Psycholinguistics I Definition II Four Rules III Growth

Psycholinguistics I. Definition II. Four Rules III. Growth of Grammar to Meet the Four Rules IV. UOP (Universal Operation Principles) V. Comprehension// Production Yun-Pi Yuan 1

I. Definition Psycholinguistics: the study of the mental processes of listening, speaking, and acquisition of language by children (Nash 10) Purpose: l l l To figure out what people have to know about language in order to use it; how that knowledge is used to process lang. Issues: l l l How do you form an utterance in your mind and utter it? How do you take in lang. you hear & figure out what it is? How do babies learn language? How do you learn a L 2? Yun-Pi Yuan 2

II. Four Rules (1) l l The 4 rules that language must follow. Various competing pressures on lang. (from inside and outside the learner), like on you as a student—different people (including yourself) ask you to do different things—you have to work out a compromise. These pressures shape the form of your life constantly, so that the form of your life continually changes. The competing pressures on lang. keep it in a state of DYNAMIC EQUILIBRUM (“a constantly changing balance”). (Nash 13) Yun-Pi Yuan 3

II. Four Rules (2) 1. Be clear: one form one meaning (one-to-one mapping) e. g. , Russian (one form more than one meaning), not one-to-one mapping 2. Be processible: Grammatical markers (e. g. , relative pronouns) help, esp. under pressures of time, memory, & communication. e. g. , The editor who the authors who the newspaper hired liked laughed. 3. Be quick and easy: time pressure in speaking (the use of contractions and run-ons, & reduction of grammatical markers). e. g. , Contraction (I’d, I’m, can’t, won’t…) 4. Be expressive: Semantic expressiveness & rhetorical expressiveness * Conclusion: Four rules are competing with each other. (Nash 14) Yun-Pi Yuan 4

Be Clear (1) l Psychologically, the mind is expecting one-toone mapping (of meaning onto form; how meaning is encoded). l Meaning NOT l Form X Y Z Yun-Pi Yuan Z (Russian) 5

Be Clear (2) l Examples (Russian) l l l l used as dom “house” masculine inanimate subject ulica “street” feminine subject čuvstvo “sensation” neuter, subject ending as object Ø ? ? ? -a -o What’s the ending if the word is used as object? dom ulicu čuvstvo Yun-Pi Yuan 6

Be Clear (3) l Sentence examples: l l l l “Tanya killed Marsha. ” (Both are feminine nouns). Tanja ubila Mašu ubila Tanja Mašu ubila. Mašu Tanja ubila. Ubila Mašu Tanja. Ubila Tanja Mašu. Yun-Pi Yuan 7

Be Clear (4) l l Note: how word endings allow very free WORD ORDER (contrast to English: passive voice) Now, how do you say “Marsha killed Tanya”? Tanju ubila Maša. Ubila Tanju Maša. Yun-Pi Yuan 8

Be Clear (5) l N Russian, quite confusing, no? masculine (in)animate subject masculine animate object Ø N -a masculine inanimate object Yun-Pi Yuan feminine subject 9

Be Clear (6) l l Which ending has only one combination of meanings? -u Russian children, learning their native lang. , in an attempt at clarity (looking for one-to-one mapping, of meaning onto form), at one stage end all objects in –u. Children’s learning is one factor contributing to change in languages. Yun-Pi Yuan 10

Be Processible (1) l Which of the following sentences is easier for you to understand? l l l The student the teacher hit cried. The student whom the teacher hit cried. The man the dog bit died. The man that the dog bit died. The editor the authors the newspaper hired liked laughed. The editor who the authors [who the newspaper hired] liked laughed. Yun-Pi Yuan 11

Be Processible (2) l What makes the difference? l l l grammatical markers Grammatical markers (e. g. , relative pronoun) help the mind process the sentences. Also memory factor: short term memory +- 7 units Children seems to pay attention to the ends of words, so if ling. markers appear at the ends of words, they’ll be easier for children to learn. Be processible means: lang. must have forms which take advantage of the ways in which the human brain works, forms which allow people to comprehend more easily. Yun-Pi Yuan 12

Be Quick and Easy l l l [d itj t]? [whacha gonnaa du tomr ]? Time pressure & principle of least effort (messages must be communicated before other things get in the way) l time: the class ends l other messages: another speaker takes over the conv. l boredom; memory factor l Forms: l l reduction of grammatical markers contractions (don’t, can’t, won’t, isn’t …) run-ons (wanna, gonna) Competing with Be Clear & Be Processible Yun-Pi Yuan 13

Be Expressive (1) l Ways to express the image: (at least 8) MAT CAT Yun-Pi Yuan 14

Be Expressive (2) l Semantic expressiveness l l l basic meaning thought language Rhetorical expressiveness (present info. In a variety of ways; one of the main reasons for complexity of lang. ) l l to communicate well and effectively (comm. needs) various forms for different purposes: l l emphasis focus points of view organization of information Yun-Pi Yuan 15

Be Expressive (3) l l Grammar develops to fulfill more communicative needs (rhetorical expressiveness) than the expression of basic meanings (semantic expressiveness). So, a great # of lang. forms are needed will compete with the rules to be clear, processible, quick and easy. More complicated forms will be required: to hint, tell jokes, be as vague or as clear as you want, avoid responsibility, be ambiguous, be poetic, etc. Yun-Pi Yuan 16

Conclusion on Four Rules (1) l l Lang. cannot follow all 4 rules completely at all because they conflict with each other. E. g. , to be perfectly clear, messages would take too long; if we’re fully expressive, we may not be clear (e. g. , lit. ); the quickest and easiest message may not be clear or very expressive (e. g. , a grunt reply). SO—dynamic equilibrium—changing always to maintain balance. Yun-Pi Yuan 17

Conclusion on Four Rules (2) l Language must be able to communicate meaningful things (semantically expressive), must have many ways to present the same info. (rhetorically expressive), must be fast and fairly easily produced and comprehended (quick & easy; processible), and must be clear in meaning and form (clear). Yun-Pi Yuan 18

III. Growth of Grammar to Meet the Four Rules (1) l Pidgin (Yule 233 -235) l l l l a simplified contact language; a variety of a lang. which developed for some practical purpose & limited function mix languages, marginal language, incomplete lang. developed for practical purposes no native speakers limited vocabulary and a reduced grammatical structure creative adaptations of natural languages, with a structure/rules of their own mostly based on European langs. (reflecting the history of colonialism) Yun-Pi Yuan 19

III. Growth of Grammar to Meet the Four Rules (2) l Creole (Yule 233 -235) l l a pidgin that developed into a native lang. through its use by children (= 1 st lang. of the children of pidgin speakers) has native speakers and not restricted in its uses more complex sentence structures and vocabulary (to cope with the everyday demands made on a mother tongue by its speakers) classified according to the lang. from which most of their vocabulary comes l l Eng. -based: Jamaican Creole, Hawaiian Creole French-based: Haitian Creole Yun-Pi Yuan 20

III. Growth of Language to Meet the Four Rules (3) l History of Hawaiian pidgin: l l British & American took over Hawaii and discovered that pineapples & sugarcanes could make money In need of lots of hardworking labors So, imported foreign labors from China, Japan, the Philippines, Korea, in addition to local Hawaiians Creation of Hawaiian pidgin for purpose of communication on the job Yun-Pi Yuan 21

III. Growth of Language to Meet the Four Rules (4) l Pidgin Creole (more elaborated), under the pressure of Be Expressive l l For people to be able to say more, say things better & more effectively Because of limited function, pidgins usually don’t last very long (sometimes for only a few years), & rarely for more than a century. (They die when the original reason for communication disappears). Yun-Pi Yuan 22

Hawaiian Pidgin Hawaiian Creole l Standard English “I am eating” l Hawaiian Creole (+ progressive) l l l I stay kaukau I stay eat Hawaiian Pidgin l l Me kaukau Me eat I kaukau I eat l Yun-Pi Yuan Note: “kau kau” =Hawaiianization of Chinese pidgin Eng. “chow” (“to eat”, probably in Cantonese) 23

Tok Pisin (1) l Another pressure: Be Processible l Tok Pisin (with relative clauses) In 1920’s Margaret Mead worked in Papua New Guinea—reported no relative clause structures in Tok Pisin l Other investigators reported it in 1976: so it developed in about 50 years. l Yun-Pi Yuan 24

Tok Pisin (2) l l Particle IA inserted at beginning & end of relative clause easy for listeners to process Examples: (IA = RC marker) (1) (2) (3) Na pik IA ol ikilim bipo IA bai ikamap olsem draipela ston. “And this (the) pig which they had killed before would turn into a huge stone. ” Meri IA em i yangpela meri, draipela meri IA em harim istap. “The girl, who was a young, big girl, was listening. ” Em wanpela America IA iputim naim long en. “It was an American who gave her name. ” Yun-Pi Yuan 25

Tok Pisin (3) Conclusion: l l This grammatical marker IA has developed as Tok Psin followed the Four Rules. IA has allowed Tok Psin to become more expressive, while at the same time remaining processible. Yun-Pi Yuan 26

IV. Universal Operating Principles (UOP) l l l Universal learning strategies children automatically used; based on the way the human mind works and closely related to the four rules. They’re a child’s initial expectations about how language works. The child brings certain operating principles (methods of attack) to bear on the task of learning lang. , regardless of the lang. he’s exposed to. These operating principles are based on general perceptual and information-processing principles. Yun-Pi Yuan 27

Universal Operating Principle A l l UOP A: Pay attention to the ends of words. Suffixes: (inflections in Eng. are all suffixes) l l plural, possessive, present/past tense, present/past participle, comparative, superlative Postposition l markers of location placed after the noun of location l Markers of location: l concept of relation of location/spatial relations—where things are in relation to each other l examples: in, on, at Children can understand the concept of “in, on” long before they can speak. In all langs. they express these ideas very early, with no ling. marking. E. g. , “pot stove” Children learn the adult form (proper grammar) earlier when the marker of location is placed after the noun of location, rather than before it. Yun-Pi Yuan 28

UOP A (2) l English preposition spoon in the pot spoon outside the pot spoon next to the pot l Hungarian postposition hajó “boat” hajóban “in the boat” hajóbol “moving out from inside the boat” hajótol “moving away from next to the boat” Postposition is easier to learn than preposition. Yun-Pi Yuan 29

UOP A (3) l Turkish postpositions (faked): l l l pot stove on spoon pot in Chinese: l l 球在盒子裡 在 might complicate the learning. So, it’s hard to say whether it’s also easy for Chinese children to learn (since markers of location is after the noun of location) as it is for Hungarian & Turkish kids. Yun-Pi Yuan 30

UOP A (4) l l l Markers of location placed after the noun are easier for children to learn—somehow easier to perceive—for reasons of attention & memory (i. e, children notice markers in some places more than in others). So, children seem to be paying attention to the ends of words. Note: it doesn’t mean the whole language (e. g. , Hungarian) is easier to learn than Eng. Yun-Pi Yuan 31

Universal Operating Principle B l l UOP B: There are elements of language (i. e. , grammatical markers) which show the relations between other elements of language. This follows from UOP A: children are expecting to find grammatical elements to indicate relations between words (they’re looking for them at the ends of words)—the postpositions and prepositions we saw in Hungarian, Turkish, & Eng. indicate where things are in relation to each other. Yun-Pi Yuan 32

UOP B (2) l Grammatical markers: l Relative pronouns: The girl who danced with me was lovely. The book that is on the table is yours. l Pronouns: Rachel gave me her book. When the man fell down, he hurt his leg. l l Be: The man is handsome. S-V agreement: The woman comes here every day. Yun-Pi Yuan 33

Universal Operating Principle C l UOP C: Avoid exceptions. l Children prefer consistent and regular systems. They often develop a system more regular than the adult system. 5 stages: (Nash 16) l l l No marking Appropriate marking in limited cases Overgeneralization of marking Redundant marking Full adult marking system (i. e. , correct marking) l Eng. Verbs (past tense) l Measure words in Chinese Yun-Pi Yuan 34

UOP C (2) l Similar processes seem to be at work in lang. In general (Nash 16). l Regularization of English verb past tense forms l Regularization of plurals of borrowed nouns l l Bandit: banditi bandits Syllabus: syllabi syllabuses Pizza: pizze pizzas Data: datum (sing. ), data (pl. ) data (uncountable) Yun-Pi Yuan 35

Universal Operating Principle D l l UOP D: Underlying semantic relations should be marked overtly and clearly. (= Be clear. ) “Basic elements of meaning should be marked openly and clearly” (Nash 16). If a grammatical marker corresponds to one and only one meaning, it will be easier for children to learn. A grammatical system is easier to learn if each element of meaning corresponds to a separate surface element (slobin 109). Yun-Pi Yuan 36

UOP D (2) l l Contrast Turkish with earlier Russian examples: Turkish: (Nash 17) “object” -i l “of” -in “plural -er Russian: “masculine” + “animate” + “feminine” + “subject” -a § “object” -a Turkish marks elements of meaning separately, while Russian marks them in combinations, which are not clear to children and thus hard for them to learn. Yun-Pi Yuan 37

Universal Operating Principle E l l UOP E: The use of grammatical markers should make semantic sense. Counter examples: l Irregular plurals in English: l l Irregular past tenses: l l mice, geese, feet, teeth mouses, gooses, foots/feets, tooths went, saw, ran goed, seed, runned No semantic (meaning) basis for these irregularities— no differences in meaning that should require them to be formed differently. Yun-Pi Yuan 38

UOP E (2) l Examples: l l l Process verbs (progressive aspect) vs. state verbs (states/conditions) The progressive cannot indicate an involuntary state, but only a process (e. g. , running, melting, reading, eating, growing), so it is usually only used with process verbs; state verbs show states or conditions (e. g. , know, like, believe, want, own). Difference in meaning between “process” and “state” verbs is grasped by children & they don’t overgeneralize the progressive. They don’t say: *“She’s knowing how to read. ” *“I’m liking cookies. ” *“He’s wanting milk. ” Yun-Pi Yuan 39

UOP E (3) l l l Children can make sense out of the difference between these two types of verbs, and so don’t have much trouble learning to use the progressive. But, they do have a lot of trouble with irregular plurals and verbs, which has no semantic basis for their irregularity—they must be memorized. Though irregular verbs don’t make semantic sense, they’re easily processible (because: frequently used & come in small sets/patterns). Yun-Pi Yuan 40

UOP Summary Language forms, and the ways in which children learn language, are very closely related to the ways our minds work (i. e. , the structure of the mind and the mental processes involved in thinking, learning, speaking, and comprehending). l The UOP are psychological. The four pressures are both psychological and communicative. l Yun-Pi Yuan 41

Summary of 4 Rules and UOP l Pressures on language: l l Psychological pressures—language must conform to the ways in which the MIND works. Communicative pressures—language must meet all the needs of communication l l l 1. informativeness 2. clarity 3. efficiency 4. effectiveness 5. reasonably quick (on-going time) Yun-Pi Yuan 42

Comprehension (1) l l How do you get from the acoustic signal (physical sound) to an interpretation of the message? Is listening really passive? l l l Filter demonstration Shadowing demonstration Further examples: l l Telephone doesn’t transmit all sounds (e. g. , f, s, m, n) In class: selective listening Yun-Pi Yuan 43

Comprehension (2) l Constituents: “sentence parts” l e. g. : The old man went to the store. subject l l l predicate Meaning units = propositions (basic ideas) Coding units = phonology, morphology, syntax, vocabulary, intonation Propositions: refer to states or events; indicate facts or attitudes; say sth. about states or events; qualify parts of other propositions. (Nash 19 -20) l e. g. , Louise was born in 1965. You must never arrive late again. (Nash 20) Yun-Pi Yuan 44

Comprehension (3) l Rough Model #1: l l l (Nash 19) 1. Take in sounds, put in short-term memory, organize according to sound system. 2. Immediate organize into sentence parts (constituents) and determine content and function of teach part. 3. Use constituents analysis to construct propositions. 4. Keep propositions in memory, discard sound image. 5. Figure out speaker’s intent (identify situations) and respond appropriately. Yun-Pi Yuan 45

Comprehension (4) l Syntactic strategies: used in identifying constituents (i. e. , knowledge of syntax) l Semantic strategies: knowledge of the world/situation & our reasoning powers can bypass a lot of syntax—working on what you expect, what makes sense l l l The policeman held up his hand stopped the car. Superman held up his hand stopped the car. Tea example (Nash 20) Dentist (Nash 20) Soup (Nash 21) Yun-Pi Yuan 46

Comprehension (5) l We use both syntactic and semantic strategies: l l 1. We take in raw speech and retain a phonological representation of it in short-term memory. 2. We immediately attempt to organize the phonological representation into constituents, identifying their content and function. 3. Construct underlying propositions. 4. Retain 3 in long-term memory & discard 1 + 2. Yun-Pi Yuan 47

Comprehension (6) Rough Model #2: l Comprehension phonetic input phonology lexicon morphology syntax semantics pragmatics l Identify situation; remember typical situation. Yun-Pi Yuan Production phonetic output phonology lexicon morphology syntax semantics pragmatics 48

Comprehension (7) l 1. 2. 3. 4. Rewording of Model #1 (& match to Model #2): Bring in phonetic stream and segment it into phonological representation. Immediate organize into constituents. Use constituent analysis to construct propositions. Figure out speaker’s intent (and respond appropriately). Yun-Pi Yuan 49

Differences between Production & Comprehension l Tools and procedures: l Comprehension: Hearing (ears & brains) and mind to recognize, organize, analyze and infer Production: l Brain & speech organs (e. g. , tongue, lips, jaw, vocal chords) l To transfer intention into sound involves motor activation l l Yun-Pi Yuan 50

Production (1) l l Rough model #3: (planning & execution) (pragmatic) discourse plans: l l l What type of discourse? Purposes and goals (pragmatic, semantic, syntactic) sentence plans: l l l What is the function/subject? What is the relationship among the parts of the sentence? Decide to express meaning directly or indirectly. Yun-Pi Yuan 51

Production (2) l (morpho-syntactic, lexicon) constituent plans: l l Select words, phrases, idioms for each constituent Order them Do morphology (phonology, phonetics) articulatory program: l l In memory buffer: phonetic segments, stresses, intonation A plan for what your muscles will do Yun-Pi Yuan 52

Production (3) l (phonetics) execution (articulation): l l l Execute the articulatory program Sequence and timing Tell muscles what to do and when Send these orders and speech results Note: like the rough model of comprehension, these steps are all very rapid and overlapping whole process for one sentence not finished, already begun for the next sentence Yun-Pi Yuan 53