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Towards an integrated science of language

It has long been assumed that grammar is a system of abstract rules, that the world's languages follow universal patterns, and that we are born with a ‘language instinct’. But an alternative paradigm that focuses on how we learn and use language is emerging, overturning these assumptions and many more.

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Acknowledgements

N.C. was supported by ERC grant 295917-RATIONALITY, the ESRC Network for Integrated Behavioural Science (grant number ES/K002201/1), the Leverhulme Trust (grant number RP2012-V-022), and Research Councils UK Grant EP/K039830/1.

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Correspondence to Morten H. Christiansen.

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Christiansen, M., Chater, N. Towards an integrated science of language. Nat Hum Behav 1, 0163 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-017-0163

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