Language Humans are built to accommodate language Language

Language • Humans are built to accommodate language • Language has some special properties that shape us as humans English 306 A; Harris

We’re mammals Distinctive traits include • • • Lactation Mammalian “isolation cry” Neoteny Middle ear Larynx English 306 A; Harris

We have special larynxes Functions • Controls airflow • Phonates English 306 A; Harris

We have special larynxes Functions • Controls airflow • Phonates (Glottis) English 306 A; Harris

Glottis • Air flow • Phonation (voicing) English 306 A; Harris

Glottis • Air flow • Phonation (voicing) English 306 A; Harris

Larynx, tongue, Heimlich Apes, australopithecus, babies • Tongue rooted in mouth • Larynx behind mouth • Can breathe and swallow at the same time Adult homo erecti + • Tongue rooted in throat • Larynx in throat • Cannot breathe and swallow at the same time English 306 A; Harris

Lower tongue root + larynx = • Consonants and vowels (big flappy lips help too) • Syllables • Patterns of rhythm and modulation English 306 A; Harris

Lower tongue root + larynx = Speech English 306 A; Harris

Oh, and one more thing English 306 A; Harris

Oh, and one more thing A brain English 306 A; Harris

Oh, and one more thing Motor cortex Wernicke’s area Broca’s area Auditory cortex English 306 A; Harris

Motor cortex English 306 A; Harris

Auditory cortex Tuned to language • Highly sensitive in the 5, 000 20, 000 Hz range • Discriminates phoneme boundaries English 306 A; Harris

Language areas Wernicke’s area ‘Conceptual’ Broca’s area ‘Grammatical’ English 306 A; Harris

Language properties Parity Universality Mutability Tacitness Displacement Duality Productivity (creativity) English 306 A; Harris

Parity All languages are equal. English 306 A; Harris

Universality All grammars share some basic properties. • Words • Nouns • Verbs • Sentences • Assertions • Questions • Semantic roles • Agents • Patients • Locations English 306 A; Harris

Mutability Languages change. cool neat groovy far-out radical cool English 306 A; Harris

Tacitness A great deal of grammatical knowledge is tacit knowledge. [p] vs [ph] vs [p¬] English 306 A; Harris

Charles Hockett’s ‘Design Features’ Parity Universality Mutability Tacitness Displacement Duality Productivity (creativity) English 306 A; Harris

Charles Hockett’s ‘Design Features’ There is. . . a sense in which [productivity], displacement, and duality. . . can be regarded as the crucial, or nuclear, or central properties of human language. English 306 A; Harris

Displacement Messages can refer to things remote in time and space, or both, from the site of the communication. English 306 A; Harris

Duality of patterning At every level: elements and combinatorics • • Sounds combine into syllables and morphemes Morphemes combine into words Words combine into phrases and sentences Sentences combine into turns or paragraphs • Turns combine into conversations • Paragraphs combine into texts English 306 A; Harris

Elements + combinatorics = Productivity (creativity) • • New vocables New words New sentences New meanings English 306 A; Harris

Elements + combinatorics = Language English 306 A; Harris

Language has special properties General • • Parity Mutability Universality Tacitness Conceptual • Displacement • Duality of patterning • Elements and combinatorics • Productivity English 306 A; Harris

Humans have special properties Humans are wired for language • Hardwired (anatomical) • • Throat, mouth, lips Ear Motor, auditory cortex Language areas • Softwired (conceptual) • Displacement • Duality of patterning • Productivity English 306 A; Harris

Any questions? • Humans are built to accommodate language • Language has some special properties that shape us as humans English 306 A; Harris