Language

1
Language

• Spoken, Written, or gestured way we use words to
  convey meaning.

2
Language can be..
3
The English language contain.

• Phonemes

• Morphemes

• The smallest unit of meaningful sound.
• Can be words like a or but.
• Can also be parts of words like prefixes or
  suffixesed at the end of a word means past
  tense.

• Foe - neem
• The smallest units of sound in a language.
• English has about 40 phonemes.

How many phonemes does platypus have? Not syllable
4
Grammar

• The system of rules in a language that allow us
  to communicate w/others.
• Syntax
• the order of words in a language.

Is this the White House or the House White?
5
5 parts of Language Structure

• Phoneme smallest distinctive unit of sound
• Ex ch sound
• Morpheme smallest unit that carries meaning
• Ex No
• Grammar system of rules in a language
• Semantics the meaning of words
• Ex Rain, Reign, rein
• Syntax the rules for combining words into
  grammatically sensible sentences

6
Language Acquisition

• Stages that we learn language
• Babbling Stage
• -3 or 4 months old
• -infants utter various sounds at first unrelated
  to the household language.
• Holophrastic Stage (One word stage)
• The child speaks in single words
• 1 to 2 years old
• No, Yes, Ball, Gimmie, Doggie

7
Language Acquisition cont.

• Two Word Stage
• The stage in which the child speaks in mostly 2
  word statements
• 2 years old
• Telegraphic Speech Stage
• Using mostly nouns verbs to communicate
• Child speaks like a telegram
• go car

8
How do we learn language?
9
Language
10
Social Learning Theory

• B.F. Skinner from the Behaviorist School
• Baby may imitate a parent.
• If they are reinforced they keep saying the word.
• If they are punished, they stop saying the word.

11
Chomskys Theory(Nativist theory)

• We learn language too quickly for it to be
  through reinforcement and punishment.
• Inborn universal language acquisition device
• A critical period (window of opportunity to learn
  a skill or our development will permanently
  suffer) for learning language

12
Language

• Genes design the mechanisms for a language, and
  experience activates them as it modifies the
  brain
• Biology Experience Language

13
Language

• New language learning gets harder with age

14
Hmmm

• Which came firstthe chicken or the egg?
• Which comes firstthinking or language?
• Page 409

15
Whorfs Linguistic Relativity

• The idea that language determines the way we
  think.
• The Hopi tribe has no past tense in their
  language, so Whorf says they rarely think of the
  past.
• Pg. 409

16
Language

• The interplay of thought and language

17
Do animals use language?