Editing Evolutionary linguistics (section)

===Formalism (structuralism)===

Advocates of formal evolutionary explanation in linguistics argue that linguistic structures are crystallised. Inspired by 19th century advances in [[crystallography]], Schleicher argued that different types of languages are like plants, animals and crystals.<ref name=Arbukle_1970>{{cite journal |last=Arbukle |first=John |date=1970 |title=August Schleicher and the Linguistics/ Philology Dichotomy: A Chapter in the History of Linguistics |journal=Word |volume=26 |issue=1 |pages=17–31 |doi=10.1080/00437956.1970.11435578 |doi-access=free }}</ref> The idea of linguistic structures as frozen drops was revived in [[tagmemics]],<ref name=Pike_1960>{{cite journal |last=Pike |first=Kenneth Lee |date=1960 |title=Nucleation |journal=Word |volume=44 |issue=7 |pages=291–295 |doi=10.1111/j.1540-4781.1960.tb01762.x }}</ref> an approach to linguistics with the goal to uncover divine symmetries underlying all languages, as if caused by [[Creation myth|the Creation]].<ref name=Seuren2015>{{cite book |last=Seuren |first=Pieter |editor-last=Kiss and Alexiadou |title= Syntax--theory and analysis: An international handbook |publisher=De Gruyter |date=2015 |pages=134–157 |chapter= Prestructuralist and structuralist approaches to syntax |isbn= 9783110202762 }}</ref>

In modern [[biolinguistics]], [[X-bar theory|the X-bar tree]] is argued to be like natural systems such as [[Ferrofluid|ferromagnetic droplets]] and botanic forms.<ref name=Piattelli-Palmarini&Vitiello_2015>{{cite journal |last1=Piattelli-Palmarini|first1=Massimo |last2=Vitiello |first2=Giuseppei|date=2019 |title=Linguistics and some aspects of its underlying dynamics |journal=Biolinguistics |volume=9 |pages=96–115 |doi=10.5964/bioling.9033 |arxiv=1506.08663 |s2cid=14775156 |issn=1450-3417 }}</ref> Generative grammar considers syntactic structures similar to [[snowflake]]s.<ref name=Chomsky_2015/> It is hypothesised that such patterns are caused by a [[mutation]] in humans.<ref name=Berwick&Chomsky_2015/>

The formal–structural evolutionary aspect of linguistics is not to be confused with [[structural linguistics]].