Lang & Comm 1 Flashcards
define communication
“when one organism (transmitter) encodes information into a signal which passes to another organism (receiver) which decodes the signal and is capable of responding appropriately.”
define verbal communication
spoken or written transmission of a message
define non-verbal communication and give 3 examples (Hint: BEG)
non-linguistic aspects of communication
body language
emotions
gestures
give 3 examples of non-verbal communication inside of language
tone
rhythm
stress
define language
structured system of symbols and rules by which these symbols are combined.
give three things language can do as a system (Hint: CEL)
- communicate thought and feeling
- express an unlimited number of emotions with a limited number of words and rules
- let people go beyond the ‘here and now’
what rate do languages die out at?
every 1 to 2 weeks
explain this:
not all communication constitutes as language, but language is a system inside of communication.
Who tried to distinguish language from communication
Hocket, 1960’s
How many design features did Hocket have and what do they mean?
16, means that a communication system needs them all to be a ‘language’
interchangeability
whatever one person says another can too (male and female)
flaw of Hocket’s design features
only focuses on speech: no sign language for example
specialisation
speech is specialised just for communication
semanticity (important for humans)
words are symbols/signs that express meaning
arbitrariness + examples (important for humans)
no intrinsic relation between MOST words and their meaning: ‘whale’ = small word and huge organism, but ‘microorganism’ = large word and tiny organism
displacement (important for humans)
can talk hypothetically: not tied to the ‘here and now’
What are 7 of the design features that are more specific to humans? (Hint: PPRAISD)
Productivity/generativity
Prevarication
Reflexiveness
Arbitrariness
Interchangeability
Semanticity
Displacement
Prevarication (important for humans)
we can lie with language
Productivity/generativity (important for humans)
finite collection of words and sound allows for infinite number of messages to be newly generated
Reflexiveness (important for humans)
we can use language to talk about language
Interchangeability (important for humans)
males can say the same thing females can say
explain this
Bouba/kiki effect - SOUND SYMBOLISM questions arbitrariness.
Toddlers show same bias, ASD pps showed reduced bias.
what is the genetic overlap between apes and humans?
95-98.5%
what is an ape’s IQ?
similar to the average 3 year old child’s
what are the similarities between apes and humans
similar brain assymetries eg enlarged Broca’s area
what are the differences between apes and humans and what was the solution in research
different articulatory apparatus, teach them to communicate with sign language and artificial lexigrams
Describe one case study of chimps learning language
Nim Chimpsky (Terrace 1979) learned 125 ASL signs and made a few short combinations, but never spontaneously.
what are the differences in training between chimps and kids?
chimps need huge amounts of explicit training
children require none
what are differences in spontaneous production between chimps and kids?
chimps rarely signed spontaneously
children show lots of spontaneous production
what are differences in syntax between chimps and kids?
chimps show little evidence of syntax
kids show clear syntactic structure
what are the differences in questioning between chimps and kids?
chimps ask no questions and no displacement
kids ask lots and go beyond here and now
what are the differences in repetition between chimps and kids?
chimps - very repetitive
kids - less imitation
what are the differences in creativity between chimps and kids?
chimps’ outputs were mainly non-creative
kids were very creative with speech
list the 6 comparisons between chimps and kids (tssqrc)
- training
- spontaneous production
- syntax
- questioning
- repetition
- creativity
structure of language in order
pragmatics
semantic
syntax
morphology
phonology
phonetics
what is phonetics?
study and classification of speech sounds in language
what are the 3 A’s in phonetics?
Articulatory (how speech sounds are produced)
Auditory (how speech sounds are perceived)
Acoustic (the physical properties of sound)
what is phonology concerned with?
the way speech sounds form a system in a given language
define phones
physical characteristics of a phoneme
define phoneme
speech sounds in a language that distinguish words from one another
(sip and zip - so s and z are different phonemes)
aphasia
difficulty with language or speech, usually caused by damage to left side of brain
lexeme
basic lexical unit of language of one word or several words – play, plays, playing
pragmatics (LES)
language in context
explores relations between language and their users.
study of the use of natural language in communication
give examples of minimal pairs
bat/pat and lot/rot
allophone
phonetic variation of one phoneme (the /l/ in love and wool)
sound symbolism
sounds of language that mimic non-linguistic phenomena (growl and bark)
what is the FoxP2 gene?
first gene relevant for human ability to develop language
what does the FoxP2 gene do?
Give instructions for conception of protein forkhead box P2
what protein is FoxP2 gene responsible for making and what is its purpose?
forkhead box P2, essential for speech and language development
what is the Sapir-Wharf hypothesis?
language shapes our thoughts
what is the weak version of the Sapir-Wharf hypothesis?
linguistic relativism: people of different languages perceive the world differently
what is the strong version of the Sapir-Wharf hypothesis?
linguistic determinism: thoughts are limited and determined by language
what does circularity mean in terms of language and thinking?
someone speaks differently - they must think differently - why think this? - because they speak differently!
who conducted research into linguistic relativity
Boroditsky et al 2002
what did Boroditsky et al. 2002 research?
linguistic relativity in gender:
Spanish speakers said ‘el puente’ was jagged, strong, dangerous & sturdy
German speakers said ‘Die Brücke’ was beautiful, elegant, slender & fragile
weakness of linguistic determinism
language doesn’t constrain thought as thought comes first
what is mentalese
hypothetical non-verbal language where ideas are represented in the mind
what does mentalese defy
linguistic relativism: mentalese is universal thus we don’t all see the world differently due to our languages
