Language
how we combine spoken, written
words as we think and communicate
Structure
Phonemes – smallest distinctive sound
unit
dogs, stop, thoughtful,
indistinguishable
Morphemes – smallest unit that carries
meaning
dogs, stop, thoughtful,
indistinguishable
Grammar – a system of rules that allows
us to understand one another
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Semantics – the study of meaning in
language (“-ed” means past tense)
Syntax – a set of rules for combining
words in a sentence (white house vs.
casa blanca)
Development
Babbling stage (good chart in book, p. 376)
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•
Begins around 4 months – make random noises of all
Around 10 months – babbles restricted to noise of home
language
One-word stage
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Around 12 months
word learning begin to explode around 18 months
Two-word stage (telegraphic speech)
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Around 24 months
Follows rules of syntax
After age 2, children very quickly develop long
phrases
Explaining Language Development
Skinner – language is learned like everything else– through
association, imitation, and reinforcement.
Chomsky – although specific language is learned, children
are pre-wired with a capability to learn language. Brain is
like a language-acquisition device.
•
Statistical learning theory – infant brain has innate capacity to
statistically analyze language; this ability seems to be present
only in the first few years of life (critical period)
Nurture
Nature
Practice
Linguistic relativity
• Whorf’s hypothesis that language influences the way we think
Basic Color Terms
English
purple
Shona
cipswuk
a
Bassa
Blue
Green
citema
hui
Yellow
Orange
cicena
Red
cipswuk
a
zðza
Color delineations are arbitrary. But once we make them, they affect
us. Native shona speakers report that blue and green are more
similar than blue and purple, for example.
Linguistic relativity
• Language influences personality
– Bilingual Americans and Mexicans took personality
tests in each language. Both were more extraverted,
agreeable, and conscientious when tested in English.
• A man and his son get into a car accident and
are rushed to the hospital. Both are in critical
condition and rush to separate emergency
rooms. The doctor enters the room to operate on
the boy and says, “I can’t operate. This is my
son.” How is this possible?
• The generic he.
Thinking without language
• Mental imagery has
been shown to
increase performance
(piano, free throws,
golf, darts, even
studying!)