Minimizing the genes for grammar. The minimalist program as a biological framework for the study of language

This paper examines the main ideas of the Minimalist Program (MP) with the aim of evaluating its virtues as a biological framework for the understanding of human language. Our conclusions are basically three. First, the MP favors a certain reconciliation between the abstract characterization of language and characterizations derived from other biological concerns. Second, the MP reduces the role of the genetic endowment for language and relies more on epigenetic processes, in clear agreement with other aspects of the study of the brain. Third, the MP favors an essential identification of the processes of ontogenetic and phylogenetic development of language, a rather controversial conclusion but also a very important one from a theoretical point of view. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.