Language Preview Chapter 1
Dec 29, 2015
Human Language Specialization
Organ Survival Speech
LungsExchange CO2 for O2
Air flow
Vocal Cords Cover tube to lungs
Vibration
Tongue Move food in mouth
Articulation (C & V)
Teeth Chew food Articulation (C)
Lips Seal oral cavityArticulation (C & V)
Nose Breathing Nasal resonance
Origin of Language: Theories Divine Gift
Monogenetic theory Human Invention
Echoic (imitative) Cries of nature Rhythmical grunts Love songs
Evolution of Linguistic Capacity Anatomical Neurological
Creative System
Infinity of language Grammar
Pull the boat onto the beach ______ the boat
Word formation New word: “Soleme” Having the properties of Soleme =
“_______” Created in the process of “_____________”
Infiniteness
Human language makes infinite use of finite means.
The pink dog wanted a red balloon.
?Colorless green ideas sleep furiously.
Recursive Rules This is the house that Jack built. This is the cheese that sat in the
house… This is the rat that ate the cheese that… This is that cat that killed the rat that… This is the dog that chased the cat…
Key Point
Speakers of any language can understand and produce sentences they’ve never heard before.
You tell me… a sentence you’ve never heard before
Grammatical or not…?
The fish is swimming. *Fish the swimming is. ?Swimming is the fish. *The fishing is swim.
He saw two dogs. *He saw twos dog.
Japanese watashi-wa inu-ga mimashita
I (subject) dog (object) saw(I saw a dog)
*mimashita inu-ga watashi-wa (saw) dog (object) I (subject)
watashi-ga inu-wa mimashita
I (object) dog (subject) saw(A dog saw me)
Grammatical or Not?
John kissed the little old lady who owned the shaggy dog.
Who owned the shaggy dog John kissed the little old lady.
Linguistic Competence Internal/Innate grammar
Phonetics Phonology Morphology Syntax Lexicography Semantics Pragmatics
…more details coming at the end of the chapter…
Linguistic Competency
Sound System Phonetics Phonology
Words Form + meaning ≈ Arbitrary
relationship Sound Symbolism onomatopoeia
Competence vs. Performance
Linguistic Competence Knowing Mental grammar
Linguistic Performance Doing
Grammatical or Ungrammatical?
He ain’t got none.
For Descriptive Linguistics: “Ungrammatical” means a native speaker would not have a reasonable expectation that the intended message will be understood
Prove or Disprove… Language is systematic and rule-governed. Language is generative (has creative potential). Language is a set of arbitrary symbols. The symbols have conventionalized meanings The symbols are primarily vocal. Language is essentially human. Language is used for communication. Language operates in a speech community or culture. Language is acquired by all people in much the same
way; language acquisition and language learning both have universal characteristics.
Language changes.
Grammar
“the system of operations for creating an indefinite number of sentences out of a finite number of elements”
Components of Grammar phonetic system
the sounds of the language phonological system
the sound patterns of the language lexical system
the words or vocabulary of the language morphological system
the patterns of word formation of language syntactic system
the structure of sentences of the language semantic system
the meanings of words and sentences of the language pragmatic system
how the language is used in the context of spoken discourse
Two Views of Language
Noam Chomsky Focus on ideal situation
Homogeneous speech community Competence = performance
Dell Hymes Focus on real people
Speech community is critical Competence ≠ Performance
Noam Chomsky
“Linguistic theory is concerned primarily with an ideal speaker-listener, in a completely homogeneous speech-
community, who knows its language perfectly and is unaffected by such
grammatically irrelevant conditions as memory limitation, distractions, shifts of
attention and interest, and errors in applying his [/her] knowledge of the
language in actual performance.”
Dell Hymes“A child from whom any and all of the grammatical
sequences of a language might come with equal likelihood would be, of course, a social monster. Within
the social matrix in which it acquires a system of grammar, a child acquires also a system of its use
regarding persons, places, purposes, other modes of communication, etc.--all the components of the
communicative events, together with attitudes and beliefs regarding them. There also develop patterns of
the sequential use of language in conversation, address, standard routines, and the like. In such acquisition
resides the child’s sociolinguistic competence (or more broadly, communicative competence), its ability to
participate in its society as not only a speaking but also a communicating member.”
You tell me…
If you had to choose between Chomsky & Hymes’ approaches, who would you support?
Is there a value in combining &/or balancing the two approaches?