‘Generativism’ and ‘Emergentism’ are frequently viewed as two opposing perspectives on language. This talk introduces a specific minimalist approach to language variation and the way in which it is acquired that is both generative and emergentist: Biberauer’s (2019) Maximise Minimal Means (MMM) model. In keeping with the spirit of Three Factors minimalism (Chomsky 2005), the MMM model assumes Universal Grammar (Factor 1) to be minimally specified, and to shape natural-language grammars via interaction with (i) specific parts of the input (Factor 2) and (ii) a general cognitive bias, also evident in many other domains, to maximise the use of minimal means (Factor 3). The focus of this talk is the role that a particular component of the input – imperative structures – plays in the UG- and MMM-driven acquisition of both macro and more micro aspects of syntax. Positive and negative imperatives frequently exhibit quite different syntax. Despite the fact that imperatives are known to be salient in child-directed input in many societies, the acquisitional significance of these imperative contrasts – and, by extension, their absence in societies where prelinguistic children are not directly addressed – has never been systematically probed. My objective here will be to set out, on the basis of a number of case studies (including English, Afrikaans and other southern African contact varieties), some of what we might stand to gain by investigating imperative syntax more closely.