In the context of ‘nature-nurture’ debate in Linguistics, there is a view that there must be an innate core of abstract knowledge about language form, which pre-specifies a framework for all natural human languages and is currently known as ‘Universal Grammar. Among the following, who is the linguist proposing this view?

The correct option is Noam Chomsky.

Explanation:

The concept of Universal Grammar (UG) is a fundamental theory in modern linguistics, postulating that the ability to learn grammar is hardwired into the brain from birth. This innate, biological framework pre-specifies the structural rules that all natural human languages share, regardless of the cultural or environmental background of the child.

This nativist view of language acquisition (the 'nature' side of the debate) was proposed and developed by the renowned American linguist Noam Chomsky in the mid-20th century. Chomsky argued against the behaviorist view (represented by figures like B.F. Skinner), which held that language is learned purely through environmental conditioning and reinforcement ('nurture').

Let's briefly review the other figures listed in the options to understand why they are not the correct answer:

• Claude Lévi-Strauss was a French anthropologist and ethnologist who pioneered structuralism in anthropology, rather than proposing theories on innate linguistic grammar.

• Roland Barthes was a French literary theorist, essayist, and semiotician known for structuralist and post-structuralist analysis of texts, culture, and symbols.

• Richard Rorty was an American pragmatist philosopher who focused on epistemology, hermeneutics, and the philosophy of mind, rather than generative grammar and linguistic nativism.

Therefore, the linguist associated with the proposal of Universal Grammar is Noam Chomsky.