WHAT IS LANGUAGE

1. WHAT IS LANGUAGE An introductiontolanguage, Chapter 1

2. What is language

3. What is language • When we study human language, we are approaching what some might call the “humanessence,” the distinctive qualities of mind that are, so far as we know, unique to man. NOAM CHOMSKY, Language and Mind, 1968

4. What is language • When we study human language, we are approaching what some might call the “humanessence,” the distinctive qualities of mind that are, so far as we know, unique to man. NOAM CHOMSKY, Language and Mind, 1968 • Language is unique to man.

5. What is language • When we study human language, we are approaching what some might call the “humanessence,” the distinctive qualities of mind that are, so far as we know, unique to man. NOAM CHOMSKY, Language and Mind, 1968 • Language is unique to man. • Language is what makes us human.

6. What is language • When we study human language, we are approaching what some might call the “humanessence,” the distinctive qualities of mind that are, so far as we know, unique to man. NOAM CHOMSKY, Language and Mind, 1968 • Language is unique to man. • Language is what makes us human. • Language is a reflex.

7. What is language • When we study human language, we are approaching what some might call the “humanessence,” the distinctive qualities of mind that are, so far as we know, unique to man. NOAM CHOMSKY, Language and Mind, 1968 • Language is unique to man. • Language is what makes us human. • Language is a reflex. • Language is in our minds.

8. What is language When we study human language, we are approaching what some might call the “humanessence,” the distinctive qualities of mind that are, so far as we know, unique to man. NOAM CHOMSKY, Language and Mind, 1968 Language is unique to man. Language is what makes us human. Language is a reflex. Language is in our minds. OK, but, what kind of a thing is language?

9. Designfeatures of language • Arbitrariness:Inhumanlanguage, therelationshipbetweenthe form orsignifer(soundimage) andthemeaningorsignified(concept in ourmind) is arbitrary. • Discreteness: Thesystemconsists of isolatableandrepatableunits. • Displacement:Utterancesare not boundto time andplace. • Creativity( alsoProductivityorOpen-endedness): We can producenovelutteranceswehaveneverheardbefore.

10. Generally, a parrot says whatit is taught, or what it hears, and no more. If Polly learns “Polly wants a cracker”and “Polly wants a doughnut” and also learns to imitate the single words cokeand chocolate, she will not spontaneously produce, as children do, “Polly wantscoke” or “Polly wants a chocolate” or “Polly wants coke and a chocolate.” Talking birds do not dissect the sounds of their imitations into discrete units.Polly and Molly do not rhyme for a parrot. They are as different as hello andgood-bye.

11. Duality: Meaningless sound units come together to form arbitrary signs “words” that are combined again to form larger units “sentences” e.g: /s/ /o/ /t/ /p/ : “stop” • Stimulus-freedom: We can talk about something independent of the context. • Conventionality: The relation between sound and meaning is also conventional. Conventionality: There is social agreement on the signifier and the signified. • Infinity: There is no limit to the number of possible sentences you can form in a language.

12. What is linguistics? • Scientific study of language. • The primary object is not a specific language but language as an abstract system • Studies language in a universal framework (universal grammar)

13. Subfields of Linguistics 1. Phonetics: Speechsounds 2. Phonology: Soundsystems 3. Morphology: Word structures 4. Syntax: Sentencestructure 5. Semantics: Meaningsandmeaningrelations in language 6. Pragmatics: Use of language Otherfields: (sociolinguistics, psycholinguistics, neurolinguistics, computationallinguistics, historicallinguistics, languageacquisition, languageteaching)

14. Linguistic knowledge What do speakers know when they know a language?

15. Knowing a language: Sound System • Part of knowing a language means knowing what sounds are in that language and what sounds are not. car (in English) – kar (in Turkish)

16. Knowing a language: Sound System Part of knowing a language means knowing what sounds are in that language and what sounds are not. car (in English) – kar (in Turkish) It also includes knowing which sounds may start a word, end a word, and follow each other. Which of the following are possible Turkish words? a) ğalip b) gelmiden c) tklmış d) korkuğ e) korkun

17. Knowing a language: The words

18. Knowing a language: The words Knowing a language also consists of knowing that certain sound sequences signify certain concepts, i.e. meanings.

19. Knowing a language: The words Knowing a language also consists of knowing that certain sound sequences signify certain concepts, i.e. meanings. The relation between sound and meaning in language is arbitrary. Arbitrariness: There is no principled relation between the signifier and the signified.

20. Knowing a language: The words Knowing a language also consists of knowing that certain sound sequences signify certain concepts, i.e. meanings. The relation between sound and meaning in language is arbitrary. Arbitrariness: There is no principled relation between the signifier and the signified. The relation between sound and meaning is also conventiaonal. Conventionality: There is social agreement on the signifier and the signified! What’s in a name? That which we call a rose By any other name would smell as sweet W. Shakespeare

21. Knowing a language: The words • Counterexamples to Arbitrariness: Onomatopeic words In this set of words, the relationship between the signifier and the signified is meaningful and principled. Can you give examples? From Turkish and English?

22. Knowing a language: Creativity Knowing a language is not simply knowing the words of the language. No one speaks in isolated words.

23. Knowing a language: Creativity Knowing a language is not simply knowing the words of the language. No one speaks in isolated words. Knowing a language involves how these words are combined to make up meaningful sentences. Knowledge of language enables you to combine words to form phrases, and phrases to form sentences. And this is a highly creative process!

24. Knowing a language: Creativity Knowing a language is not simply knowing the words of the language. No one speaks in isolated words. Knowing a language involves how these words are combined to make up meaningful sentences. Knowledge of language enables you to combine words to form phrases, and phrases to form sentences. And this is a highly creative process! Knowing a language means being able to produce new sentences never spoken before and to understand sentences never heard before.

25. Knowing a language: Creativity Knowing a language is not simply knowing the words of the language. No one speaks in isolated words. Knowing a language involves how these words are combined to make up meaningful sentences. Knowledge of language enables you to combine words to form phrases, and phrases to form sentences. And this is a highly creative process! Knowing a language means being able to produce new sentences never spoken before and to understand sentences never heard before. Almost every sentence you utter is new, never spoken before.

26. Knowing a language: Creativity Knowing a language is not simplyknowingthewords of thelanguage. No onespeaks in isolatedwords. Knowing a languageinvolveshowthesewordsarecombinedtomakeupmeaningfulsentences. Knowledge of languageenablesyoutocombinewordsto form phrases, andphrasesto form sentences. Andthis is a highlycreativeprocess! Knowing a languagemeansbeingabletoproducenewsentencesneverspokenbeforeandtounderstandsentencesneverheardbefore. Almosteverysentenceyouutter is new, neverspokenbefore. You can bothcreatenovelsentences, andunderstandnewsentencesthatyouhaveneverheardbefore. “Daniel Boone decided to become a pioneer because he dreamed of pigeon-toed giraffes and cross-eyed elephants dancing in pink skirts and green berets on the wind-swept plains of the Midwest”.

27. Knowing a language: Creativity Simple memorization of all the possible sentences in a language is impossible in principle.

28. Knowing a language: Creativity Simple memorization of all the possible sentences in a language is impossible in principle. This is the house.

29. Knowing a language: Creativity Simple memorization of all the possible sentences in a language is impossible in principle. This is the house. This is the house that Jack built.

30. Knowing a language: Creativity Simple memorization of all the possible sentences in a language is impossible in principle. This is the house. This is the house that Jack built. This is the malt that lay in the house that Jack built.

31. Knowing a language: Creativity Simple memorization of all the possible sentences in a language is impossible in principle. This is the house. This is the house that Jack built. This is the malt that lay in the house that Jack built. John said this is the malt that lay in the house that Jack built.

32. Knowing a language: Creativity Simple memorization of all the possible sentences in a language is impossible in principle. This is the house. This is the house that Jack built. This is the malt that lay in the house that Jack built. John said this is the malt that lay in the house that Jack built. Jack heard that John said this is the malt that lay in the house that Jack built. …. ….

33. Knowing a language: Creativity Simple memorization of all the possible sentences in a language is impossible in principle. This is the house. This is the house that Jack built. This is the malt that lay in the house that Jack built. John said this is the malt that lay in the house that Jack built. Jack heard that John said this is the malt that lay in the house that Jack built. Jill knew that Jack heard that John said this is the malt that lay in the house that Jack built. …. ….

34. Knowing a language: Creativity Simple memorization of all the possible sentences in a language is impossible in principle. This is the house. This is the house that Jack built. This is the malt that lay in the house that Jack built. John said this is the malt that lay in the house that Jack built. Jack heard that John said this is the malt that lay in the house that Jack built. Jill knew that Jack heard that John said this is the malt that lay in the house that Jack built. …. …. Language is infinite. If for every sentence in the language a longer sentence can beformed, then there is no limit to the number of sentences.

35. Knowing a language: Creativity Simple memorization of all the possible sentences in a language is impossible in principle. This is the house. This is the house that Jack built. This is the malt that lay in the house that Jack built. John said this is the malt that lay in the house that Jack built. Jack heard that John said this is the malt that lay in the house that Jack built. Jill knew that Jack heard that John said this is the malt that lay in the house that Jack built. …. …. Language is infinite. If for every sentence in the language a longer sentence can beformed, then there is no limit to the number of sentences. All human languages permit their speakers to increase the length and complexity of sentences in these ways; creativity is a universal property of human language.

36. Knowing a language: Infinity If language is infinite, if there is no limit to the number of new sentences in a language, how come we easily create and understand a new sentence whenever we want and hear one.

37. Knowing a language: Infinity If language is infinite, if there is no limit to the number of new sentences in a language, how come we easily create and understand a new sentence whenever we want and hear one. Can we say that we memorize all the possible sentences of the langauge?

38. Knowing a language: Infinity If language is infinite, if there is no limit to the number of new sentences in a language, how come we easily create and understand a new sentence whenever we want and hear one. Can we say that we memorize all the possible sentences of the langauge? That is impossible; because our brain capacity is limited, but langauge is unlimited.

39. Knowing a language: Infinity If language is infinite, if there is no limit to the number of new sentences in a language, how come we easily create and understand a new sentence whenever we want and hear one. Can we say that we memorize all the possible sentences of the langauge? That is impossible; because our brain capacity is limited, but langauge is unlimited. So how come, an unlimited body of knowledge sits in a limited brain?

40. Knowing a language: Infinity If language is infinite, if there is no limit to the number of new sentences in a language, how come we easily create and understand a new sentence whenever we want and hear one. Can we say that we memorize all the possible sentences of the langauge? That is impossible; because our brain capacity is limited, but langauge is unlimited. So how come, an unlimited body of knowledge sits in a limited brain? When you learn language you must learn something finite and can be stored in a finite brain. This is possible by means of rules.

41. Knowing a language: Infinity If language is infinite, if there is no limit to the number of new sentences in a language, how come we easily create and understand a new sentence whenever we want and hear one. Can we say that we memorize all the possible sentences of the langauge? That is impossible; because our brain capacity is limited, but langauge is unlimited. So how come, an unlimited body of knowledge sits in a limited brain? When you learn language you must learn something finite and can be stored in a finite brain. This is possible by means of rules. Although the sentences in a language are infinite, the rules that generate them are finite. So in language, a finite number of rules generate an infinite number of sentences. Knowing a language means knowing the rules of sentence formation.

42. Knowing a language: Knowledge of sentences and non-sentences • If you were asked to put an asterisk or star before the examples that seemedill-formed or ungrammatical or “no good” to you, which ones would you mark? 1. a. John kissed the little old lady who owned the shaggy dog. b. Who owned the shaggy dog John kissed the little old lady. c. John is difficult to love. d. It is difficult to love John. e. John is anxious to go. f. It is anxious to go John. g. John, who was a student, flunked his exams. h. Exams his flunked student a was who John.

43. Knowing a language: Knowledge of sentences and non-sentences • If you were asked to put an asterisk or star before the examples that seemedill formed or ungrammatical or “no good” to you, which ones would you mark? 1. a. John kissed the little old lady who owned the shaggy dog. b.*Who owned the shaggy dog John kissed the little old lady. c. John is difficult to love. d. It is difficult to love John. e. John is anxious to go. f.*It is anxious to go John. g. John, who was a student, flunked his exams. h. *Exams his flunked student a was who John.

44. Knowing a language: Knowledge of sentences and non-sentences • Therefore, in addition to knowing the words of thelanguage, linguistic knowledge includes knowingrules for forming sentences and makingthe kinds of judgments you made about the examples in (1) and (2).

45. Knowing a language: Knowledge of sentences and non-sentences Therefore, in addition to knowing the words of thelanguage, linguistic knowledge includes knowingrules for forming sentences and makingthe kinds of judgments you made about the examples in (1) and (2). These rulesmust be finite in length and finite in number so that they can be stored in our finite brains. Yet, they must permit us to form and understand an infinite set ofnew sentences.

46. Knowing a language: Knowledge of sentences and non-sentences Therefore, in addition to knowing the words of thelanguage, linguistic knowledge includes knowingrules for forming sentences and makingthe kinds of judgments you made about the examples in (1) and (2). These rulesmust be finite in length and finite in number so that they can be stored in our finite brains. Yet, they must permit us to form and understand an infinite set ofnew sentences. They are not rules determined by a judge or a legislature, or evenrules taught in a grammar class. They are unconscious rules that we acquire asyoung children as we develop language.

47. Competence vs. Performance “What’s one and one and one and one and one and one and one and one and one and one?” “I don’t know,” said Alice. “I lost count.” “She can’t do Addition,” the Red Queen interrupted. LEWIS CARROLL, Through the Looking-Glass, 1871

48. Competence vs. Performance • “What’s one and one and one and one and one and one and one and one and one and one?” “I don’t know,” said Alice. “I lost count.” “She can’t do Addition,” the Red Queen interrupted. LEWIS CARROLL, Through the Looking-Glass, 1871 • Linguistic competence is the knowledge of language in our minds. It is the knowledge of the abstract rules of the sound system, the words, and the rules of sentence formation that we have in the mind.

49. Competence vs. Performance “What’s one and one and one and one and one and one and one and one and one and one?” “I don’t know,” said Alice. “I lost count.” “She can’t do Addition,” the Red Queen interrupted. LEWIS CARROLL, Through the Looking-Glass, 1871 Linguistic competence is the knowledge of language in our minds. It is the knowledge of the abstract rules of the sound system, the words, and the rules of sentence formation that we have in the mind. Linguistic performance is how we actually make use of this knowledge when we speak.

50. Competence vs. Performance “What’s one and one and one and one and one and one and one and one and one and one?” “I don’t know,” said Alice. “I lost count.” “She can’t do Addition,” the Red Queen interrupted. LEWIS CARROLL, Through the Looking-Glass, 1871 Linguistic competence is the knowledge of language in our minds. It is the knowledge of the abstract rules of the sound system, the words, and the rules of sentence formation that we have in the mind. Linguistic performance is how we actually make use of this knowledge when we speak. In linguistics, we deal with linguistic competence, not linguistic performance.