a body of words and the systems for their use
common to a people who are of the same
community or nation, the same geographical area, or
the same cultural tradition
Spoken Language
• Our ability to use spoken language is what separates us from the rest of the
animal world.
• It is the most frequently used communication tool.
• Spoken Language allows us to exchange ideas, facts and even emotions.
• It is one of the most fascinating and essential tools possessed by humans for
thousands or millions of years.
Mary No Name Part 1 (5)
Mary No Name Part 2 (7)
There are Five Stages of Language
• Gestures
• Sounds
• Pictographs
• Ideographs
• Written Words
Gestures
• A movement of the hands, arms or head to express an idea or
feeling.
• Communication without words
• Do not necessarily have the same meaning from one place to
another
• 4 Types of Gestures
• Universal – people around the world recognize the meaning
our emotions
• Native – used by a particular group of people
okay, knock on wood, crazy
• Personal – specific to a person
Twirling hair, rubbing hands, tapping foot or finger, scratching, etc.
• Infantile – only children use
pointing, turning head away, throwing things, clinching fists
Gestures #1 (3:05-3:45) 9 mins.
Gestures #2 1 min.
Gestures #3 7mins.
Gestures #5 3mins.
Sounds
• The development of spoken human language requires the development of
the vocal tract used for speech production and the cognitive abilities required
to understand and produce linguistic utterances. (Wikipedia)
• Many scientists believe that sounds developed out of need.
• Hunters worked in teams. They couldn’t always see each others gestures
so they came up with sounds to communicate with.
• As individuals created more and more tools to use, their hands were busy.
They developed more sounds to use for communicating with each other.
Pictographs
• Pictographs are symbols or drawings that represent specific objects.
• The first type of messages that we find in the history records were a series of
pictures that told a story; examples of pictographs.
• Can you think of any examples?
Palatki in Arizona
Pictographs
cliparts101.com
tpwd.state.tx.us
crystalinks.com
nickdawson.net
freevectorfinder.com
celebratebig.com
Ideographs
• Ideographs are symbols or drawings for
items that cannot be pictured
• These are ideas and actions that are
abstract (love, hate, truth, honesty, etc.).
• Most Asian languages use this method such
as Chinese.
• Can you think of any other examples?
DNA
biologia.uniba.it
Visual Representation
of Music davidtudor.org
japan-guide.com
ehow.co.uk
TEST ON Thursday
We will Review on Tuesday and
Wednesday
Pictographs & Ideographs
trainingreiki.com
openclipart.org
ehow.co.uk
nps.gov
webdesign.org
Written Language
• Is represented by symbols.
• In order to read, we must rely on written language.
• Written language has not existed as long as Spoken language however.
• Brief History of Written Language (3)
• Birth of Writing (3)
Writing Systems
• Writing systems are a set of symbols or characters that represent sounds of
speech
• The first to use the alphabet were the Phoenicians and the Hebrews.
• They created a symbol for each syllable of a word which developed the first
phonetic alphabet.
• Not all languages are read from left to right; Arabic, Hebrew, some Eastern
languages.
• Alphabet Evolution (:30)
Cherokee
Phoenician
Hebrew
Laotian
Gizon-emakume guztiak aske jaiotzen dira,
duintasun eta eskubide berberak dituztela;
eta ezaguera eta kontzientzia dutenez gero,
elkarren artean senide legez jokatu beharra
dute.
Basque
Basque
Farsi
Laotian
Napali
Navajo
Tagalog
Navajo
Farsi
Tagalog
Napali
What is Language?
C 1. is a system of communication consisting of sounds, words
_____
and grammar.
A 2. is a movement of the hands, arms or head to express an
_____
idea or feeling.
B 3. is a symbol or drawing that represents a specific object.
_____
D 4. is a symbol for “non-picturable” things.
_____
A. gesture
B. pictograph
C. language
D. ideograph
1. Write the following words in your folder.
5 written words
2 sounds
3 pictographs
1 gestures
4 ideographs
2. Now, put the stages of language development in order by
writing a 1 by the 1st stage a 2 by the 2nd stage, etc.
List the 5 stages of language. I’ve given you the
first letter of each to help get you started. They are
out of order again…can you put them in order?
S
I
W
P
G
Gestures
Sounds
Pictographs
Ideographs
Written Words
What are the 4 types of
gestures?
Universal
Personal
Native
Infantile