What is a core idea within the Universal Grammar theory?

Universal Grammar theory, proposed by linguist Noam Chomsky, posits that all humans are born with an inherent ability for language. This idea suggests that despite the diversity of languages spoken around the world, there is a common structural foundation underlying all human languages. This means that children are not simply blank slates but have an innate capacity to acquire language, which facilitates their ability to understand and produce complex sentences.

This perspective emphasizes that, while specific languages may vary greatly due to cultural and environmental factors, the structural rules and cognitive frameworks that enable language acquisition are universal among humans. This notion has significant implications for understanding how language is processed and developed neurologically and emphasizes the biological aspects of language learning over purely cultural or learned factors.