Language and connectionism: the developing interface

After a difficult initial period in which connectionism was perceived as either irrelevant or antithetical to linguistic theory, connectionist concepts are now beginning to be brought to bear on basic issues concerning the structure, acquisition, and processing of language, both normal and disordered. This article describes some potential points of further contact between connectionism and linguistic theory. I consider how connectionist concepts may be relevant to issues concerning the representation of linguistic knowledge; the role of a priori constraints on acquisition; and the poverty of the stimulus argument. I then discuss whether these models contribute to the development of explanatory theories of language.