universal grammar
Linguistics
noun
A set of universal principles posited as underlying the grammars of all natural languages; specifically (in later use) such principles regarded as reflecting innate structures of the human mind and serving as the foundation for language acquisition (also with capital initials).
Origin
Mid 18th century; earliest use found in Joseph Harris (1704–1764), astronomer and assayer.
- grammar
- grammar checker
- grammarian
- grammar school
- -grammatic
- grammatical
- grammaticalise
- grammaticality
- grammaticalization
- grammaticalize
- grammatically
- grammaticalness
- grammatology
- gramme
- grammie
- gram-molecular weight
- Grammy
- gramophone
- gramophone record
- gramophonic
- gramp
- Grampian
- Grampian Mountains
- gramps
- grampus