Language Imagine an alien species that can pass

Language Imagine an alien species that can pass thoughts from one head to another just by pulsating air molecules. . . A means of communication.

I cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was rdanieg The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid Aoccdrnig to rscheearch taem at Cmabrigde Uinevtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoatnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit a porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Such a cdonition is arppoiately cllaed Typoglycemia. (Actually, no such research was carried out at Cambridge University. It all started with a letter to the New Scientist magazine from Graham Rawlinson in Well, lets see… which he discusses his Ph. D. thesis)

Language can be…. .

All languages contain…. Phonemes – The smallest units of sound in a language. – English has about 44 phonemes. – Generally consonant phonemes carry more meaning than vowels: The treth ef thes stetement shed be evedent frem thes bref demenstretien. – Just changing a vowel phonemes between two consonants can make many meanings fun. -B and T bait, bat, beat/beet, bit, bite, boat, boot, bought, bout, and but

All languages contain…. • 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 and morphemes in the word CATS?

Grammar Is this the White House or the House White? • The rules of a language. • Semantics: set of rules we use to derive meaning from morphemes, words, and sentences. (Laugh and Laughed carries different meanings) • Syntax: the order of words in a language.

Cool to know • 7100 human languages • !XU has 141 phonemes/ Papua New Guinea has 11 • Most common consonants are P, T, and K • Phonemes + Syntax = Dialect • Myth: people that speak improper English are unintelligent/Truth: they speak a different dialect with different grammar • “Ain’t got none” is grammatically equal to “doesn’t have any” • Know how to code switch

Language Development How many words do you think the average American learns between their first birthday and high school graduation? 60, 000 3, 500 each year 10 a day Only 200 words are taught by your teachers

Language Development • Seldom do we form sentences before they come out of our mouths at three words a minute! • Sentences organize themselves on the fly, all while adapting to our social and cultural context

Language Acquisition http: //www. youtube. com/watch? v=2 i 1 z 37 n. YMr. M Stages that we learn language… 1. Babbling Stage – 4 months, spontaneously uttering various sounds. 2. One Word Stage / holographic speech – Age 1 to 2, speaking single words 3. Two Word Stage / Telegraphic speech – Age 2, two-word statements. Nouns and verbs, mostly. 4. Complex sentences

How do we learn language?

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 http: //education-portal. com/academy/lesson/language-acquisition. html • We learn language too quickly for it to be through reinforcement and punishment. • Novel sentences and Overgeneralization (-ed) • Inborn universal language acquisition device • All language has the same grammatical building blocks

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.

Do animals use language?

Can Apes Really Talk? Apes gain their vocabulary with great difficulty; children soak up dozens of new words effortlessly. Saying apes can learn language because they can sign words is like saying humans can fly because they can jump. ====================== Chimps can make signs or push buttons in sequence to get a reward, but pigeons can peck a sequence of keys to get grain. ====================== Apes can certainly use symbols meaningfully but “ Give orange me give eat orange me eat orange--” is a far cry from the exquisite syntax of a 3 year old. To a child “you tickle and “me tickle” communicate different ideas; a chimp uses them interchangeably. (Myers, 2004)

Critical Period • Childhood seems to be a critical period for language acquisition • Deaf children who receive cochlear implants at age 2 develop better speech skills than a child who receives the implant at age 4