Language The model for cognition.

Properties of Language. 1.Communicative: language permits us to communicate with one or more people. 2.Arbitrarily symbolic: Language creates an arbitrary relationship between a symbol and its referent: an idea, a thing, a process, a relationship, or a description. 3.Regularly Structured: Language has a structure; only particularly patterned arrangements of symbols have meaning, and different arrangements yield different meanings.

4.Structured at multiple levels: The structure of language can be analyzed at more than one level. 5.Generative, productive: Within the limits of a linguistic structure, language users can produce novel utterances. The possibilities for creating new utterances are virtually limitless. 6.Dynamic: Languages constantly evolve.

The two fundamental aspects of language 1.The receptive comprehension and decoding of language input. How we perceive and process language that is coming in to us. 2.The expressive encoding and production of language output. How we use language to express our thoughts to others.

The Hierarchy of Language Phoneme – the smallest unit of speech sound that can be considered an utterance. Example the “ah” in amazing Morpheme – the smallest unit that denotes meaning within a particular language. These include root words and Affixes (suffix and prefix) Lexicon- the entire set of morphemes one has in language or repertoire. i.e. your vocabulary.

Syntax – the way in which a person puts their words together to form a sentence. Semantics – the meaning behind a language or what meaning is applied. Discourse – language beyond a sentence. i. e. a story, conversation, or even a paragraph.

Language Comprehension Speech perception approaches. 1.Ordinary speech perception. The idea that language is perceived and recognized based on its similarity or how it fits in a template or “prototype” Support = Phonemic restoration- the tendency to restore missing portions of words based on context. The *eel was on the _____. bus, shoe, table, orange.

Speech perception approaches. 2.Speech Perception as Special. The idea that language is perceived based upon it’s differences. This theory basis it’s assumptions on the idea that recognizing the difference in phonemes is what causes a categorical perception.

Linguistic Relativity Hypothesis Idea that Language will have some effect on thought either: 1.Language is a determinant factor to thought. = Strong LRH 2.Language has a influential effect. Weak/Weakest LRH 3.Cognitive approach.

Strong LRH Originated with Whorf and his work with Navaho Indians. Due to aspect of language where shape changes the verb used to explain, Whorf suggested that this is evidence for Strong LRH Example = The verb will change if you are carrying a short stick or long stick.

Weakest LRH Originated with Carmichael Focused on the influence of labels affect on thought

Weak LRH Similar to weakest, so much in fact that they are commonly interchangeable. Main studies have looked at color boundaries and how they differ from language to language. Example = Davies and Corbett studied the differences in green-blue boundaries between Setswana, English, and Russian Languages. Setswana = botula, for all green/blue objects. English = Green, Blue Russian = zelenyj is green; sinij is dark blue; goluboj is light blue

Cognitive Approach Originated with Hunt and Agnoli Some Languages make it easier to describe ideas. Questions how much cognitive cost is their to describe an idea. Example = Kiriwina of New Guinea Word Mokita = 'truth everybody knows but nobody speaks’ Example = Chinese Vs English Numbering

Language Acquisition Language development varies from child to child, but there seems to be at least stages that seem universal to Language Acquisition. Main thing to understand is that there is a gradual progression from stage to stage and it is age influenced, but not dependent. The Stages are as follows

Pre-linguistic Stage This stage is pre using words. Common age birth to 1yr Step 1 - Most communication is done though crying. Different crying usually means different things. Step 2 cooing – infants start to use vowel sound like ooooo. Typically denotes pleasure or happiness. Step 3 babble – they start using consonants and vowels together “ba”, “pa”, “ma” Side note: these are all pretty universal among all languages.

One - Word Stage Usually begins around 12months. Step 1 First word - will usually not be adult words, but shows linking of word to idea example “nene”=bottle Step 2 Slow building – after 1 st word acquisition will be slow, maybe only 10 words over 4mths Step 3 vocabulary explosion. (16 to 18mths) Much more rapid language development 18months ~ 50 words 24months ~ 300 words.

Grammar - (Two Word + - stage) Early Grammar or Stage 1 Grammar– 18 to 30 months. Short and simple = idea and two to three words. Late Grammar or Stage 2 Grammar – 30months. Children start to use multiple word sentences including suffixes like “ing” and “ed” to show tense. –They also have a tendency to overregularise by adding suffixes to words that are not correct. –Example Goed instead of went or singed instead of sang.

Meaning and Pragmatics We also need to look at not only what is developed but how it is developed as far as how do children develop meaning of words, and how to use them.

Meaning Three basic principals seem to determine how children learning meaning. 1.The reference principle - words refer to things in their environment. 2.The extendability principle - the assumption that words refer to a class of objects not a unique object. 3.The whole-object principle - words refer to the whole object not just parts of it

Pragmatics How do they communicate with others? The fundamental question of Pragmatics. Not a lot is know about the process but we do know that by 18months they understand the concept of taking turns. I speak then you speak By the age of 4 they can use “motherese” or different speech when talking to adults or younger children. By 5 they have all the basic rules of Language down. Why? Mirror Neurons maybe?