A theory of language that explains the role of linguistic universals in evolution is said to have:
A) observational adequacy
B) descriptive adequacy
C) explanatory adequacy
D) linguistic productivity

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

A theory that explains the role of linguistic universals in evolution needs to be able to provide explanatory adequacy, as it needs to provide a coherent and plausible explanation for why certain linguistic features are universal across languages and how they have evolved over time. Observational adequacy refers to the accuracy of observations, descriptive adequacy refers to the ability of a theory to accurately describe the data, and linguistic productivity refers to the ability of language users to create and understand novel sentences. While these are all important aspects of a theory of language, they are not specific to the role of linguistic universals in evolution.

A Theory of Language That Explains the Role of Linguistic