1. Linguistics Chapter 1 Flashcards
What are the different origins of language?
Warramunurrunji, - created children and put each one in a specific place and told each one “I am putting you here, this is the language you should talk, this is your language.
Biblical tradition-“Whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof”
Egyptian Pharaoh- newborn babies living with goats, uttered the Egyptian word “bekos’’ meaning bread- Pharaoh decided egyptian to be the original language King
James the fourth- similar experiment, the children ended up speaking Hebrew.
Mogul Emperor akbar- similar experiment in silence whereas the children produced no speech at all.
If human language did emanate from a divine source we have no way of reconstructing that original language.
Jespersen (1922) called this idea the bow-wow theory. What is this theory and what does onomatopoeia mean?
We identify sounds in our enviroment and we connect sounds and the things producing that sound. Therefore we believe that primative words derive from imitations of the natural sounds early men and women heard around them: words like splash, huss, buzz, boom, screench and rattle are all words of anomatopeia. Abstract ideas like “truth” and “low branch” do not echoe naturally, therefore we are skeptical.
Jespersen (1922) other nickname was the Pooh-Pooh theory. What is the theory and why isnt it a good theory for spoken language?
Insticative sounds people make in emotional circumstances. Natural cries of emotion such as pain, anger, joy. Words like Ouch, Ah! Ooh! Phew! Wow! or Yuck!
These words are produced while we inhale, but when we speak we exhale.
What is the musical source? What was the first musical instrument? And what two things do humans need to control in order to produce inntonation?
The idea that music ability developed before the ability to create words because children use inntonation as means of non-verbal communication. We might say that our first musical instrument was the human voice. The human voice controls the vibration of the vocal folds and the control of the respiratory system.
What is the social interaction source also called the “Yo-he-ho” theory (Jespersen 1922).
The utterance of sounds in physical effort and that the sounds need to coordinate a physical activity. Early humans developed songs, grunts and curses when lifting and carrying large materials. Development in social context because humans lived in larger groups for protection. Other primates live in sociala groups and grunt but have not developed the capacity of speech.
What is the physical adaptation source?
We transitioned to an upright position- bi pedal. which changed how we breath. The rythm of breathing is linked to the rythm of walking and this allows long articulations on outgoing breaths with short- in breaths. Fossilized skeletals show that theyre vocal cords resemble modern humans and probably had the capacity to speak.
Tell me about teeth and lips, their characteristics, what sounds are most widely attested?
Human teeth are upright, roughly even in height, much smaller. These characteristics are useful for grinding and chewing.
They are helpful in making sounds such as (f) and (v). Human lips have much more intricate muscle interlacing and their resulting flexibility helps in making sounds like p, b and m. B and M children use regardless of where they come from.
Tell me about our mouth and tongue?
Mouth is relatively small and can be opened and closed rapidly, we have extended vocal tract of an L-shape instead of straight and humans have a shorter, thicker and more muscular tongue that can be used to shape a wide variety of sounds inside the oral cavity. The overall effect is that with more intricate muscle interlacing the lips and mouth we have wider range of shapes and powerful delivery of sounds.
What is the larynx and pharynx and what happened to the larynx and what did it create?
The human larynx or “voice box” contains the vocal folds. Physical development in upright posture moved the head above the spinal column and the larynx dropped to a lower position. This created a cavity called the pharynx above the vocal folds which increased range and clarity of the sounds produced via the larynx. The human larynx makes it much more possible for the human to choke on pieces of food. Other primates have almost no pharynx.
What is the tool-making source? And how does physical adaptation associate with the brain?
When humans developed preferential right-handedness and became capable of making stone tools. The tool-making or the outcome of manipulating objects and changing them using both hands, is evidence of a brain at work.
The human brain. Tell me about lateralization and hemisphere. What is the motor cortex close to and how do we build a complex message?
The human brain is lateralized- specialized functions in the two hemisphere. Vocalization (speaking) and object manipulation (making tools) are close to eachother in left hemisphere. It is the same area that controls the motor cortex which controls the muscle of the arm and hands next to the articulatory muscles of the face, jaw and tongue. It is not enought to grasp one rock (one sound) we must bring another rock (another sound) in contact with the first in order to develop tools/complex messages. “Bee Goo” today “this beer is good”.
What is the gesture source? What supports the idea that human gesture and vocalization share a physical source? What are manual gestures?
Infants raising both hand asking to be picked up, point to objects, gestures for “byebye” show (holding out object) and rejection (hand struck against object). They accompany gestures with babbling ba-ba-ba become more complex ma-ga-ba-da. The connection between the motor cortex and the muscles of the face in articulations supports the idea that human gesture and vocalization share a pshysical source.
What is the genetic source? What indicates that human offspring are born with special capacity for language?
At birth the babies larynx is much higher in the throat then, the larynx descends then develops an upright posture and start walking and talking. Scholars have looked for something more powerful than small physical adaptations. They found that children who are born deaf and do not develop speech become fluent in sign language. This indicates that human offspring are born with a special capacity for language.
What is the innateness hypothesis? What is the FOXP2 gene?
The innateness hypothesis would seem to point to something in human genetics.
We consider this hypothesis moving away from fossil evidence towards connection with how computers work meaning built in hardware in the brain with added software from individual languages. The particular gene (FOXP2) is thought to have a role in language production. “Language exists in humans at birth”.
