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Communication and Language

Communication and Language. Characteristics of Human Language . Objective. to give an idea of what language is what its elements are how it works “where” it is how language, thought, and action are related how these topics can be examined . Language = Human communication with words.

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Communication and Language

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  1. Communication and Language Characteristics of Human Language

  2. Objective to give an idea of • what language is • what its elements are • how it works • “where” it is • how language, thought, and action are related • how these topics can be examined

  3. Language = Human communication with words. • only human? • only words?

  4. What is necessary for language acquisition? • “I assume encyclopaedic knowledge, an articulatory and perceptual system in good working order, and with it, the ability to segment the speech stream and assign meanings to the segments.” • Perdue 1996, 138

  5. Language Faculty biological / physiological elements available knowledge contextual / world knowledge central peripheral articulatory auditory memory thinking language instinct adapted from Klein 1991, 88

  6. ? • Iwrotethisinnormallettersbecauseidontknowifyouarefamiliarwiththephoneticalphabet.

  7. Tasks in speech processing • analytic task: (building up knowledge) • isolate sound units from incoming „noise“ • identify functional elements • identify legitimate syllable patterns • relate sound and meaningful terms • acknowledge formal combinatory features of words • acknowledge the limited number of legitimate syntactical patterns • compute the full meaning of a syntactical construction • situationally acknowledge the reference to objects and events • acknowledge the variability of linguistics patterns • matched by respective synthetic tasks!

  8. Tasks in speech processing • cognitive and motor tasks • segment and classify sound signals in extremely short time intervals • identify words almost synchronously from the mental lexicon • identify the syntactic structure, compute its meaning, and relate it to contextual and world knowledge • constructing a mental representation of an event • command over suitable production and articulation procedures

  9. Murphy’s Law and Linguistics • Oronyms • The stuffy nose can lead to problems. • The stuff he knows can lead to problems. • Eugene O’Neill won a pullet surprise. • ? • “mondegreens” • they have slain the Earl of Moray and Lady Mondegreen • …and laid him on the green. • A girl with colitis goes by. • A girl with kaleidoscope eyes…

  10. Questions • Language is only human. • How could we find evidence for this claim? • Language is innate. Or: Language is an instinct. • What would be evidence in favour of these claims?

  11. claims about animal languages • The articulatory system does not allow primates to speak. • They are, however, able to sign. • Primates are able to construct simple sentences. • Examples (taken from Pinker Ch 11): • Me banana you banana me you give • Tickle me Nim play • Primates can react properly to requests as e.g. “Would you please carry the cooler to Penny.”

  12. Counter arguments • Limited set of constructions • No inflection • Does not show up in written form but in the signing • No development beyond what they are taught.

  13. first language acquisition • No need to be taught! • Typical steps: • 2-word utterances at 18 months • Acquiring several words per day • At 24 months the lexicon has grown up to 4x • At 30 months it has grown approx. 6x • At approx. 3;6 children use agreement –s, i.e. inflection • Pre-Schoolers pass the “Wug-Test” • This animal is wug. Now here’s another one. Now there are two ….

  14. Chomskyan arguments for innateness of language • underdetermination of grammatical input • walking boots v. leather boots • creative aspect of language • Whenever Robert Peston wears dotted ties there‘s bad new for the British economy. • deficient input • Many utterances (in spoken language) are not grammatical • no negative evidence • no evidence on what is not possible

  15. Further evidence for innateness • pidgins and creoles • Pidgins: • Languages used in contact situations: slave trade, colonial settings, early overseas trade • Features: very generally, words from dominant language, no inflection, phonology adapted to other languages involved • Creoles: • Pidgin acquired as a first language • Original inflection system developed (often on lexical material of dominant language)

  16. Further evidence for innateness • Sign Language • Corroborates “pidgin-theory” • Lenguaje de Signos Nicaragüense (by children from different backgrounds trained in lip reading in school) • Younger children arriving later developed “Idioma de Signos Nicaragüense“ • More fluid, less pantomime, standardised • Deaf children acquire e.g. ASL more completely than their hearing (non-signing) parents

  17. Evidence for a specific Language Faculty • Speech pathologies • Broca’s aphasics (lesion in the left frontal lobe) • SLI children • Patients suffering from Williams Syndrome • (genetic defect that interferes with body development and results in an average IQ of 50) • Produce elaborated texts, like unusual words

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