Language (10.8 Lecture)

Question 1

who lectured language lecture?

Answer 1

guest lecturer, almost fell asleep, got called on to read question prompt

Question 2

3 C’s of langauge?

Answer 2

communicate, connect, and cooperate (language is how we do things together)

Question 3

what is language?

Answer 3

passing information to another organism within a social cultural context

Question 4

how are new languages formed/ combined?

Answer 4

pidgin (use words from all languages, but inconsistent grammar). second gen… creole (kids learn pidgin as first language, but inject grammatical consistency and complexity)

Question 5

can people without language create their own? Nicaragua case study

Answer 5

deaf students at school didn’t have access to formalized language, so they created their own. created pidgin of signing, now its a formally recognized language

Question 6

what are the requirements of language?

Answer 6

must be shared, rule-governed, and generative

Question 7

shared (in regards to language)

Answer 7

language is a shared system of arbitrary symbols that refer to things

Question 8

rule governed (language)

Answer 8

language has rules (grammar, syntax) that govern how symbols can be arranged

Question 9

generative (language)

Answer 9

symbols can be combined (according to rules) to produce an infinity of ideas

Question 10

components of language

Answer 10

phonology (speech sounds), morphology (parts), semantics (meaning), syntax (grammar), pragmatics (use)

Question 11

phonology

Answer 11

sound system of language, phonemes, diff types of language, the smallest unit of sound used to produce language

Question 12

how do we discern between sounds in language?

Answer 12

babies are the universal listeners, in study given series of sounds and able to discern between the phonemes even if sounds not in native language (ex. high-amplitude sucking technique)

Question 13

pragmatics

Answer 13

how language is used, set of rules related to the language within the context of community. (turn taking, proximity, eye context, social timing(when to say hi when walking)) WAY use language, not WHAT is said

Question 14

code switching

Answer 14

alternating between the use of two language and variety of languages in different contexts

Question 15

how has evolution played a role in language?

Answer 15

different vocal tracts because of evolution, so can say more sounds