> On the other hand, I doubt they know they have syntax and semantics.
A lot of humans probably ignore it too. Most don't even ever heard about phonology, which is more fundamental to language than syntax.
A lot of humans probably ignore it too. Most don't even ever heard about phonology, which is more fundamental to language than syntax.
As for phonology, languages have that (even signed languages), but I don't see it as being more fundamental than syntax or semantics. Indeed, while some writing systems have something analogous to phonology (context-sensitive letter shapes, as in Arabic script, but also in Greek), some don't. And it's possible to learn written language without any spoken language--deaf people do that.