Module 3: Language

What are some examples of attempts to teach other animals to comprehend and produce language?

- Animals can be taught the rudiments of language a) Rico (dog) -200+ word knowledge b) Sign/symbol language in chimps

Language Development

- Babies in the womb begin to hear from about month 5 - Newborn babies (1-3 days old) show a preference for their mother's native tongue - This suggests that language discrimination begins in the womb

What are some examples of different kinds of communication produced by non-human animals?

- Many animals communicate a) Sounds b) visually c) smells d) Mostly simple & unidirectional e) Sometimes complex (waggle-dance- bees)

What are words? + example

- can be used by themselves to have meaning - smallest unit of language that can be used in isolation and be meaningful - around 250,000 words in the English language

What are morphemes? + example

- combinations of phonemes - smallest unit WITH meaning - don't have meaning by themselves but do when combined with words or in sentences - " S = Dogs" or "The = The cat" • The 40 phonemes in English can create > 100,000 morphemes

What are the differences between human language and communication in other animals?

- human language fits all the 5 properties of language - animal communication doesn't and is likely to not be language

What does it mean to say that language is hierarchically organized?

- is made of building blocks that add together in a hierarchical fashion to form more complex words, phrases and sentences

What sorts of inferences can we draw from the historical record in regard to the evolution of language in humans?

- language was around 40-60 thousand years ago likely longer Earliest recorded examples of language are written • Sumerian cuneiform and Egyptian hieroglyphs • Around 4,000 years ago But it is highly probable that language emerged much earlier than this How do we use language?• It is symbolic, generative and allows for displacement ....

How does the development of speech comprehension differ from speech production?

- learn to comprehend speech earlier than speaking -- Comprehend first word = @ about 6 months -- Speak first word = @ about 12 months - @ 2 years vocab of around 50-100 words & first simple sentences develop -- first sentences appear e.g. "more milk"

What are phonemes? + example

- smallest unit of language without meaning - individual sounds we make with vocal apparatus - • English has around 40 phonemes • !Kung has around 141 phonemes

What are phrases & sentences? + example

- words combine to make phrases - phrases combine to make sentences The construction of phrases and sentences is rule-based

To what extent have researchers have been successful in teaching language to other animals?

But no strong evidence of the presence of all five properties of language - meaning its probably not language

What are some examples of typical utterances at each of the 4 stages of early language development?

1. Cooing = "Oooo" & "Aaaaah" 2. Syllables = "Ga" & "Doh" 3. Reduplicative Babbling = "Bababababa" 4. Conversational Babbling = "Gadaba...Bomo, ha!"

What are the four stages of early language development?

1. Cooing = only vowel sounds - @ 2 months e.g. "Oooooo" "Aaaah" 2. Syllables = can coordinate vowel & consonant sounds - @ 3-4 months e.g. "Ga" "Doh" 3. Reduplicative Babbling = long strings of repeated syllables in continuous stream - @ 6 months e.g. "Bababababa" "Omomomomom" 4. Conversational Babbling = mixing syllables & using conversational tone & form - @ 10 months e.g. "Gadaba ... bomomo, ha!"

What are some of the other biological bases of language?

1. FOXP2 gene 2. Neurophysiology (Broca's, Wernike's, etc) 3. Cognitive architecture (abstraction etc) 4. Sophisticated vocal apparatus

What are the nature and nurture theories of language development?

1. Nature = Noam Chomsky - humans are hardwired for language acquisition - there is a critical period for language development 2. Nurture = B.F Skinner - language is learnt via imitation & reinforcement - parents shape language development by correcting errors

What are the building blocks of language?

1. Phonemes 2. Morphemes 3. Words 4. Phrases 5. Sentences

What are the five defining properties of language? & what are examples of each?

1. it is meaningful = individual words have meaning and they combine into sentences that also have meaning - "the cow jumped over the moon" 2. it is symbolic = sounds, signs & text are used to symbolise concepts - "the chair is blue" = chair has 4 legs and seat & is colour blue 3. it has rules (grammar) = governs how symbols are combined to form meaning - "Hungry I am vs I am hungry" 4. it is generative & infinite = use building blocks of language to generate infinite amount of new meaningful messages 5. it allows for displacement = can communicate ideas about past or future & things that arent occurring or present at the moment or place - "Last year I saw the cow jump over the moon"

Cognitive processes and language

Brain-as-computer metaphor • There are numerous cognitive processes directly involved in language production and comprehension Two important precursors for language development: • Abstraction and mental representations • Without these cognitive processes language would not be symbolic

Compare and contrast Broca's and Wernike's areas

Brocha's - left hemisphere of frontal lobe - helps produce language - damage to area affects language production (stilted and halting speech) - Comprehension largely unaffected Wernike's - left hemisphere of temporal lobe - associated with language comprehension, word retrieval & ability to produce sentences that have meaning - Actual production of language can still be quite fluent even if it is lacking meaning

Sign language for language production

Washoe: 160 different signs Nim Chimpsky: combining signs into longer sentences Kanzi: 80 symbols and could combine them in novel ways. About equivalent to a 2-3 year old human child very limited