Language

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Language

• A means of communication.

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Language can be..
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All languages contain.

• Phonemes

• Morphemes

• The smallest units of sound in a language.
• English has about 44 phonemes.

• The smallest unit of meaningful sound.
• Can be words like a or but.
• Can also be parts of words like prefixes or
  suffixesed at the end of a word means past
  tense.

How many phonemes does platypus have?
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Grammar

• The rules of a language.
• Syntax the order of words in a language.

Is this the White House or the House White?
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Language Acquisition

• Stages that we learn language
• Babbling Stage
• Holophrastic Stage (one word stage)
• Telegraphic Speech Stage
• After the telegraphic stage we get
  overgeneralization.

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How do we learn language?
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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.

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Chomskys Theory(nativist theory)

• We learn language too quickly for it to be
  through reinforcement and punishment.
• Inborn universal language acquisition device

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Whorfs 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.

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Do animals use language?