Book contents
- Language Rules!
- Language Rules!
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Figures and Table
- Foreword
- Prologue
- 1 The Fallacy of Flat Language
- 2 Language Rules Are Not Linear
- 3 Beyond English
- 4 The “Unsolvable” Puzzle
- 5 The Riddle of “DL”
- 6 Sign Languages
- 7 Chunking in Action
- 8 Is Language Innate?
- 9 Language in the Genes
- 10 How Animals Communicate
- 11 Can Apes Learn Language?
- 12 Back to Humans: Language Teaching
- Epilogue
- Acknowledgements
- Notes
- Glossary
- Index
2 - Language Rules Are Not Linear
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 14 May 2026
Book contents
- Language Rules!
- Language Rules!
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Figures and Table
- Foreword
- Prologue
- 1 The Fallacy of Flat Language
- 2 Language Rules Are Not Linear
- 3 Beyond English
- 4 The “Unsolvable” Puzzle
- 5 The Riddle of “DL”
- 6 Sign Languages
- 7 Chunking in Action
- 8 Is Language Innate?
- 9 Language in the Genes
- 10 How Animals Communicate
- 11 Can Apes Learn Language?
- 12 Back to Humans: Language Teaching
- Epilogue
- Acknowledgements
- Notes
- Glossary
- Index
Summary
This chapter further explores the concept of chunking, showing that rules that describe various syntactic patterns are not linear in nature. The special focus is on the phenomenon of binding, especially reflexives, which are used as a litmus test at various level of language. It is shown that concepts of subject and object, although important to describing syntax, are not enough to describe the distribution of reflexives.
Keywords
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- Language Rules!Secrets of a Uniquely Human Ability, pp. 20 - 41Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2026
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