Linguistic intuition depends on how language is defined. Language being a symbol, linguistic intuition is the knowledge to make correct linguistic forms. Language, however, being an instrument of communication, linguistic intuition is the knowledge to...
Linguistic intuition depends on how language is defined. Language being a symbol, linguistic intuition is the knowledge to make correct linguistic forms. Language, however, being an instrument of communication, linguistic intuition is the knowledge to use correct linguistic forms properly. Then, language users must be able to understand both proper language-use and correct language-form. This competence is accumulated in the knowledge of language-form and language-use, and, the knowledge, being subconscious, is called linguistic intuition.
As language is composed of meaning and expression, Chomsky(1968:3) argued, the grammar of language is the system of rules that specifies the sound-meaning correspondence. This correspondence naturally reflects the knowledge of language-use and language-form: Pragmatic appropriateness is the knowledge of language-use to be concerned with speaker, listener, and environment, and grammatical wellformedness is the knowledge of not only linear and hierarchical structure, but also distinctive and classificative system.
In conclusion, linguistic intuition is the competence of recognizing sound-meaning correspondence, linguistic competence consists of the subconscious knowledge of the appropriateness in language-use and the wellformedness in language-form. Then linguistic intuition, linguistic competence, and linguistic knowledge all can be used in the same meaning, and linguistics should be to study the nature of language and communication.