Chapter 1: What is Language
Chapter 1: What is Language Speakers use a finite set of rules to pronounce and understand an infinite set of possible sentences. These rules constitute grammar. Phonology: the sound system Morphology: the structure of the words Syntax: how the words are combined into sentences Semantics: the relation of sounds and meanings Lexicon: the words Linguistic Competence, knowledge, is different from linguistic performance, behavior. Grammars Universal Grammar: forms the basis of specific grammars of all possible human languages and constitutes the innate component of the human language faculty that makes normal language development possible Descriptive Grammar: represents unconscious linguistic knowledge/ capacity of its speakers Model of mental grammar, every speaker of the language knows It does not teach rules of language, it describes the rules that are already known Prescriptive Grammar: grammar that attempts to legislate what your grammar should be Prescribes does NOT describe, except incidentally Reference Grammar: written to help people find out grammatical facts of a language Teaching Grammar: written to help people learn a foreign language of their own language A gloss: the meaning of a word given in the student’s native tongue to help increase understanding o House Maison Major sign language system used in North America is American Sign Language (ASL) Estimated 5000 languages spoken around the world 5 year olds are almost as proficient at speaking and understanding as are their parents
Knowledge of the Sound System Knowing a language means knowing what sounds are in that language and what sounds are not Relation between speech sounds and meanings they represent is arbitrary. (What it means depends on the interpretation) Sign language is also arbitrary and conventional Swiss Linguist “Ferdinand de Saussure” pointed out important principle of “the arbitrariness of the sign” User of CSL (Chinese Sign Language) will have difficulty with ASL Signs originally mimetic, similar to miming, now signs are convectional, .: knowing the shape or movement of the hands does not reveal the meaning of the gestures in sign language Sound symbolism, onomatopoeic: the sounds of the words supposedly imitate the sounds of nature Ex. Hiss- snake, cock-a-doodle-doo- rooster’s crow Noam Chomsky Creative aspect of language use: knowing a language means being able to produce new sentences never spoken before and understand sentences never heard before Creative ability is due to, language is not limited to stimulus response behavior Chomsky, Universal Grammar and Language Faculty. Believes that humans are born with innate “blueprint” for language. Children are able to acquire language quickly and effortlessly. Adjectives are modifiers to a noun The linguistic system is learned subconsciously, with no awareness that rues are being learned. Complex cognitive system No language is superior or inferior to any other. Bishop Robert Lowth Influenced by Latin grammar, logic and personal preference, prescribed a number of new rules to English. Lowth decided the rule: “two negatives make a positive”.
Rising new class wanted to speak “properly” many of these new rules were legislated into English grammar, prestige dialect. Edwin Newman Wrote “Strictly Speaking” Newman fails to recognize that language changes in the course of time and words change meaning Hopefully (new) vs. I hope (old), used interchangeably Sign Language - Support that humans are born with the ability to acquire language and that these languages are governed by the same universal properties - Sign languages are fully developed languages - 1/1000 born deaf or with a severe hearing deficiency - Difficulty in learning spoken language, near impossible to speak naturally - 75% spoken English words cannot be read on the lips with any degree of accuracy American Sign Language ASL - Sign language has grammar - Problems result because there are not always corresponding forms in the two languages - If no sign, finger spelling is used - Deaf children can sign themselves to sleep, like talking yourself to sleep - Slip of the hand occurs like slip of the tongue History - Earliest deciphered written records are barely 6000 years old, writings of Sumerians of 4000 BCE Religions: - Judeo Christian beliefs: god gave Adam the power to name all things - Egyptians: creator of speech, god Thoth - Babylonians: language giver was god Nabu - Hindus: Brahma’s wife Sarsvati (Brahma, creator of universe) -First linguist known as: Panini Experiment: (1) Egypt, Pharaoh, sent to infants in insolated hut to be cared for by mute servant. Children spoke. (2) Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II, same test, kids died “Proto-Language”, Chaldee (Aramaic) The Monogenetic Theory of Language Origin - The belief that all languages originated from a single source
- Not proven, not disproven The Bow Wow Theory - Idea that the earliest form of language was imitative or echoic, proposed to the 20th century o Claimed that a dog would be designated by the word bow-wow because of the sounds of its bark The Cries of Nature - Jean Jacques Rousseau - Language consists of emotional ejaculations of pains, fear, surprise, pleasure and anger etc. Rhythmical Grunts of people working together - By Jesperson - Language derived form song These are all untestable proposals.
Knowledge of the Sound System Knowing a language means knowing what sounds are in that language and what sounds are not Relation between speech sounds and meanings they represent is arbitrary. (What it means depends on the interpretation) Sign language is also arbitrary and conventional Swiss Linguist “Ferdinand de Saussure” pointed out important principle of “the arbitrariness of the sign” User of CSL (Chinese Sign Language) will have difficulty with ASL Signs originally mimetic, similar to miming, now signs are convectional, .: knowing the shape or movement of the hands does not reveal the meaning of the gestures in sign language Sound symbolism, onomatopoeic: the sounds of the words supposedly imitate the sounds of nature Ex. Hiss- snake, cock-a-doodle-doo- rooster’s crow Noam Chomsky Creative aspect of language use: knowing a language means being able to produce new sentences never spoken before and understand sentences never heard before Creative ability is due to, language is not limited to stimulus response behavior Chomsky, Universal Grammar and Language Faculty. Believes that humans are born with innate “blueprint” for language. Children are able to acquire language quickly and effortlessly. Adjectives are modifiers to a noun The linguistic system is learned subconsciously, with no awareness that rues are being learned. Complex cognitive system No language is superior or inferior to any other. Bishop Robert Lowth Influenced by Latin grammar, logic and personal preference, prescribed a number of new rules to English. Lowth decided the rule: “two negatives make a positive”.
Rising new class wanted to speak “properly” many of these new rules were legislated into English grammar, prestige dialect. Edwin Newman Wrote “Strictly Speaking” Newman fails to recognize that language changes in the course of time and words change meaning Hopefully (new) vs. I hope (old), used interchangeably Sign Language - Support that humans are born with the ability to acquire language and that these languages are governed by the same universal properties - Sign languages are fully developed languages - 1/1000 born deaf or with a severe hearing deficiency - Difficulty in learning spoken language, near impossible to speak naturally - 75% spoken English words cannot be read on the lips with any degree of accuracy American Sign Language ASL - Sign language has grammar - Problems result because there are not always corresponding forms in the two languages - If no sign, finger spelling is used - Deaf children can sign themselves to sleep, like talking yourself to sleep - Slip of the hand occurs like slip of the tongue History - Earliest deciphered written records are barely 6000 years old, writings of Sumerians of 4000 BCE Religions: - Judeo Christian beliefs: god gave Adam the power to name all things - Egyptians: creator of speech, god Thoth - Babylonians: language giver was god Nabu - Hindus: Brahma’s wife Sarsvati (Brahma, creator of universe) -First linguist known as: Panini Experiment: (1) Egypt, Pharaoh, sent to infants in insolated hut to be cared for by mute servant. Children spoke. (2) Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II, same test, kids died “Proto-Language”, Chaldee (Aramaic) The Monogenetic Theory of Language Origin - The belief that all languages originated from a single source
- Not proven, not disproven The Bow Wow Theory - Idea that the earliest form of language was imitative or echoic, proposed to the 20th century o Claimed that a dog would be designated by the word bow-wow because of the sounds of its bark The Cries of Nature - Jean Jacques Rousseau - Language consists of emotional ejaculations of pains, fear, surprise, pleasure and anger etc. Rhythmical Grunts of people working together - By Jesperson - Language derived form song These are all untestable proposals.
