What is the innateness hypothesis?

• The theory proposing that humans are born with an innate, genetically predisposed capacity for language acquisition, often associated with a 'Universal Grammar'.

• The idea that all aspects of language are learned purely through imitation, exposure, and reinforcement from the environment.

• The belief that language acquisition is solely a byproduct of general cognitive abilities and problem-solving skills, without any specialized linguistic faculty.

• The hypothesis that language originated from the development of complex social structures and communication needs in early human societies.

What is the primary focus of linguistics as a field of study?

• The history of ancient civilizations
• The structure and use of human language
• The development of computer programming languages
• The study of animal communication systems

Phonetics is the branch of linguistics that studies the sounds of speech.

What term refers to the smallest meaningful unit in a language?

• morpheme