Language Spoken, Written, or gestured way we use words to convey meaning.

Language can be…..

The English language contain…. Phonemes Foe - neem The smallest units of sound in a language. English has about 40 phonemes. Morphemes The smallest unit of meaningful sound. Can be words like a or but. Can also be parts of words like prefixes or suffixes…”ed” at the end of a word means past tense. How many phonemes does platypus have? Not syllable

Grammar The system of rules in a language that allow us to communicate w/others. Syntax: – the order of words in a language. Is this the White House or the House White?

5 parts of Language Structure Phoneme – smallest distinctive unit of sound – Ex: “ch” sound Morpheme – smallest unit that carries meaning – Ex: “No” Grammar – system of rules in a language Semantics – the meaning of words – Ex: Rain, Reign, rein Syntax – the rules for combining words into grammatically sensible sentences

Language Acquisition Stages that we learn language… 1.Babbling Stage -3 or 4 months old -infants utter various sounds at first unrelated to the household language. 2.Holophrastic Stage (One word stage) -The child speaks in single words -1 to 2 years old -“No, Yes, Ball, Gimmie, Doggie”

Language Acquisition cont. 3.Two Word Stage -The stage in which the child speaks in mostly 2 word statements -2 years old 4.Telegraphic Speech Stage -Using mostly nouns & verbs to communicate -Child speaks like a telegram -“go car”

How do we learn language?

Language Summary of Language Development Month (approximate) Stage Babbles many speech sounds. Babbling reveals households language. One-word stage. Two-world, telegraphic speech. Language develops rapidly into complete sentences.

Social Learning Theory B.F. Skinner from the Behaviorist School Baby may imitate a parent. If they are reinforced they keep saying the word. If they are punished, they stop saying the word.

Chomsky’s Theory (Nativist theory) We learn language too quickly for it to be through reinforcement and punishment. Inborn universal language acquisition device – A critical period (window of opportunity to learn a skill or our development will permanently suffer) for learning language

Language  Genes design the mechanisms for a language, and experience activates them as it modifies the brain  Biology + Experience = Language

Language  New language learning gets harder with age Native Percentage correct on grammar test Age at school

Hmmm… Which came first…the chicken or the egg? Which comes first…thinking or language? Page 409

Whorf’s Linguistic Relativity The idea that language determines the way we think. The Hopi tribe has no past tense in their language, so Whorf says they rarely think of the past. Pg. 409

Language  The interplay of thought and language

Do animals use language?