Chapter 1

Language is a RULE-GOVERNED system

-A language user's underlying knowledge about language rules is called linguistic competence -Linguistic knowledge in actual usage is linguistic performance -Reasons for discrepenacy between LC and LP include long and short term constraints *Long term: ethnic background, SES, region, intellectual disability, ASD *Short term: physical state changes and situational variations -Comprehension is impacted by intent, context, shared meanings, and linguistic complexity -Children learn language rules slowly through decoding the language spoken by others, and by trying encoding their own thoughts -Formal rules learned later at school

Language is a SOCIAL TOOL

-Communication is the purpose of language -Code for transmission between people -Social interactive tool that is based on rules, but also creative -Language reflects the collective thinking of its culture and influences such thinking

Pragmatics, con't

-Conversation is governed by the "cooperation principle" (quantity, quality, relation, manner) *Quantity refers to the informativeness of each participant's contribution *Quality is governed by truthfulness and based on sufficient evidence *Relation states that a contribution should be relevant to the topic of conversation *Manner - each participant should be reasonably direct -Three general categories of pragmatic rules concern selection of the appropriate linguistic form, use of language forms consistent with assumed rules, and use of ritualized forms. -Speech may be direct or indirect -Speech may also be literal, nonliteral, or both -Roles of the communication partners often influence the choice of vocabulary and language form -Predictable forms ease social interactions and individual participation

properties of language

-Language is a social tool -Language is a rule-governed system -Language is Generative -Language is reflexive *The ability to communicate beyond the immediate context is called displacement *The symbols used in a language are arbitrary, a suggested relationship between the sounds and object/action

Language is GENERATIVE

-Language is productive and creative -Knowledge of the rules allows speakers to generate meaning utterances -Creative because words can mean multiple things, that can be called by more than one name, and words can be combined in a variety of ways -Endless possibilities to create new sentences -Children learn rules that govern word combinations and NOT all combinations

Morphology

-Morphology is concerned with the internal organization of words -Words consist of one or more small units of meaning, called morphemes -A morpheme is the smallest grammatical unit -Most words in English consist of one or two morphemes *Free morphemes are independent + stand alone (e.g., toy, big, happy). *Bound morphemes are grammatical markers, cannot stand alone (e.g., ‐s, ‐est, ‐ly) *Derivational morphemes include both prefixes and suffixes; they change whole classes of words *Inflectional morphemes are suffixes only; they change the state or increase the precision of the free morpheme -Languages differ in their relative dependence on syntactic and morphological components

Phonology

-Phonology is the study of phonemes, and is concerned with the rules governing the structure, distribution, and sequencing of speech sounds and the shape of syllables -A phoneme is the smallest linguistic unit of sound Phonemes are classified by acoustic properties, manner, and place of production -English has approximately 43 phonemes -Humans can make approximately 600 possible sounds -Phonological rules - distribution + sequencing of phonemes within a language -Distributional rules - sounds can be employed in various positions in words -Sequencing rules determine which sounds may appear in combination, address coarticulation

Pragmatics

-Pragmatics is the study of language in context and concentrates on language as a communication tool that is used to achieve social ends -Pragmatics consists of: communication intentions and recognized ways of carrying them out, conversational rules or principles, and types of discourse and their construction -Successful pragmatic skills require understanding of the culture and of individuals -Speech must involve the appropriate persons and circumstances, be complete and correctly executed by all participants, and contain the appropriate intentions of all participants -Not all speech performs an act. -Pragmatic rules govern sequential organization and coherence of conversations, repair of errors, role, and intentions

Syntax

-Rules that govern the form or structure of a sentence -Syntax specifies word, phrase, and clause order; sentence organization -It specifies which word combinations are acceptable and which are not -Each sentence must contain a noun phrase and a verb phrase -Word classes may be deleted or added; the noun and verb must remain -Often difficult to follow prescribed language rules, usually in writing -Languages can be divided into those with free word order, and those with word‐order rules

Semantics

-Semantics governs the meaning or content of words and word combinations. -World knowledge is an individual's autobiographical and experiential understanding and memory of particular eve *Word knowledge forms each person's mental dictionary or thesaurus *With more experience, knowledge becomes less dependent on events. Concepts in world knowledge may eventually be formed without first-hand experience. We share definitions with others as we converse. -Concept development results in increased validity, status, and accessibility. *Accessibility relates to the ease of retrieval from memory and use of the concept. *The more one knows about a word and the more it is used to communicate, the easier it is to access. -Semantic features are aspects of the meaning that characterize the word -Language users acquire new features, delete old ones, and reorganize -Relationships between symbols are more important than definitions *Words with almost identical features are synonyms *Antonyms differ only in the opposite value of a single important feature -Knowledge of semantic features allows a rich vocabulary of alternative words and meanings -Sentence meanings are more important than individual word meanings -Mature language users generally recall the overall sentence meaning better than the form

communication

-the process of exchange information and ideas, needs, and desires between 2+ individuals *involves encoding, transmitting and decoding the message *requires a sender and receiver - the degree to which the speaker is successful in communicating is called communication competence

speech

-verbal means of communication -requires neuromuscular coordination -involves specific sounds (phonemes) and sound combinations -children experiment with the vocal mechanism and sound production during the first year of life -sounds eventually reflect the language of the child's environment -non-speech behaviors can carry up to 60% of information during conversation

Components of Language

1. Form: syntax, morphology, phonology 2. Content: semantics 3. Use: pragmatics

communication competence

A competent communicator is able to conceive, formulate, modulate, and issues messages and to recognize if message was accurately conveyed or understood - communication is complex, systematic, collaborative, and context-bound, used for social action -Speech and Language are only parts of communication *Paralinguistics, non linguistic information, and metalinguistics

nonlinguistic cues

Includes gestures, body posture, facial expression, eye contact, head and body movement, and physical distance

metalinguistic skills

Skills required to talk about language, analyze it, think about it and see it as an entity separate from its context *Language can be ambiguous, so each partner must monitor cues and signals *Communication likely began with gestures and later resulted in vocal communication *Humans' unique vocal tracts and articulatory abilities + brain power = ability to use speech and language *The rules of language enable humans to communicate messages *Grammar arose to express more complex relationships

paralinguistics codes

Use of suprasegmental devices to change the form + meaning -Intonation - use of tone/pitch to signal mood, statement vs. questions, emotions, importance -Stress - used for emphasis and to convey speaker's attitudes -Pitch - high/low voice, emphasis, marks divisions, used to give prominence -Rate + Rhythm - use of speed, varies with excitement, familiarity with content, perceived listener's comprehension

language

complex, dynamic system of symbols used for communication (verbal+written) -language evolves within specific historical, social and cultural contexts -rule governed -five domains: phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics, and pragmatics, -language learning and use determined by the interventions of biological, cognitive, psychosocial and environmental factors -users agree on the symbols and speech used to represent meaning

linguists

language scientists that study and determine rules of a language used to communicate

psycholinguistics

study of how people acquire and process language