language Flashcards
based on random choice rather than any reason or system
Arbitrary
we have to talk about this for a while for a specific purpose, but let’s avoid thinking about how awful it is
Euphemism
I want you to think about just how awful this is
Dysphemism
Mammals: when suddenly injured or confined, emit sudden angry noise to startle attacker
Humans: also triggers language system- aggressive words with negative affect
Rage-circuit theory
language influences our thoughts and the way we perceive and experience the world
Whorf-Sapir Hypothesis
the smallest unit of sound that contains information; often a word, but some words contain multiple morphemes
morpheme
We can break morphemes into its constituent sounds
phonemes
the rules that govern how sentences are put together; also known as grammar
syntax
refers to the meaning of each individual word
semantics
the infant makes a wide range of drawn-out sounds that combine consonants and vowels; often includes rhythm and inflection, so that the infant may sound as though he’s asking a question or involved in a conversation
babbling
about one and a half to 6 years; vocabulary increases rapidly and most children have mastered the major aspects of language
language explosion
the ability of infants to discriminate between any sounds they’re tested on; includes sounds from non-native languages
Universal Phoneme Sensitivity
occur when children apply a rule too broadly, and can occur at the level of meaning or syntax
overextensions
occur when children apply a rule to a specific object only
underextensions
Noam Chomsky has argued that language develops rapidly due to an innate mechanism
Language Acquisition Theory (LAD)
when a forager is successful in finding a source of food, the honeybee returns to the hive, and performs a waggle dance to communicate the location of the food to other bees
the waggle dance
4 criteria of language
symbolic, arbitrary associations, productive, rule governed
words whose sounds are associated with their meanings
Onomatopoeia
Language is designed to use a small number of components to produce and understand a wide range of symbols
productive
Allow various languages to use different sounds to label the same item
Arbitrary associations
With the limited set of sound combinations and words in a language, a potentially infinite number of expressions can be made, including completely novel expressions
rule-governed
The meaning that is produced through the use and combination of certain words and morphemes
semantics
the loss of universal phoneme sensitivity, occurs when individuals begin to specialize in a particular language and suggests that this is somewhat inherent but shaped by early experiences such as infant directed speech
perceptual narrowing
occurs when someone typically suffered a stroke or head injury that gas damaged areas in the left hemisphere involved in motor control of speech
Foreign Accent Syndrome (FAS)
demonstrates understanding of expectations of face-to-face social interaction
still face procedure
the understanding and use of appropriate communication, develops through conversational cooing and vocalizing with parents
pragmatics
refers to spoken words used to express languages
Expressive vocab
refers to the understanding of more complex words and expressions by children that they are not yet able to use
Receptive vocab
the understanding of language as symbolic and rule based
metalinguistic awareness
Suggests that language abilities are acquired through imitation and operant conditioning, with support from case studies of language deprivation during development
social learning theory
Chomsky has suggested the existence of a language acquisition device and basic universal rules for all languages; support comes from the spontaneous development of sign language in deaf children, preference for speech sounds and neurophysiological responses to native languages
Innate Mechanism Theory
Nature or nurture is insufficient, both are needed to explain language
Interactionist Theories
