· Review
The puzzle of language without syntax: A review of Steven Mithen's The Language Puzzle
- 1citations
- Q1SCImago
- 2026year
Short summary
This review argues that Simon Kirby's work, cited by Steven Mithen as explaining the origin of syntax, actually presupposes innate syntax in a language of thought, thus not debunking universal grammar.
AI-generated from the title and abstract; the full text is not read.
Key points
- Steven Mithen claims Kirby's work explains the origin of syntax, debunking universal grammar.
- This review argues Kirby's work presupposes an innate language of thought with complete syntax.
- The review concludes that Kirby's research does not eliminate the need for universal grammar.
AI-generated from the title and abstract; the full text is not read.
Abstract
In The language puzzle , Steven Mithen assumes that universal grammar has been altogether debunked, and argues that the question of the origin of natural‐language syntax and compositionality has largely been answered by the work of computational evolutionary linguists Simon Kirby and collaborators, thus: “syntax spontaneously emerges from the generation‐to‐generation language‐learning process itself”. I show that Kirby and collaborators' work in fact presupposes the entirety of syntax in an innate language of thought, and that it subscribes to a notion of universal grammar no weaker than the mainstream one from generative linguistics in the 21st century.
The authors' abstract, as published at the source. Mind & Language, 2026 · DOI ↗
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Field: Cultural Studies
Cultural StudiesSocial Sciences