4- Language Flashcards
Why does language have a fundamental basis in cognitive psychology?
It underpins everything we do and informs everything else
What is linguistics?
The scientific study of language and its structure
What does studying linguistics include?
Grammar, syntax and phonetics
What is psycholinguistics?
The scientific study of the psychological reality of language use
What are the 4 main aspects of studying psycholinguistics?
Language acquisition, use of language, language comprehension, psychological mechanisms used to process and represent language in the mind
What are psycholinguistics concerned with?
Psychomechanisms that underlie language
What is language?
Human systems of communication and personal expressions
What is language built upon?
Symbols or representations
What is the purpose of representations?
Words that ‘stand in’ for the things they are intended to represent
What do representations in language cause us to create?
Internal, mental representations of words
What three key principles characterise human language?
Generativity, recursion and displacement
What does generativity allow?
A speaker to use a small number of words/grammatical structures to compose an infinite number of sentences and new ideas
What can we do with generativity?
Use a small number of words/grammatical structures to compose an infinite number of sentences and new ideas
How does generativity allow every person to uniquely express thoughts in own way?
We can create entirely new ideas from a unique arrangement of words with generativity
How many sentences can we create with generativity?
Infinite
How does generativity influence us conveying the same idea?
We can say the same idea while using different words, just not as well
What does recursion mean?
Any sentences can be extended indefinitely by embedding clauses or phrases within or following it
How can recursion make any sentence go on forever?
It can make any sentence more and more complex
How can we extend any sentence indefinitely in recursion?
By embedding clauses or phrases within or following it
What are the 4 key aspects of language?
Phonology, syntax, semantics, pragmatics
What is phonology?
The study of human sounds- fundamental sounds that make up spoken language
What is a phoneme?
The most basic auditory unit of spoken natural language
Why is phonology critical?
To understand language
What do people who study phonemes do to break language down?
They break phonemes down into the shape your mouth makes/where in your mouth the sound comes from
How do babies learn phonemes?
Really well
Can newborn babies recognise phonemes?
Yes, they can recognise phonemes they’ve heard before vs phonemes in a foreign language