Development of Language Flashcards
According to general beliefs, how long ago was spoken language developed?
Between 50,000 and 100,000 years ago
According to general belief, how long ago was written language developed?
About 5,000 years ago
What is the “bow-wow” theory?
Language evolved from early humans imitating sounds of nature to describe the things around them.
What is the “pooh-pooh” theory?
Language evolved from instinctual sounds humans made in emotional circumstances.
What is the “yo-he-ho” theory?
Language evolved from the sounds humans made when involved in physical effort, especially when the physical effort involved several people in a coordinated interaction.
What is meant by the Physical Adaptation Source?
To understand where human language came from we must look at the physical features humans possess, especially those that developed after humans began walking upright.
What major change happened when humans began to walk upright?
The way we breathe changed to be linked to the rhythm we walked.
What is meant by the Genetic Source?
Human offspring are born with a special capacity for language.
What is the Innateness Hypothesis?
Humans may contain a specific “language gene” not present in other animals that makes language possible.
What does the property of reflexivity account for?
The fact that we can use language to talk about language itself.
The does the property of displacement refer to?
The human ability to discuss the past and future.
What is meant by the arbitrariness of language?
The linguistic form of a word (usually) has no connection to its meaning.
What is cultural transmission?
This process whereby a language is passed on from one generation to the next.
What is described by productivity or open-endedness?
The ability to create new expressions by manipulating their linguistic resources to describe new objects and situations.
What is the opposite of productivity in communication?
Fixed reference
