Birdsong is a contemporary philosopher or linguist working in the philosophy of language and cognitive science, with contributions to debates about language learnability and the nature of grammatical knowledge. Their work engages with formal arguments concerning the relationship between primary linguistic data and the acquisition of grammatical competence, situating them within broader discussions of nativism and empiricism in the language sciences.
Developed formal arguments concerning the unlearnability of grammar from primary linguistic data (pld)
Contributed to debates on language acquisition and the poverty of the stimulus
Engaged with learnability-theoretic frameworks in philosophy of linguistics