1.3: Creativity and Generativity
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The foremost property of mental grammar is that it is generative : it allows each speaker to create new words and sentences that have never been spoken before. The mental grammar generates these new words and sentences according to systematic principles that every speaker knows unconsciously.
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1. What does it mean to say that mental grammar is generative?
2. The systematic principles of English phonology generate some word forms but not others. Which of the following words could be a possible word in English?
3. The systematic principles of English syntax generate some sentences but not others. Which of the following sentences is not possible in English?