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social science subjects > sociology > anthropology > anthropological linguistics > universals in language
social science subjects > linguistics > descriptive linguistics > anthropological linguistics > universals in language
social science subjects > sociology > anthropology > research/theoretical frameworks > universals in language

Preferred term

universals in language  

Definition

  • The term language universal refers to those features or properties of language that are common to all languages. The notion that languages might share universal features creates a tension of sorts with conceptions of language, as developed by Boas and other early linguistic anthropologists, that held that languages (along with their respective cultures) were infinitely variable, that there were no constraints on the form a human language could take. [Source: Encyclopedia of Anthropology; Universals in Language]

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https://concepts.sagepub.com/social-science/concept/universals_in_language

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