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2.8 Generativity and Language

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The second key feature of language is generativity (also called productivity). Generativity means that we can create and understand an infinite number of meaningful sentences and utterances. Every language has a fixed or finite number of basic sounds, letters, and words. But a fluent person can generate an infinite number of completely novel sentences with those sounds, letters, and words.

SymbolismGenerativity
Words “refer” to other things

What a word “refers” to is often its meaning
We can create and understand an infinite number of meaningful sentences
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This is a great way to break down both meanings.

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