Language and Thought
Its all about
communication
Language
• Our spoken, written or gestured
words and symbols and the way we
combine them to communicate
meaning
• Believe it or not, this
communication is a form
of language
Why??
To understand language we have
to understand…Grammar
• System of rules
that govern a
language
Different Parts of Language
Phonemes
– The basic unit of sound in a spoken language (NOT –
NOT LETTERS!!!)
– English language has about 40 (make up the 500,000 or
so words we have)
– some units have more than one phonemes
• example - vowels – based on short or long sound
• dog has how many?
– three phonemes – d, au, g
How do you
pronounce ghoti ??
gh – from enough
Fish
O – from women
Ti – from emotion
More Phonemes
• dream
How many Phonemes??
– 4 (/d/r/E/m/)
• glow
– 3 (/g/l/O/)
• sweet
– 4 (/s/w/E/t/)
• spread
– 5 (/s/p/r/e/d/)
• slice
– 4 (/s/l/I/s/)
Morphemes
• The smallest units of
meaning
• Can be a word or part of a
word (prefix or suffix).
• I or a
• Unbreakable
– 3 un break able
• Pretested
– 3 pre – test - ed
So language consists of phonemes
put together to become morphemes,
which make up words.
Homophones
• a word that is
pronounced the
same as another
word but differs in
meaning.
• Examples
Language requires more than phonemes and
morphemes. It also requires Syntax
• Syntax
– The rules of grammar
for combining words
into sensible
sentences
• (the form of
sentences)
– In English, adjectives
come before nouns, but
not in Spanish!!
Is this the White
House or the House
White?
Semantics
• The set of rules by which we derive
meaning
• Adding ed at the end of words
means past tense.
Language development
• How many words do
you think you know
now?
– probably around
80,000
• After age 1 you
average learning about
13 words a day
Language development
• Babbling stage
– starting at 3-4 months, the infant makes
spontaneous sounds
• One-word stage/ Overextension
of words
– 1-2 years old, uses one word to
communicate big meanings
– “da” – “look over there”
• Two word stage
– at age 2 or 24 months, uses two or more
words to communicate meanings called
telegraphic speech
• Want milk, play cars
– No syntax but I still know what they
want (like a telegraph)
How do children
learn language
so well?
Two Theories
Nature
Nurture
B.F. Skinner --- Nurture
• Skinner thought that we can explain
language development through social
learning theory – which is?
– Association, imitation, and
reinforcement/rewards
Nurture
Chomsky - - - Nature
• Inborn universal grammar
– we are wired to know language and vocabulary
• LAD – language acquisition device
– We have a “learning box” inside our heads that enable us
to learn any human language
Nature
Evidence for LAD
• Stages of language development occur at
about the same ages in most children even
in different environments
• Similar development pattern across
cultures
• Language happens quickly and effortlessly
How does language
influence our thinking?
Does the language we speak affect
how we think???
Do people that speak more than one
language think differently
depending on their language at that
time?
Whorf’s Linguistic Relativity
Hypothesis
Culture
Language
Schemas
• Culture dictates language
• If you dont have a word for something
than you cant develop a schema for
that concept
• Different languages lead people to
view and perceive the world
differently because of the vocab and
the syntax
• The Hopi tribe has no past tense in their
language, so Whorf says they rarely think of
the past
Two other ways that people commonly use language
to influence thinking are…
• Semantic slanting
– making statements so that they will evoke specific
emotional responses
– (preemptive attack vs. invasion because it sounds less
negative)
• Name calling
– shapes our expectations and schemas– how?
– i.e. gender terms can shape images of people – fireman or
chairman
Do animals have cognitive
abilities such as thinking,
knowing, reasoning,
language, and remembering?
Kohler’s Chimpanzees
• Kohler showed that
Chimps can problem
solve (they have insight)
• Kohler constructed a
variety of problems for
the chimps, each of
which involved obtaining
food that was not
directly accessible
Kohler’s Chimpanzees
Honeybees seem to communicate
Apes and Signing
An ape named Washoe demonstrated reliable use
of 240 signs
Is this evidence of thinking or of language?
Apes and Signing
So, can apes acquire and use
language??
• Some claim that the apes where just using
operant conditioning principles
– Imitating gestures and responses for which they
were reinforced
• So it all depends on how we define language
– If it means communication, then yes they may
use language
– But, if it means the use of syntax and semantics,
then no and language may be unique to humans