Rethinking the linguistic creativity argument: cognitive symmetry at the syntax-pragmatics interface

Abstract

Recursion is understood as the cognitive capacity to use the product of a mental operation as an element within the same mental operation. From the generativist theory, it has been proposed that the recursive hypothesis is the only way to explain linguistic creativity: that human beings are capable of producing infinite sentences that are immediately understood by their interlocutors. However, authors such as Sampson (2016) have posited that creativity understood in its common form escapes the linguistic conception, specifically, that this is not reduced to a mechanical production of grammatical expressions. This causes an explanatory gap in generative theory. From this, we seek to defend that if we consider recursion to be the core at the syntax-pragmatics interface, then it is possible to explain situational relevance in conjunction with all the other features of linguistic creativity.