Relational Grounding Theory: A Structural Complement to Chomsky's Universal Grammar Thesis This paper proposes Relational Grounding Theory (RGT), which articulates the structural condition under which Chomsky's universal grammar thesis achieves self-containment: meaning arises only through positioning within a relational network, and the capacity to perform this operation is innately given. The paper also draws on Wittgenstein's riverbed metaphor to ground this structural necessity philosophically, and shows how principal objections from Tomasello and Everett are structurally absorbed rather than contested. This is a preprint. The paper has not yet undergone peer review and may be subject to revision. Related updates may be available at: patreon.com/NMStructuralTheoryLab
Yugo Matsumoto (2026) studied this question.