Language Flashcards
Properties of Language
- Symbolic
- creative
- structured
- meaningful/sematic
- comminicative
Properties of Language: Symbolic
- Symbol system (written and sound)
- Not to a particular object - no direct reference
- -> We make the symbols mean something to us, but someone that speak, but someone that speaks another language won’t understand
- -> English has different sounds than other languages
Properties of Language: Creative
- Effortlessly create new sentences
- Have finite vocab that can be combined in infinite ways
- -> Food?
- -> Wanna eat?
Properties of Language: Structured
- There are restrictions to creativity
- Regularities of language (not necessarily grammar rules)
- Can end a sentence with a preposition and be understood
Properties of Language: Meaningful/semantic
- Each word represents an idea
- -> Object - (cat/dog) , Action- (bites)
- Grammar/structure also contributes to ideas
- -> Dog bites cat or cat bites dog
Properties of Language: Communicative
- Some language is private - for ourselves
- Most is directed at or around others, social activity
- Need to know the sounds, words, sentences of language AND principles of convo
Conversation - Pragmatics
- Knowing how to communicate the message effectively
Volume, inflection, gestures
Socio pragmatics
- Knowing how to speak to who
- -> Child, loved one, stranger, employer
Building blocks of Language: Phonemes
- Requires sound
- Sounds require physiological structures
- Smallest units of sound recognized as separate in a given language
- Do not correspond to letters of the alphabet
- Meaningful perceptual units
Building blocks of Language: Phonemic chart
- International
- Humans can produce 100s of phonemes
- No language uses all, (some 10-100s)
- English uses 40-44
Building blocks of Language: Morpheme
- Fundamental of meaning
- -> Combination of phonemes
- -> English, 40ish phonemes, more than 80 000 for avg person
- Form words
- -> Some are single syllables (hat, bat)
- -> Others are single letters (s, ed)
- -> Ex. Strange (root word) r (person) s (people)
Building blocks of Language: Syntax
- grammar rules
Ambiguity
- when underlying proposition is not clear
- -> Smoking volcanoes can be dangerous
- -> Visiting relatives can be boring
Language development
- Infant/child has to select out the sounds relevant to language from other vocal sounds in the speech stream
Paralinguistic Language Development
- Crying, cooing (voweled sounds)
- Babbling
- -> All international
- -> Special case - singers
Holophrastic
- one word utterances
- -> now, milk, yum
Holophrastic Errors: overextensions
- word used too liberally
- -> Specific word applied to things it should not
- -> Daddy = man
- –> Go to mall, every man is “daddy”
Holophrastic Errors: underextensions
- general word but child restricts to specific cases
- -> Drink = juice only
Telegraphic
- basic sentences
- -> Demands (come daddy)
- -> Questions
- -> Possessions
- -> Statements
Preschool Complex Speech
- full sentences, some grammatical flaws
Overregularization
- English past tense and plurals
- -> Plurals: crow (crows vs crowses)
- -> Went –> goed –> went
- Metalinguistic awareness
-Growing appreciation of ambiguities, playing w words
Behaviourist theories of language acquisition
- Learn through direct reinforcement/punishment
- Imitation - observational learning
- Shaping
- Problems - don’t explain creativity in utterances or error in speech
Nativist theories of language acquisition
- Biologically and physiologically equipped for speech and language
Interactionist theories of language acquisition
- Language is learned/used in a social context
- Biological contribution supports language and learning
Language Acquisition Device
- how we learn language
- -> needs stimulation to work
Critical Period
-most proficient at learning and language b/w 2 and puberty
Limitations of Nativists
- Acquisition not completed as early as nativists thought (adults can learn, and do so effectively)
- Diversity of world languages and grammars is hard to explain
- Account of grammar and its development is limited
Animals and Language
- Kanzi
- -> Bonobo chimpanzee
- -> 1980, 500 words-lexigrams
- Koko
- -> Gorilla
- -> 46 years old, 100 signs, internet chat, keeps pets
Early acquisition of language (bilingualism)
- You can learn 2 languages at the same time as you grow up
Sequential
-start with English, once you get it to work you learn another one
Code switching
- mom is speaking French, dad speaks English, i want food, what language would get the food faster?
- -> Communicates what they want more successfully
- -> Originally thought it was bad, but turns out it’s a good problem solving skill
- -> There may be protective factor when bilingual if you develop Alzheimer’s
Resolution of thought
- thought = imagery and language
