Salstenta 1 Flashcards
(108 cards)
The divine source
o The basic hypothesis seems to have been that, if human infants were allowed to grow up without hearing any language around them, then they would spontaneously begin using the original God-given language. Not possible because then all people would speak the same language.
Bow-wow theory
o The idea that early human speech developed from imitations of natural sounds in the environment.
Pooh-pooh theory
o The idea that early human speech developed from the instinctive sounds people make in emotional circumstances.
Yo-he-ho
o The idea that early human speech developed from situations of physical effort, especially when performed in groups and the interaction had to be coordinated.
Predispositions of speech
o Bipedal locomotion, rhythm of breathing no longer tied to rhythm of walking, upright + even + smaller teeth, intricate muscles of lips, small mouth with an ability to open and close quickly, shorter + thicker + more muscular tongue, lower positioning of voicebox, created longer cavity – pharynx – resonator = ability to choke.
o The overall effect of these changes is a face with more intricate muscle interlacing in the lips and mouth, capable of a wider range of shapes and a more rapid and powerful delivery of sounds
The tool-making source
o It may be that there was an evolutionary connection between the language-using and tool-using abilities of humans and that both were involved in the development of the speaking brain.
One rock + another rock = tool. One sound + another sound = communication.
The genetic source
o Deaf children become fluent in sign language – this seems to indicate that human offspring are born with a special capacity for language.
Innateness hypothesis
o Points to something in human genetics, possibly a crucial mutation or two
Communicative signals
o Intended communication, typically speech
Informative signals
o Unintentional, as a cough indicating you have a cold
Glossolalia
o “Speaking in tongues” – the production of sounds and syllables in a stream of speech that seems to have no communicative purpose.
Human vs. animal
o When we speak of distinctions between human language and animal communication, we are considering both in terms of their potential for intentional communication
Properties of human language
Reflexivity Displacement Arbitrariness Cultural transmission Productivity Duality
Reflexivity
o The ability to use language to speak about language.
Displacement
o The ability to speak of things not in the immediate vicinity.
Arbitrariness
o A property of language describing the fact that there is not natural connection between a linguistic form and its meaning.
Cultural transmission
o The process whereby knowledge of a language is passed from one generation to the next. A Korean child brought up in the USA will speak English. Contrastingly, kittens will say ‘meow’ regardless. Bird are a gray zone.
Productivity
o A property of language that allows users to create new expressions, ‘open-endedness’.
- Opposite - Fixed reference: A property of a communication system whereby each signal is fixed as relating to one particular object or occasion.
Duality
o A property of language whereby linguistic forms have two simultaneous levels of sound production and meaning
o Also called ‘double articulation’. /d//a://g/ means nothing, ‘dog’ has meaning.
Speaking to animals
o Response to sound stimulus, doesn’t actually ‘understand’ the meaning of the words. Animals generally don’t learn to produce the sounds of another species.
Chimps
o Conclusion: Chimps could take part in interactions with humans using a symbol system provided by humans. They ‘use language’ but use limited and taught phrases. Children grow to potentially produce infinitely many unique utterances.
Articulatory phonetics
o The study of how speech sounds are made, or articulated.
Consonant
o A speech sound produced by restricting the airflow in some way.
Vowel
o A sound produced through the vocal folds without constriction of the airflow in the mouth.
