Full Idea
I am denying that one can learn a language whose expressive power is greater than that of a language that one already knows.
Gist of Idea
We must have expressive power BEFORE we learn language
Source
Jerry A. Fodor (How there could be a private language [1975], p.389)
Book Reference
'The Philosophy of Mind', ed/tr. Beakley,B /Ludlow P [MIT 1992], p.389
A Reaction
I presume someone who had a native language of limited vocabulary could learn a new language with a vast vocabulary. I can increase my expressive power with a specialist vocabulary (e.g. legal).