I have always liked the noisy-channel model of language. It appeals to me because I think of the human as an extremely good pattern recognition "device".
In my opinion, it gives a satisfying explanation as to why many languages (about half of them) divide their words in noun categories or genders, which are rarely sex-based. It's a system of redundancy, which allows for noisy or compressed speech (either mumbled, or at a party, or fast spoken), to still be understood, because the gender endings give clues to what the original word was
In my opinion, it gives a satisfying explanation as to why many languages (about half of them) divide their words in noun categories or genders, which are rarely sex-based. It's a system of redundancy, which allows for noisy or compressed speech (either mumbled, or at a party, or fast spoken), to still be understood, because the gender endings give clues to what the original word was