By Hannaan Fuad
How is it that humans can speak? How do they convey what’s on their mind using words and sentences with specific rules and structures even from an early age? Is there anyone who can’t speak at all?
A linguistic theory that might be able to answer the queries above is called Universal Grammar.
The origin of Universal Grammar dates back to Roger Bacon, a philosopher in the 13th century who suggested that all languages are based on a common grammar. The notable figure that was often credited to making this term famous, however, was Noam Chomsky, an influential linguist in the 1950s and 1960s.
Universal Grammar is a linguistic theory about the human ability to speak. It is also known as the “innateness hypothesis”. According to Chomsky, this particular ability is hardwired into all human brains, enabling us to acquire language without being taught explicitly. The ability is thought to be genetic components related to language composition. He argued that children are able to learn and produce language from an early age without specific details and instructions from the people around them. His theory also argued that this universal grammar indicates that all languages share the same basic grammar principles, such as the distinction between nouns and verbs.
From an Islamic point of view, language ability is seen as one of Allah’s bequests upon mankind. In Al-Quran, Allah S.W.T says:
فَوَرَبِّ السَّماءِ وَالأَرضِ إِنَّهُ لَحَقٌّ مِثلَ ما أَنَّكُم تَنطِقونَ
Then by the Lord of heaven and earth, indeed, it is truth - just as [sure as] it is that you are speaking.
The emphasis on the ‘aayah’ that is applicable to this matter is on the part:
إِنَّهُ لَحَقٌّ مِثلَ ما أَ نَّكُم تَنطِقونَ
It is true – just as [sure as] it is that you are speaking.
This ‘aayah’, shows that Allah S.W.T has revealed this fact long before Chomsky even formulated the theory. However, having said that, while Chomsky’s theory put an emphasis on genetic factors, Islamic scholars put an emphasis on the divine factor. As in, this ability is a direct divine gift from Allah S.W.T. He is the one that taught humankind the eloquent usage of the language, Allah S.W.T said: عَلَّمَهُ البَيانَ which translates to: “[And] taught him eloquence”. ‘Him’ here refers to ‘man’.
In fact, the definition of a human in Arabic is ‘haywan natiq’ (حيوان ناطق) which when translated to English, brings the loose meaning of “speaking animal”. Natiq is so much more than speaking, it is articulating or talking with mindfulness. It is what sets human beings apart from other creations of Allah’s and is what puts human beings at a high and honourable status. Hence, this “innate ability of acquiring language”-and I quote Prof. Dr. Akmal Khuzairi:
“Is a gift of God to His special creation and the ability to speak and to acquire the knowledge of the meaning of things are inseparable from the creation of human beings.”
Other than that, the idea that some languages share the same basic grammar principles might indicate the possibility of languages originating from one language, which very possibly refers to the language of the prophet Adam A.S.
That being said, it is important, however, to note that since the Universal Grammar theory is man-made, it’s still very restrictive and does not encompass the whole reality of language acquisition. In fact, some other scholars also refute the theory and claim that it is unreliable as it is only an assumption and is not based on empirical evidence. However as Muslims, empirical evidence is not the deal breaker for us to believe in something, rather, we believe in something if Allah S.W.T told us to do so.
In conclusion, while Chomsky theorized on the innateness of the human ability to acquire knowledge, his version of ‘innateness’ lacks the spiritual context, rejecting the association to God altogether, and thus emphasizing on the biological aspects. In Islam, we believe in something called ‘fitrah’ which is the innate nature of human beings that is set by Allah SW.T. Human’s ability to acquire language, therefore, is considered as one of our fitrah that Allah S.W.T has given to his followers.
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