Language

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Language

• Lynnette Summerland
• and
• Aimee Bryant

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Defined

• Any system of formalized symbols, signs, sounds,
  gestures, or the like used or conceived as a
  means of communicating thought and emotion

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Origin of Language

• Linguists agree that there are no existing
  primitive languages, and all modern human
  populations speak languages of comparable
  complexity.
• All humans possess similar linguistic abilities,
  and no child is born with a biological
  predisposition favoring any one language or type
  of language

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Endangered Languages

• By the year 2050, it is predicted that 90 percent
  of the worlds 6,000 languages will be dead or
  dying
• Healthy languages are those that are passed on to
  younger generations

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History

• Old English
• 450 - 1100
• Middle English
• 1100 - 1500
• Early Modern English
• 1500 1800
• Late Modern English
• 1800 - present
• http//www.youtube.com/watch?vSuxn3gbcF6A

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Properties

• Communicative
• Arbitrary
• Meaningfully Structured
• Multiply Structured
• Productive
• Dynamic

• Types
• Verbal
• Nonverbal

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Phones

• A speech sound considered without reference to
  its status as a phoneme or an allophone in a
  language.
• Phonemes-The smallest phonetic unit in a language
  that is capable of conveying a distinction in
  meaning, as the m of mat and the b of bat in
  English.

• Phonemics-of or relating to phonemes of a
  particular language
• Phonetics- the study of the articulatory and
  acoustic properties of the sounds of human
  language.

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Lip-synching
Video
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Syntax

• The pattern of formation of sentences or phrases
  in a language.

• Computer Science.
• The rules governing the formation of statements
  in a programming language.

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Morphemes, Lexicon, Vocabulary

• A meaningful linguistic unit consisting of a
  word, such as man, or a word element, such as -ed
  in walked, that cannot be divided into smaller
  meaningful parts.

• The morphemes of a language considered as a group
  (or a dictionary)
• All the words of a language
• www.answers.com

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Vocabulary

• Grade 1 Student 1,000 words
• Normal Person (Graduate) 5,000 to 6,000 words
• University Professor 15,000 words
• Spelling Bee Winners 30,000 (as claimed by
  them)
• College Dictionary (Abridged) 50,000 - 70,000
• Total Words in English Language 250,000
  (Growing)
• Dictionary (Un-abridged) with derivatives
  450,000

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Views of Language Development
Saussure
Skinner
Chomsky
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Age Receptive Expressive
Birth-3months Aware of sounds, recognize familiar voice Pleasure, pain, smiles, coos , differential cries
4-6 months NO, responsive to changes in tone Vocal play, speech like babbling
7-12 months Listens, responds to name and requests, knows names of familiar objects Speech or other sounds to get attention, 1st words
1-2 yrs Points out pictures, body parts, responds to simple commands, questions. Repeat please 2-word questions, more consonants are used
2-3 years Understands 2 stage commands, contrasting concepts (hot/cold) Naming things, understood by family members
3-4 Who? What? Where? Longer sentences, tell stories
4-5 Hears and understands nearly everything said TO them Long detailed sentences, stories, understood clearly
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Processing Language
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Semantics and Pragmatics

• The study of language with special concern for
  the meanings of words and other symbols.

• The study of the ability of natural language
  speakers to communicate more than that which is
  explicitly stated.
• The ability to understand another speaker's
  intended meaning is called pragmatic competence
• Pragmatics is regarded as one of the most
  challenging aspects for language learners to
  grasp, and can only truly be learned with
  experience.

http//www.cartoonstock.com/lowres/cgr0149l.jpg
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Speech Errors

• Freudian Slip
• Slip of the Tongue
• Spoonerisms
• (Bass Ackwards )
• Tip of the Tongue
• Malapropism
• What are you incinerating?..." (i.e.,
  insinuating) Galton and Simpson, Steptoe and
  Son ("Doodlebug over Shepherd's Bush")
• video

http//www.cartoonstock.com/newscartoons/cartoonis
ts/dpa/lowres/dpan107l.jpg
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Alternative forms of Communication

• Texting
• E-mail
• IM
• Letters

• Phones
• Chat Rooms
• Social Networking
• Slang

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Men vs. Women

• Men
• Communicate Information
• Maintain Status
• Talk about Future Action
• Solve problems
• Fear loss of independence
• Mean talk more overall, but more in public
• More activity, less conversation

• Women
• Talk to create and support relationships
• Talk for its own sake
• Establish intimacy
• Seek emotional support through language
• Women talk less, but more at home
• Less activity, more conversation

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References

• www.answers.com
• www.peace.saumag.edu/faculty/kardas
• http//www.channel4.com/entertainment/t4/advertori
  al/try-life-in-another-language/index.html