modularity (n.)

A term used in discussions of LANGUAGE in two slightly different ways. On the one hand, it is proposed, especially in J. A. Fodor’s The Modularity of Mind (1983), that the mind is modular in the sense that it consists of a number of different systems (modules), each with its own distinctive properties, such as the language system and the vision system. On the other hand, it is suggested, especially in GOVERNMENT-BINDING THEORY, that the language system itself is modular in the sense that it consists of a number of different subsystems which interact in specific ways.