Unit VII: Cognition Part three-LANGUAGE

1. Unit VII: CognitionPart three-LANGUAGE • Language • our spoken, written, or gestured works and the way we combine them to communicate meaning • http://www.ted.com/talks/mark_pagel_how_language_transformed_humanity.html

2. Language • Genes design the mechanisms for a language, and experience activates them as it modifies the brain • (So is language acquisition nature or nurture?)

3. Language • Phoneme (M, T, Ch, P) • in a spoken language, the smallest distinctive sound unit • Morpheme (I, Re-, Love, So) • in a language, the smallest unit that carries meaning • may be a word or a part of a word (such as a prefix)

4. Morphemes: How many are there? people reddish George’s misspell redevelopment radish desirability water swimming language education higher orange grandmother unhappy finger liberally waited remain houseboat erasable antidisestablishmentarianism

5. Language • Grammar: (language rules) • a system of rules in a language that enables us to communicate with and understand others • Syntax: (sentence structure) • the rules for combining words into grammatically sensible sentences in a given language

6. Language • Semantics: study of meaning • the set of rules by which we derive meaningfrom morphemes, words, and sentences in a given language *When might you use this word in conversation and why?

7. 100 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 Percentage able to discriminate Hindi t’s Hindi- speaking adults 6-8 months 8-10 months 10-12 months English- speaking adults Infants from English-speaking homes Language • We are all born to recognize speech sounds from all the world’s languages What does this chart communicate about language and nature vs. nurture?

8. Language • 1. Babbling Stage • beginning at 3 to 4 months • the stage of speech development in which the infant spontaneously utters various sounds at first unrelated to the household language • http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/video/viral-video-twin-babies-secret-language-13247451 • 2. One-Word Stage • from about age 1 to 2 • the stage in speech development during which a child speaks mostly in single words

9. Language • 3. Two-Word Stage • beginning about age 2 • the stage in speech development during which a child speaks in mostly two-word statements • 4. Telegraphic Speech • early speech stage in which the child speaks like a telegram-–“go car”--using mostly nouns and verbs and omitting “auxiliary” words • Create a mnemonic for remembering the (4) stages

10. Summary of Language Development Month (approximate) Stage Babbles many speech sounds. 4 Babbling reveals households language. 10 12 One-word stage. 24 Two-world, telegraphic speech. 24+ Language develops rapidly into complete sentences. Language http://www.ted.com/talks/deb_roy_the_birth_of_a_word.html

11. Percentage correct on grammar test 100 90 80 70 60 50 Native 3-7 8-10 11-15 17-39 Age at school Language • New language learning gets harder with age

12. Thinking & Language • The interplay of thought and language: • If we think in words, does a limited vocabulary inhibit our ability to think? • Why/how?

13. Language • Linguistic Relativity/Sapir-Whorf hypothesis: language affects the way we conceptualize the world • Linguistic Determinism: Language determines the way we think http://youtu.be/ArTPdEWA1_4 (fast-talking student) http://youtu.be/hHQ2756cyD8(Stephen Fry & Hugh Laurie on Language) Do you agree or disagree?Give a supporting example…All 3s share your thoughts and other table members be ready to share

14. Linguistic Relativity/Linguistic Determinism • “The limits of your language mean the limits of your world.” • Ludwig Wittgenstein

15. Vocabulary • The Inuit (aka Eskimos) • 20+ words for snow • Fiji Islanders • No words for snow • Many words for coconuts • Arabic (not using adjectives, but different words) • 700 words to describe camels—height, weight, age, color, smell, etc.

16. More Vocabulary • Hawaiians • 25-30 different words for tides and waves • Surfers-glassy, macking, etc. • Wauroni (S. American tribal people) • No word for “work” • New Guinea tribal groups • No words for “war” • Hopi Indians • A single noun to refer to all flying things and beings (except for birds) • Insects=planes=aviators=superman

17. More Vocabulary • Americans and their love of cars • Types of non-commercial vehicles/transportation • e.g. sedan, convertible, 4WD, hatchback, notchback, truck, pickup truck, SUV, mini-SUV, mini-van, Hummer, single and double-cab pickup, etc.

18. The Sapir-WhorfHypothesis According to Sapir-Whorf hypothesis, all higher levels of thinking are dependent on language. Language determines thought, which is: linguistic determinism

19. And...because languages differ in many ways, speakers of different languages perceive and experience the world differently, relative to their linguistic back­ground, hence the notion oflinguistic relativism.

20. Linguistic Relativity: It is impossible to learn the language of a different culture unless the learner abandons own mode of thinking and acquires the thought patterns of the native speakers of target language

21. Arguments against the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis • The speakers of a language with no lexicalized word for“snow” does not mean that they can not grasp the concept of “snow • Grammar does not determine understanding • Morphemes (“s” or no “s”) • Translation • Second language acquisition

22. Direction of nectar source Animal Thinking and Language • The straight-line part of the dance points in the direction of a nectar source, relative to the sun

23. Animal Thinking and Language • Gestured Communication

24. Animal Thinking and Language • Is this really language?