The origins of language variation

Linguistic variation derives from properties of the physical and conceptual make-up of human beings which were adapted to produce language. This adaptative approach is contrasted with the Minimalist Program, in which properties specific to language are said to be different from anything found in the organic world (Chomsky 1995). Six basic cases are compared. Whereas the analysis in the Minimalist Program is ultimately a listing of construction-specific features, the adaptative approach relies on properties of the initial state which are logically prior to linguistic theory and provide a strong basis for causal relations that explain why languages vary, and why they vary in the particular ways they do in these six cases.