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Language or Not?

Language or Not?. Alice laughed. “There’s no use trying,” she said: “one can’t believe impossible things.”

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Language or Not?

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  1. Language or Not? Alice laughed. “There’s no use trying,” she said: “one can’t believe impossible things.” “I daresay you haven’t had much practice,” said the Queen. “When I was your age, I always did it for half-an-hour a day. Why, sometimes I’ve believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast.” Lewis Carroll, Alice Through the Looking Glass LIGN 171 January 19, 2001

  2. Nativist (Hopeful Monster) Human Language must be fundamentally different from any other form of (animal) communication… Empiricist (Missing Link) Human Language is analogous to animal communication – it’s just that humans are smarter than the rest of the animals… Two Hypotheses…

  3. Where does intelligencecome from? • Evolution = advancement/adaptation • Braininess results in an evolutionary advantage over the less brainy. • The smarter an animal is, the more likely it is to (find a way to) survive and pass on its genes to the next generation. Does this make sense? Isn’t this teleological?

  4. A different metaphor Evolution shouldn’t necessarily be thought of as directional. • Instead, think of it as entropy: Some sort of “spreading out” to fill whatever “space” is available. • Intelligence, like Language, can be seen as the end result of a series of linked (unplanned) advances.

  5. The Question • Is Language an adaptation that some lucky organisms (namely, us) stumbled upon, or is it the logical consequence of thousands upon thousands of years of primate evolution? • Hopeful Monsters vs. Missing Links • Universal Grammar vs. Big Brains • Unique vs. Mundane

  6. What the heck is “language”, anyway? • A series of subsystems • Phonetics/Phonology (Sound Pattern) • Morphology (Shape of Words) • Syntax (Structure of Sentences) • Semantics (Interpreting all of this…) • Pragmatics (Figuring out when to say what and to whom…) • Productivity (within some restrictions) • Conventionality • Intentionality

  7. The Saussurean Sign • The foundation for much of communication (including human Language and other forms of animal communication) rests on a basic arbitrary relationship: Signified Signifier This is the notion of REFERENCE

  8. The truth is out there, Scully. What would we expect an alien “language” to look like? • No simple relationship between form and meaning. • Combinations of forms • System that would rule out other combinations of forms as “illegal”, “inappropriate”, or “just plain wrong.”

  9. The missing simple languages • If Language was part of a general trend in evolution, we should expect to find languages that aren’t as complex as most human languages. • Limited (stable) vocabulary • Minimal phonological/syntactic rules • Limited range of expression • What’s more – if we find “simple” languages, there’s no need to posit something like UG.

  10. Problem is… • No Human Language meets these criteria • Regardless of the individual facts about a language, no one can judge one to be more “complex” than another – learning any language requires knowledge of a complete grammatical system. • Pidgins vs. Creoles What about animal forms of communication?

  11. Vervets, Bees, and Birds, oh my! • African Vervet Monkeys: • Calls associated with behavioral response • No uses out of context • No syntax or productivity • Honeybees • Dance encodes information about food source, size, location, distance. • Communicatively limited • Birdsong (in some species) • Song is acquired from adult models • Substages before adult-like production, lateralization • No reference

  12. Can other animals “learn” Language? Washoe (chimp, 1960’s): • Only exposed to sign language • Physically taught signs • 132 signs, simple combinations (if at all) Nim (chimp, 1970’s): • 100 signs, some combinations • Repeated signs • No evidence of syntax

  13. Kanzi: A breakthrough? • Bonobos known for social behaviors, vocalizations • Kanzi’s mother (Matata) failed in attempts to learn pictograms – Kanzi (~1 y.o.) learned both lexigram system and to respond to spoken (English) commands

  14. Well, maybe… • Kanzi could ID objects, pictures, and associated settings with lexigrams. • Does this mean he understood reference? • Kanzi could also respond to simple English commands. • 59% accurate; (54% for human 2 y.o.) • Does this mean he understood syntax?

  15. What’s wrong with these animals? • We tend to think of animal communication as Human Language minus some fundamental aspect. So, what do animals lack? • Universal Grammar? • Culture? • Generalized Intelligence? • Something else?

  16. Exploring Reference • Do vervet calls signify something (stable) about the world – or do they reflect something internal (and transitory) within the vervet’s mind? Knee-slapping Something funny Snorting Laughter Smiling

  17. Simple Reference • Vervet calls are like laughter – they represent merely a response to a characteristic stimulus. • Spontaneous • Contagious • Occasionally involuntary No communicative intention!

  18. Simple Reference Word Meaning Isn’t that just like the sign? STIMULUS SIGNIFIER RESPONSE SIGNIFIED

  19. Reference and Sense(Gottlob Frege, thank you very much…) Reference: • The “signified” represents an unmitigated, conditioned BEHAVIORAL RESPONSE to the stimulus itself. Sense: • The “signified” represents some ABSTRACTCONCEPT within the mind that is independent of the stimulus. • Venus = morning star/evening star

  20. Getting to Word Meaning • Establishing reference is pretty much a mechanical process • Training a dog • Kids using words out of context • Can change entirely with time

  21. The Sense of Human Language In Human Language, “words” require more than simple reference: • Instead of a stimulus-response pattern, we have the ability to abstract away to some symbolic notion or concept which could include information about a variety of contexts, situations, meanings, and usages.

  22. Reference Sense Two possibilities… “Leopard!” “Leopard!” “Get up in the tree!” “Oh, wow. Isn’t that Felix Magniferox? I haven’t seen one since that day back in ’02 in Ulan Bator…”<munch>

  23. Getting to (Universal) Grammar Humans’ capacity for manipulating abstract thoughts allows them to conceive of, build, and even add to (albeit subconsciously) something as complex as a grammar of a language. Why are we so blessed? Is it something about our brains? You betcha.

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