Some Fundamental Points of Language Some General Concepts

Some Fundamental Points of Language

Some General Concepts About Language Wherever humans exist, L exists Language is systematic & very complex Different languages are very diverse but also share universal properties Speech is primary, writing is secondary Children ACQUIRE and are not TAUGHT their L 1 Every language changes as time passes

Some Myths About Language Some L are primitive Writing is more perfect than speech French is romantic, German harsh, English hard to learn Swearing degrades a language Sloppy speech should be avoided

Speech versus Writing Why does ling consider speech primary? Writing is a later development Writing does not exist everywhere, spoken L does Writing must be taught, one can still communicate using language without being literate

Different Definitions of “Grammar” Mental Grammar Unconscious rules of L that allow us to construct grammatical utterances (plural /-s/ in English) Descriptive Grammar Linguists’ descriptions of the rules of L Prescriptive Grammar The “proper” or “correct” way to use language

Prescriptive v. Descriptive Grammar Prescriptive “Right” v. “wrong” Casts value judgments Tries to force specific L variety Descriptive Accounts for observed rules/patterns Unbiased Allows for different varieties

Is a prescriptive variety necessary? �� Helps establish a ‘standard’ for crossdialectal communication Second language learning Marking social distinctions

Everyone uses several registers: What is a register? Professional Peer group Motherese

Language Statistics How many languages are there? Which languages have the most speakers and which are more official? What some people think about English

Animal Communication Observations from File 2. 3 “Primate Studies” We share 99% of genetic material with the great apes, yet that 1% difference is responsible for human’s ability to “speak” Gua versus Donald

Animal Communication cont. Viki: female chimp taught to “vocalize” Washoe and Koko: From human speech sounds to ASL Sarah: language board ‘sentences’ Lana: lexigrams

Animal Communication cont. Still the main questions is Did these chimps acquire human language? The chimp “Nim Chimpsky” Use of language: use of grammar Mental referents, symbols we conjure when we think of a word