Regelzoals

Regelzoals is a neologism used in Dutch-language academic discourse to denote the tendency to treat a family of linguistic or behavioral patterns as if they were governed by a single, general rule. The term blends regel (rule) with zoals (such as), signaling that speakers perceive an underlying regularity that extends beyond surface similarities. Although not part of a formal theory, regelzoals is employed to describe how people organize, reason about, and teach patterns in language and other domains.

In linguistics and cognitive science, regelzoals refers to a cognitive stance in which learners or readers infer a rule-like generalization from exemplars, even when data include exceptions. This can influence how learners generalize verb forms or plural endings, as they treat a subset of forms as if they follow a uniform rule rather than seeing each form as idiosyncratic. In education, the concept helps explain why students gravitate toward simple patterns and how instruction can balance rule generalizations with attention to irregularities.

Applications of regelzoals appear in language acquisition, pedagogy, and theories of cognitive representation. It provides a lens for analyzing how people form and justify generalizations, and how these generalizations interact with experience and instruction. Critics note that the term is informal and lacks standardized criteria, so its use varies among authors and contexts, underscoring the need for careful empirical validation.

See also: cognitive linguistics, generalization, rule-based learning, analogical reasoning, language acquisition.