learnability (n.)

A suggested defining property of human LANGUAGE (contrasting with the properties of other SEMIOTIC SYSTEMS), referring to the way any language can in principle be acquired by any normal child given the opportunity to do so. More specifically, the term is used in linguistics with reference to the mathematical investigation of the IDEALIZED learning procedures needed for the ACQUISITION of GRAMMARS (learnability theory or ‘learning theory’). Because the emphasis is on the way in which grammars can be induced from linguistic input, the approach is also characterized as ‘grammar induction’ or ‘grammatical inference’