W1 Flashcards
how did they aim to study the origins of language (Hockett 1960)
aimed to locate people who were less evolved (more primitive), and use them to study the origins of language
is there a language which can validly be called primitive
no (Hockett 1960)
how many design features does every language share
13 (Hockett 1960)
what is the advantage of the vocal auditory channel?
leaving much of the body free for other activities at the same time
what is the vocal-auditory channel?
refers to the use of spoken language (vocal) and hearing (auditory) in communication
what is rapid fading?
the temporary nature of communication signals- sounds are only present for a short period of time
what is broadcast transmission?
a method of sending data from one sender to all possible receivers within a network (when speaking, everybody nearby hears it)
what is directional reception?
the ability to perceive the direction from which a signal is coming
what is feedback in language?
the information provided to a speaker about how their message was received
why is feedback in language important?
makes the internalisation of communicative behaviour that constitutes a major part of thinking possible
what does specialisation mean?
the bodily effort of spreading of sound waves in speech serves no function except as signals
in language, why does a message trigger the particular response that it does?
there are fixed associations between elements in words and recurrent features of the world
what is productivity in language?
the capacity to say things that have never been said or heard before and yet to be understood by other speakers of the language
what is blending?
a speaker may hesitate between 2 words, and say something which is a combination of both
aphasia-
when someone cannot comprehend or formulate language due to damage to specific brain regions
language generativity-
the ability to produce sentences never before said, and to understand sentences never before heard
prevarication-
avoiding the truth
sound symbolism-
the partial representation of the sense of a word by its sound (bang or fizz)
syntax-
the arrangement of words and phrases to create well-formed sentences in a language
Broca’s area-
area of brain located in left hemisphere which is associated with speech production and articulation
lexigram-
a symbol representing a word
Linguistic determinism-
individuals experience the world based on the structure of the language they habitually use
egocentric-
depends on our own position and point of view
allocentric-
relies on remembering, recalling, and recognizing environmental stimuli called landmarks
mentalese-
the mental language, which describes the nature of thought as possessing language-like structure
what is communication
1 organism (the transmitter) encodes information into a signal which passes to another organism (the receiver) which decodes the signal and is capable of responding appropriately
what is verbal communication
the spoken/written transmission of a message
what is non-verbal communication
non-linguistic aspects such as body language, gestures, and emotions
what are some non-verbal aspects of language
tone, rhythm, and stress
what is language
a type of communication which has a structures system of symbols (words) and the rules (grammar) by which they are combined
how many languages are there
between 3000-8000
what rate do languages die out at
1 every 2 weeks
what % of language do European languages together make up
3%
what % of the population speak English
20%
what is an issue with current research into language
based on Western English-speaking participants at universities- not representative
what makes something a language?
-A system to communicate thoughts, feelings, or info
-Of arbitrary signs (words) that refer to things in the world
-Arbitrary because the signs have their own meanings, and not onomatopoeia
-System can combine these signs following rules (syntax)
-limited number of words and rules combine to form unlimited number of expressions
allows us to go beyond the here and now
-used by a group
who created the features that distinguish language from communication
Hockett (1960)- 16 design features
semanticity-
words are symbols which express meaning
arbitrariness-
no intrinsic relation between most words and their meaning (excludes onomatopoeia)
displacement-
not tied to the here and now, can talk about past, future, hypotheticals
Productivity/generativity-
a new language can be generated
reflexiveness in language-
we can use language to talk about language
example of sound symbolism
Words that start with ‘gl’ in English tend to refer to shiny things, for example, glisten, gleam, glam, glimmer, glass, glitz
do dolphins have language
can communicate that there is something new in the water, but there is no evidence of syntax use; some evidence dolphins can understand human syntax
what is the genetic overlap of apes and humans communication systems?
98.5%
human IQ equivalent of apes?
3 year old
what brain structure similarities do humans and apes share?
Similar brain asymmetries as humans including enlarged Broca’s area
what may the different function of chimps enlarged Broca’s area be?
making complex hand movements rather than complex speech sounds
is it possible to teach apes to speak
no
Gua (chimp)-
raised in the family with an infant son; learned to understand a few words but never produced any
Viky (chimp)-
after 6 years could understand words and some word combinations, and learned to articulate a few words
Washoe (chimp)-
taught ASL; by 4 years had acquired 85 signs and produced sign combinations. Taught signs to her adopted son.
Nim Chimpsky (chimp)-
learned 125 ASL signs and made sign combinations- 40% simple repetitions, rarely signed spontaneously
-No novel combinations, unlike children
why do we typically think of a male when we think of a doctor?
frequency- whether people think of a doctor as male typically depends on how many doctors who are male that they encounter
what does the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis suggest?
the language we speak influences the way we think and perceive the world
linguistic determinism-
thoughts are limited, constrained by language, and language determines our thinking
linguistic relativism-
people who speak a different language perceive and experience the world differently
what did Boroditsky find?
- German and Spanish (languages which use genders) speakers described different words
- If the object had a masculine gender, they used more masculine terms to describe the object
- If the object had a feminine gender, there were more feminine descriptions
- People asked which voice they’d like for a cartoon character of an object; chose the same gender voice as the gender of the word that described it
Carmichael et al., (1932) study
- Participants were shown 12 ambiguous images
- Before each image, a word was provided to the experimental group
- The control group did not receive any verbal cues
- Participants were then asked to draw what they saw
- in experimental group participants tended to draw an image resembling the word they were shown
in the control group only 45% of participants produced drawings resembling the images without verbal cues
conclusion of Carmichael et al., (1932) study
language influences perception and memory
studies giving evidence that languages influences perception?
Boroditsky (gendered language speech), Carmichael (1932)
Is English egocentric or all-centric
egocentric
why is English egocentric?
if we say left/right, we use ourselves as a frame of reference
what does it mean if a language is allocentric
so use reference points outside of themselves (north/south, uphill/downhill)
difference in how English vs Mandarin speakers think of time?
- English- think of time horizontally
- Mandarin- think of time vertically
Pinker (1994) critiques linguistic determinism as:
- believes thought is not constrained by language
- language is a tool for expressing thoughts that are already formed in the mind
- if thoughts depend on words, how can we ever think of new words?
-Language-less adults- can they not think? - created mentalese
what is mentalese and who created it?
Pinker (1994), a hypothetical universal language of thought that underlies all human languages
which language is timeless
Hopi Indian- no distinction in language between past, present, and future
how can timeless language be used critique linguistic determinism?
there is no verbal distinction between past, present, and future, but doesn’t mean that speakers have no sense of time
