Acquisition and Language: the foundationalist per- spective of Tomasello and the second Wittgenstein

Abstract

Through the research of the psychologist and linguist Michael Tomasello and the philosophical insights of the second Wittgenstein, this article wants to derive a foundationalist perspective on language. This view proposes that the phenomenon of acquisition is the foundation of language, both its semantics and its syntax. To do this, we will first read Wittgenstein’s Philosophical Investigations, emphasizing how acquisition plays a fundamental role in his theory, and then understand concepts such as language games and rule-following from this perspective. Tomasello’s use-based theory of language acquisition will then be discussed, passing through the foundational processes of intention reading and joint attentional frames. His explanation of the development of syntax in infants will also be explored. Once these foundations have been explained, a possible problem that the process of intention reading could raise and a solution from the ontogenetic perspec- tive of language will be shown. Finally, it will be sought to show that both authors consider the use on the circumstances as the meaning of words, that the phenomenon of linguistic correction is public and social, and that interaction is what underpins the development of grammar. Finally, it will be stated how a foundationalist view of acquisition follows directly from these conclusions. 

keywords: Wittgenstein – Tomasello – Acquisition – Linguistic use – Semantics