LANGUAGE
LANGUAGE. Definition “formal system of communication involving symbols (spoken, written, gestured)” Characteristics and structure of language Steps in language development Language acquisition Language and Thinking. Three Characteristics of Language. Semanticity
LANGUAGE
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LANGUAGE Definition “formal system of communication involving symbols (spoken, written, gestured)” • Characteristics and structure of language • Steps in language development • Language acquisition • Language and Thinking
Three Characteristicsof Language Semanticity • to convey thoughts in a meaningful way Generativity • to combine symbols in novel ways Displacement • to refer to past/non-present objects/events Dogs and bees have no language
Structure of Language:Phonology Phoneme • basic sounds; the smallest unit in language ‘g’ and ‘o’ in ‘go’ • words are combinations of phonemes COGERITE vs. KLPUTNG • difficult learning other language’s phonemes • may be a critical period to learn phonemes
Structure of Language:Morphology Morpheme • smallest unit of meaningful sound in language ‘o’ (but not ‘g’) in ‘go’ • in English, with 40-45 phonemes, you can form more than 100,000 morphemesand more than 500,000 words • talk about Generativity...
Structure of Language:Syntax • Acceptable arrangement of words/phrases “She ate the ice cream” “She the ice cream ate” “Throw mamma from the train a kiss” • Varies across language (e.g., adjectives) English adjective-noun ‘the red book’ Spanish noun-adjective ‘el libro rojo’
Structure of Language:Semantics/Pragmatics • How we convey meaning “The boy fed the horse”“The horse was fed by the boy” • Depends on social context (pragmatics) • remember the magic word: “Please” • “Nice hat”
Steps inLanguage Development • All children everywhere follow the same sequence and approximate timetable • Crying • Babbling • First words (one-word, two-words, sentences)
Language Development:Grammatical Rules • Rules like ‘ed’ for past, ‘s’ for plural • seen in very young children with ‘ed’ exceptions ‘did’ ‘went’ ‘brought’ • children make mistakes as they learn rules ‘do-ed’ ‘go-ed’ ‘bring-ed’
When Kids Use a Grammar:Berko-Gleason Wug Test If children use correct grammar when confronted by never-before-seen words,they MUST be using rules (not rote memory)
