1.

What are the constraints to language creativity

according to O’Grady?
2. Explain the following quotation “without such
constraints, creativity would run amok,
undermining rather than enhancing
communication” (pg 5)
3. In your own words, explain the relationship
between linguistic competence and grammar
4. Explain why O’Grady claims that all languages
have grammar by describing the case of
Walpiri.
5. Why does O’Grady state that “the analysis of
language must reflect the way it is actually
used, not someone’s idealized vision of how it
should be used” (pg 8)?
6. List the shared principles and properties of
languages mentioned in the chapter.
7. Explain why O’Grady claims that “linguists
reject the view that languages attain a state of
perfection at some point in their history and
that subsequent changes lead to deterioration
and corruption” (pg11).
8. Why is language knowledge characterized as
subconscious?