Language

1
Language
http//ocw.mit.edu/NR/rdonlyres/Brain-and-Cognitiv
e-Sciences/9-402Language-and-ThoughtFall2002/07203
6C6-6082-47E2-A7A8-7C19F9CDD290/0/chp_9_402.gif
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What is language?

• Language vs. communication
• Why do we say that bees do not have a language?

http//www.youtube.com/watch?v-7ijI-g4jHg
Image taken from the Yamada Bee Farm site
3
Requirements for Language

• Regular (grammar)
• Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
• Did gyre and gimble in the wabe
• Productive

4
Other Characteristics of Language

• Arbitrariness
• Discreteness
• http//dmc.ohiolink.edu/cgi/i/image/getimage-idx?v
  iewidLILI2.MOVccforglventryidx-lili2viewima
  ge

5
The structure of language

• Phoneme
• map ? tap
• /m/ /t/
• map ? mash
• /m/ /š/

6
Problems with understanding speech perception -
speech is continuous
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The structure of language

• Phonetic ambiguity
• Ream ember us poke can cent tense off in contains
  men knee word knot in ten did tube bee herd.

8

• Problems with understanding speech perception -
  Phonemes can sound different in different contexts

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The structure of language

• Speech Perception
• Speech is categorical
• Phonological rules

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The structure of language
Un-

• Morphemes

strange
-ed
a-
the
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The structure of language

• Syntax

Tree diagram
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Tree diagrams of Sentences 5 through 8.
Preposing
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The structure of language

• Context Effects
• Words that fit sentence
• The Eskimos were frightened by the walrus.
• The bankers were frightened by the walrus.
• Lexical ambiguity
• Understand truth conditions

14
The structure of language

• Garden path sentences
• The cotton shirts are made from comes from
  Arizona.

15
The structure of language

• Sentence comprehension
• Experiment
• With this possibility, Taylor left the capital.
  After he had returned to Manhattan, he explained
  the offer to his wife.
• Taylor did not reach a decision until after he
  had returned to Manhattan. He explained the offer
  to his wife.

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Language Comprehension Production

• Sentence comprehension
• What is happening when we experience ambiguity ?
• All meanings of ambiguous words are available at
  first, but this period is very short

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The structure of language

• Semantics
• A theory of semantics (meaning) must explain
• Anomaly
• Self-contradiction
• Ambiguity
• Synonymy
• Entailment

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The structure of language

• Pragmatics
• Types of utterances
• Assertives
• Directives
• Commissives
• Expressives
• Declarations

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Levels of Language

• Phonemes
• Morphemes
• Syntax
• Semantics
• Pragmatics