title: What complexity differences reveal about domains in language.
abstract: An important distinction between phonology and syntax has been overlooked. All phonological patterns belong to the regular region of the Chomsky Hierarchy, but not all syntactic patterns do. We argue that the hypothesis that humans employ distinct learning mechanisms for phonology and syntax currently offers the best explanation for this difference.
authors: Department of Linguistics and Cognitive Science, University of Delaware, Newark 19716, USA. heinz@udel.edu
authors: Jeffrey
authors: J
authors: Heinz
authors: William
authors: W
authors: Idsardi
mesh_terms: D001185:Artificial Intelligence; D005793:Generalization, Psychological; D006801:Humans; D007802:Language; D007804:Language Development; D007858:Learning; D008037:Linguistics / Q000145:classification*; D008570:Memory, Short-Term; D008960:Models, Psychological; D046709:Pattern Recognition, Physiological; D010700:Phonetics