Language Flashcards
What is general purpose communication?
If a communication system is used to convey information about any arbitrary topic. The ability to be able to understand each other while talking about anything
Which 3 aspects should a communication system be in order to be classified as a language?
- General Purpose
- Symbolically arbitrary
- Generative
What are pidgin languages and how do they form? why are they not considered to be a general purpose form of communication?
pidgin languages are what forms as a result of prolonged contact with someone that does not have the same language as you. They are considered to be non general purpose because they restrict all the topics a person can talk about to another person. e.g. its hard for the other person to have actual communication about anything using a pidgin because it would mostly consist of basic minimal words, hand signals or emotional cues
What are creoles and how do they form? Why are they considered a general purpose form of communication and accepted as a language?
Creoles evolve from children who are exposed to pidgin languages. Children are better at picking up and transforming languages than adults therefore by introducing a child to a pidgin, we see that syntax, complex sentences and nouns start to form, which no longer makes the communication system a pidgin, it makes it into a creole.
What was so significant about the Nicaraguan Sign Language development? What did it tell us about language formation?
NSL is an example of a pidgin language that transformed into a creole with the introduction of children. Within 3-4 years, deaf children at an institution in Nicaragua developed their own languages that evolved from their own interests and curiosity to communicate.
How does the ability to coin new words tie in with general purpose communication?
Our ability to coin new words shows that we can invent words in specific contexts to refer to very complex meanings, and we can readily pick up coined words and be able to understand them
What does a communication system have to be in order to be symbolically arbitrary?
A communication system that is symbolically arbitrary is if any other utterances can capture the same meaning of certain words.
What are phonesthemes?
words that sound the same and have similar meanings
what is symbol grounding? what does it tell us about human language?
symbolic grounding is when theres a systematic relationship between the sound of the word and the meaning. If the utterance has a non arbitrary meaning then its easier to understand. This tells us that some words in the human language are non arbitrarily chosen and therefore not symbolically arbitrary
What is etymology? what has it suggested on
language?
etymology is the study of words and their origins. It suggests that as words become mor frequently used in the human language, they become shorter over time and infrequently used words are lengthier. Therefore theres also a non arbitrary relationship between frequency of use and length of word
what is significant about how babies form words? how does it tie in with symbolically arbitrary communication?
baby speak tends to go in order of: mama, dada, baba and susu because it relates to how easy it is to form the utterance and how accessible that utterance is to the baby. E.g. mama is the easiest utterance to say and requires the least amount of motor control therefore its one the first words that babies say and it refers to their mother because shes the closest in terms of accessibility to them. This tells us that theres a non arbitrary mapping of language through infantile development
what does a communication system have to be in order to be generative?
there has to be a finite number of elements and those finite number of elements have to be combined in a infinite number of ways
what are the finite elements of human language?
finite elements are:
- phonemes
- morphemes
- letters
what are phonemes?
phonemes are basic vocal sounds that combine to produce speech
what is noticed in children’s phoneme acquisition?
although different languages have different phonemes, children are just as likely to react to new sounds even if its not in their native language. As they get older, their mind learns to separate the sounds that are not present in their native language, therefore making them lose their ability to detect those sounds even if they have the capacity to
