Sounds like a dynamic system: a unifying approach to Language

Abstract

Abstract While nativist linguistic theory readily captures the regular processes of adult language, it struggles to account for often-unwieldy data collected from children. Any theory of language must house both the predictable and unpredictable turns a linguistic system takes. Some usage-based theories make strides in accounting for connections between multiple linguistic factors contributing to linguistic representation. Dynamic systems theory (DST) is capable of describing the interaction between numerous factors both linguistic and extra-linguistic. Grounded in embodiment, DST accounts for continuity between bodily and cognitive processes, which together are crucial in understanding the development of language. Conceptualizing systems as self-organizing, DST allows for the emergence of novel forms alongside the predictable. Furthermore, DST explains both continuity between unexpected child forms and eventual target forms and also apparent discontinuity that gives the illusion of discrete developmental stages. To illustrate the advantages of DST in describing language processes, this paper presents data from one American English-acquiring child, which comes from a larger study investigating phonological development beginning at the onset of word production. The data demonstrate the role of phonological templates in development as part of a dynamic system, entailing the interaction between developing phonological categories, lexical representation, and linguistic environment.