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What is language?

What is language?. Symbols that convey meaning, plus rules for combining those symbols, that can be used to generate an infinite variety of messages. Language is:. Symbolic – spoken sounds and written words

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What is language?

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  1. What is language? Symbols that convey meaning, plus rules for combining those symbols, that can be used to generate an infinite variety of messages

  2. Language is: • Symbolic – spoken sounds and written words • Semantic – meaningful – symbols used in language are arbitrary (don’t resemble the things they represent) • Generative – symbols can be combined in an infinite number of ways to create original messages • Structural – sentence creation is infinite but sentence structure is not – there are rules about word order, etc.

  3. Structure of Language • Phonemes – smallest units of sound (English has about 40, most languages have 20 – 80) • Morphemes – smallest units of meaning (combining phonemes) Some words = 1 morpheme, some 2 or more • Semantics – understanding meaning of words and word combinations – denotation (dictionary meaning) and connotation (context meaning) • Syntax – system of rules that specify how words can be arranged into sentences

  4. Animal “Language?” • Allen and Beatrice Gardiner – taught a chimp, Washoe, about 160 words in American sign language. Washoe could also combine words in simple two word sentences (1969) • Sue Savage Rumbaugh – taught a pigmy chimp, Kanzi, 100s of words by touching geometric symbols on a computer keyboard. Kanzi could make thousands of combinations. • DO THESE ACHIEVEMENTS REPRESENT LANGUAGE?

  5. Some are skeptical that Washoe and Kanzi represent all of the qualities of language. • Yet, it seems reasonable to say that the ability to use language may not be reserved solely for humans as we once assumed.

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