Lecture 9 Flashcards
Mechanisms of speech errors
-Substitution
-Blend
-addition
-deletion
-anticipation
-preservation
-exchange if units
Semantic substitution errors
Cat for dog, chair for chairs
Sound exchanges
Fig beet for big feet
-most occur within phrase
-involve single pair of phenomes
Speech errors
-can be categorized on the basis of the linguistic units involved in error
-phonetic feature, phoneme, syllable, morpheme, word, sentence, etc.
Competence vs performance
Competence
-internalizing linguistic knowledge
Performance
-how individuals use that knowledge
Deep structure
Meaning of a sentence
Surface structure
Order of the words
-when we understand a sentence, we transform a surface structure into deep structure
-when we produce a sentence, we construct surface structure from a deep structure
Innateness hypothesis
All humans are born with an innate capacity for language
-this capacity shapes the rules for correct grammar in language
Poverty of the stimulus argument
-linguistic environment to which a child is exposed to is too deficient to enable the child to acquire language on that basis alone
—children do not make use of corrective feedback on their grammar
—adult input can be parsed with an accuracy level parallel to that of corpora
Language acquisition device
-device contains principles of universal grammar that apply to any natural language
—the reason children learn language really quickly
Evan’s &levinson (2009)
Language universals are essential to universal grammar
-ver few consistent patterns across worlds ~8000 languages
—languages vary radically in syntax and meaning
Language as a complex adaptive system
-language is fundamentally social
—people interacting with each other
-adaptive
1. Speakers behavior based on past interactions
2. Past and current interactions lead to future behaviors
3. Speakers behavior based on other factors too
—ex. Social motivations, context, etc.
Usage based grammar
Organization of language based on experience with language
2 general functions of language acquisition
- Intention reading
-discern goals of intentions of mature speakers - Pattern finding
-abstract across individual utterance to create abstract linguistic schemas
Lateralization of speech and language
Speech and language functions take part primarily in left hemisphere
-right is important for pragmatics
Brocas area
-Speech production
-syntax and grammar
-verbal working memory
Wernickes area
-comprehension of written and spoken language
Seculars fasciculus
White matter tract connecting brocas and wernickes areas
-damage to these areas alone are not enough to cause the aphasic syndrome
Aphasia
Difficulty with comprehension and production of language
- caused by brain injury, stroke, or neurodegenerative diseases
-symptom depend on location of brain damage
Brocas aphasia
Difficulty with expressive language
-difficulty with fluency and repetition
-comprehension is a strength
-telegraphic speech
Typical lesion
- anterior to central fissure
-centered behind strip responsible for control of face
Wernickes area
-damage to posterior part of superior gyrus (temporal lobe)
-difficulty with receptive language
-impaired repition and comprehension
—may not be able to follow simple commands
-fluency is strength
—no hesitation
—but what they say makes no sense
Paraphasis
Making errors in producing specific words
Semantic paraphasia
-substitute a word with similar meaning to the intended word
—barn for house
Phonemic paraphasia
-substitute a word with similar sound to intended word
—table becomes trable
Neologisms
-made-up words that follow the rules for combining sounds, yet aren’t real words
—“glump”
Circumlocution
Behavior of talking around missing words
Conduction aphasia
-damage to arcuate fascilulus
-difficulty with repetition
—fluency and comprehension are strength
Language vs speech
Not interchangeable
-language is the message and its form
—phonology, words, sentences
-speech is the acoustics of language
—how we move body structures, qualities of sound, planning/programming
In order to produce speech, we must. . .
- Select language we want to verbally produce
- Identify the right sensorimotor skills needed for sound production
- Physically move muscles to produce these sounds
The big 5 model
- How open/imaginative you are
- How conscientious/self-disciplined you are
- How extroverted/outgoing you are
- How agreeable/trusting/helpful you are
- How neurotic/emotional you are
-these traits are considered universal, but different cultural values emphasize different traits
Ramirez-Esparza et al
-American who speak only English vs Mexican who speak only Spanish
—American tend to be more conscientious, extroverted, and agreeable
-Spanish English biliniguals from Texas
—test in English
——scores of American monolinguals
—test in Spanish
——scores of Mexican monolinguals
->bilinguals personalities changes depending on language they were tested in
Link of language and culture
-when a person speaks particular language, the norms and stereotypes of that culture are brought to mind
Written language
-we all learn to speak our native language,
—wasn’t until modern times people learned to read and write
-while evolutionary pressure for development of spoken language likely, not enough time has passed for this to be the case for written language
—it takes many years to turn brain into reading machine
——likely to evolve from a core set of other evolved abilities
Diversity of written language
We use Roman alphabet
-Latin has about 2 dozen phonemes, while English has over 40
Orthography
The set of rules for writing the words of a language
Shallow orthography
Spelling and pronunciation are closely matched
-Korean, German, Spanish
Deep orthography
Spelling and pronunciation are poorly matched
-English, French, chinese
