LIN 201

1
LIN 201

• Fall 2000
• Week I, Lecture 2

2
Web site

• lt../lang.syr.edu/gt and scroll to Big Chalk in
  the left margin.
• lt/lang.syr.edu/BigC/introling.htmlgt

3
Reminder

• Due in Recitation Write-up on your Living
  Without Language experiment. Instructions in
  Course Info, Section C under Course
  Requirements.

4
Review

• Lg central to human life
• Lngstc Knwldg
• sounds
• lexicon
• rules (2 kinds of evidence)
• tacit
• no instruction

5
Lex vs. Lex Rules

• Two possible claims about linguistic knowledge
• Lexicon alone
• Lexicon plus rules.
• Showed Lex rules is better because of (1)
  creativity, (2) limits.

6
Agenda

• Evidence (3) for rules
• Arbitrary vs. Imitative
• Stimulus-controlled vs. stimulus-free behavior
• language vs. communication
• Videotape Colorless

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Agenda

• Evidence (3) for rules.

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An example (FR)

• The old man came.
• The old, old man came.
• The old, old, old man came.
• The old, old, old, old man came.
• The old, ..

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An additional rule of English

• Wherever old occurs in a sentence, add another
  old.
• Apply the above rule as many times as you want.

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Number of sentences

• Because you can always add old to a sentence that
  already contains old, there is no longest
  sentence in English.
• Therefore, there is no limit to the number of
  sentences in English English is infinite.

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Evidence for rules (3)

• The human mind is finite, so it cant list an
  infinite set.
• A finite set of rules can give an infinite set of
  sentences.
• The set of sentences in a lang is infinite. So
  lngstc knwldg must include rules.

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Agenda

• Evidence (3) for rules
• Arbitrary vs. Imitative words.

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Arbitrary words - EnglishForm (sounds) Meaning
(concept)

• hand
• house
• tree

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Arbitrary words - SpanishForm (sounds) Meaning
(concept)

• mano
• casa
• arbol

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Arbitrary words - WolofForm (sounds) Meaning
(concept)

• lokho
• keur
• garab

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Imitative words - EnglishForm Meaning

• tweet-tweet
• meow
• ha-ha

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Imitative words - Spanish Form Meaning

• pip-pip
• miau
• ja-ja

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Imitative words - Wolof Form Meaning

• 1. he-he
• 2. kweet-kweet
• 3. miew

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Tests for Arbitrary vs. Imitative words

• Imitative words are the same or similar across
  languages Arbitrary words are not.
• Imitative words are guessable Arbitrary not.

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Agenda

• Evidence (3) for rules
• Arbitrary vs. Imitative
• Stimulus-controlled vs. stimulus-free behavior

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Stimulus-controlled behavior

• Responses to identifiable stimuli --
• Internal stimuli e.g., hunger, drive to
  reproduce.
• External stimuli e.g., danger.

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Stimulus-free behavior

• Behavior where there is no identifiable stimulus.

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Generalization

• Behavior of non-human species is under stimulus
  control.
• Some human behavior (e.g., language use) is
  stimulus-free.

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Following film clip

• Vervet monkeys in East Africa.

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Animal Communication
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Lexicon - Vervetese Form Meaning

• rraup
• gubble-gubble
• gubble

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Lexicon - English Form Meaning

• snake
• leopard
• eagle

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Vervetese vs English

• Use of the Vervetese lexicon is under stimulus
  control.
• Use of English lexicon is stimulus-free.

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Agenda

• Evidence (3) for rules
• Arbitrary vs. Imitative
• Stimulus-controlled vs. stimulus-free behavior
• language vs. communication

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Linguistic knowledge/use

• Lexicon list of arbitrary form-meaning
  relationships.
• Rules (creativity, limitedness, infiniteness).
• Use is stimulus-free.
• Acquired without instruction.

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Language

• Will reserve the term language to refer to this
  kind of a system of knowledge.

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Communication

• Will use communication to refer to any way in
  which one organism conveys information to another.

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Videotape

• Colorless Green Ideas