Language Bioprogram Theory

The language bioprogram theory, also called the language bioprogram hypothesis, holds that the structural similarities found across different creole languages cannot be explained solely by the superstrate and substrate languages that contributed to them. Developed by Derek Bickerton, the theory proposes that creolization occurs when children growing up in a community are exposed only to an unstructured pidgin rather than a full language. According to the theory, these children draw on an innate linguistic capacity to transform the impoverished pidgin input into a fully structured grammar. Because this innate capacity is shared by all humans, the theory holds, creole languages that arise independently in different parts of the world end up sharing a striking number of grammatical features.