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What is Language (Slides 1-16)

The Innateness Hypothesis (slides 16-48)

By Don L. F. Nilsen

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LANGUAGE PLAY & MAPPING

The primary function of language is not to communicate, but is rather to think creatively or analogically. Language play allows humans to map an infinite number of real-world details onto a small finite number of sounds, letters and words.

(cf. Fromkin Rodman Hyams 3)

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And the exciting thing is that this mapping happens not only for the infinite details of the real world, but of all possible worlds whether real, discovered, invented, postulated, fictionalized, or imagined.

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THE CONTINUITY PARADOX

Derek Bickerton states it as follows: “Until we cease to regard language as primarily communicative and begin to treat it as primarily representational, we cannot hope to escape from the Continuity Paradox” (Bickerton 689).

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FORM-MEANING CORRELATION

• CONTRAST SOUNDS, SPELLINGS AND MEANINGS:• Antonyms: tall vs. short• Converses: buy vs. sell• Cognates: embarrassed vs. embarazada• Heteronyms: minute vs. minute• Homographs: bank vs. bank• Homonyms: Homographs or Homophones• Homophones: too vs. two vs. to• Hyponyms: metaphor vs. metaphor• Synonyms: big vs. large

• (Fromkin Rodman Hyams 214)

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WORD-LEVEL VS. SENTENCE-LEVEL GRAMMAR

LEXICAL: SYNTACTIC:

AMBIGUITY: Take your pick! Call me a taxi!

ANOMALY: She wanted a gnepf. John me cow a gave.

PARAPHRASE: William hit a policeman. Bill hit John.

vs. Bill slugged a cop. vs. John was hit by Bill.

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WHAT A GRAMMAR MUST DEAL WITH

• Analysis vs. Synthesis: • Parsing vs. Generative Grammar

• Denotation vs. Connotation: • Pro-Choice vs. Pro-Life views of

“abortion”

• Systematic vs. Accidental Gaps: “schplick” vs. “blick”

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FORM VS. MEANING

• Linguistics is concerned with the mapping of meaning onto form (decoding) and form onto meaning (encoding).

• The form is the surface structure (phonology, graphology, morphology and syntax)

• The meaning is the deep structure (semantics, pragmatics, discourse)

• (cf. Fromkin Rodman Hyams 7)

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LEVELS OF ADEQUACY

• Prescriptive Adequacy: What people should do

• Descriptive Adequacy: What people do do

• Explanatory Adequacy: Patterns, Trends, and Predictions

• Evaluative Adequacy: Based on Elegance• Simplicity• Completeness• Internal Consistency• Generative Power

• (cf. Fromkin Rodman Hyams 13-17)

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SURFACE STRUCTURE

• Syntax Allotag Tagmeme

• Morphology Allomorph Morpheme

• Graphology Allograph Grapheme

• Phonology Allophone Phoneme

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DEEP STRUCTURE

• Pragmatics (Context, Deictics, Anaphora, Speech Acts, Conversational Implicatures, Intent, Felicity Conditions)

• Pragmatics AllobehaviorBehavioreme

• Semantics Alloseme Sememe

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EVOLUTION

During the past five million years, “our forebears became predominantly right-handed, made use of increasingly sophisticated tools, and organized their culture in ever more complex ways.” This evolution resulted in “a puny, almost hairless animal, with a bent windpipe that reduced breathing efficiency to nearly half of its original capacity. The creature’s teeth were practically useless for chewing.” But we had an asymetrical brain with the left hemisphere being efficient at learning language. (Heny 634).

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M. A. K. Halliday’s 7 Functions of Language:

• Instrumental: To get things done• Regulatory: To control other people• Interactional: To define groups and

relationships• Personal: To express feelings and beliefs• Heuristic:To test hypotheses or to learn• Imaginative: To create a world• Representational: To give information (Clark,

52)

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In terms of language,Who’s in charge?

• “We make language more than language makes us” (Clark, 55).

• What did Humpty Dumpty say about language?

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Poem by Maurice Evan Hare

There once was a man who said, “Damn!”

It is born in upon me I am

An engine that moves

In predestinate grooves,

I’m not even a bus; I’m a tram.

--Aitchison 560

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THE INNATENESS HYPOTHESIS

• Noam Chomsky claims that language is innate.

• B. F. Skinner claims that language is learned; it is basically a stimulus-response mechanism.

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Noam Chomsky reviewed B. F. Skinner’s Verbal Behavior in Language, the journal of the Linguistic Society of America and convincingly presented twelve types of evidence that language is basically innate, not learned.

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1.Language is very complex. Consider the complexity of any complete English grammar book.

2. The model for language learning is imperfect. Mothers use caregiver language; friends use baby talk; children use modified grammar (holophrastic, pivot-open, or telegraphic).

3. All humans learn a spoken language (NOTE: Chomsky does not claim that written language is innate).

(Fromkin Rodman Hyams 28-29)

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4. No animals learn a human-type language. However, some animal languages are impressive:

primates (Vikki-Hayes, Koko-Patterson, Warshow-Gardners, Lana, Nim Chimsky-Terrace, Sarah-Thomas/Church)

bees (Von Frisch)dolphins (Lilly)birds, parrots and cockatielscaninesequinesbovinesfelinesants

(cf. Fromkin Rodman Hyams 21-25, 28-29)

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• ANIMAL MESSAGES: Come. Go. Food. Protection (camouflage, assistance, misleading enemies…). Sex. Territory, Dominance, Mimic, Defiance, Friendship, Attention

• ANIMAL LANGUAGE: Calls. Body Coloring and Shape. Tail Slap, Facial Expression. Tail Wagging, Baring Throat, Dancing (Round, Tail-wagging, Sickle), Whistling, Chuttering, Attacking, Singing, Giving Off Pheromones

• HUMAN-LANGUAGES AMONG ANIMALS: AMESLAN, Yerkish, Computers, Magnetic Chips, “Sugar Fruit,” “Finger Bracelet” 2nd-Generation Language (Planet of the Apes)

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WASHOW SIGNING “TICKLE” (KEMP AND SMITH 671)WASHOW SIGNING “TICKLE” (KEMP AND SMITH 671) 671)

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AMERICAN SIGN LANGUAGE: CONFIGURATION (Emmorey 82)

(cf Fromkin Rodman Hyams 7, 19-21)

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AMERICAN SIGN LANGUAGE: PLACE (Emmorey 82)

(cf Fromkin Rodman Hyams 7, 19-21)

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AMERICAN SIGN LANGUAGE: MOVEMENT (Emmorey 82) (cf Fromkin Rodman Hyams 7, 19-21)

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BEES’ ROUND DANCE (Kemp & Smith 663)

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BEES’ TAIL-WAGGING DANCE (Kemp and Smith 664)

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SARAH’S SYMBOLS (Kemp and Smith 672)

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YERKISH LEXIGRAMS (Kemp and Smith 672)

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5. There are many human-language universals, and these are only a small subset of semiotic possibilities; computer languages don’t have these same natural-language constraints (embedding, cross-over, A over A, etc.).

(cf. Fromkin Rodman Hyams 17-18)

6. There is a critical age for foreign-language acquisition (around puberty).

7. There is a sequence in language acquisition (holophrastic, pivot-open, telegraphic, adult). Note also color acquisition in both phylogeny and ontogeny.

(Fromkin Rodman Hyams 28-29)

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8. Human language is rule-governed (like mathematics). It is not memorized.

9. Human language is very creative. Except for small-talk, almost all sentences are novel. Language can adjust to new situations (unlike bee-language for unexpected placing of honey source).

(Fromkin Rodman Hyams 28-29)

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10. Human language has duality. A limited number of symbols are reused in many different ways.

11. Human language has displacement in Time, Place, and Truth.

12. Human language is not predictable. Given a particular stimulus, there is a much wider range of responses for humans than for animals.

(Fromkin Rodman Hyams 28-29)

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CONCLUSION

• The most important of Chomsky’s observations is that “Language is Creative.”

• Language should not be prescribed, as that would limit its creativity. Rather, language should be allowed to adapt to social situations. In other word language VARIES in the following ways:

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LANGUAGE VARIATION• V-Vocational Differences

• A-Age Differences– Individual (holophrastic vs. adult language)– Language (Old English vs. Modern English)

• R-Regional Differences

• I-Informality Differences

• E-Ethnic Differences

• S-Sex Differences

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METAPHOR, METONYMY, SYNECDOCHE, IRONY AND LANGUAGE PLAY

• The most creative aspect of language is its ability to adapt to new situations, and it does this by using the “Master Tropes”: Metaphor, Metonymy, Synecdoche, and Irony.

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HOMO ERECTUS, HOMO SAPIENS, HOMO LOQUENS AND HOMO RIDENS

• Humans have been called “homo erectus” because like primates, kangaroos and chickens they stand erect.

• They have been called “homo sapiens” because they are the thinking animal.

• They have been called “home loquens” because they are the talking animal.

• But they have been called “homo ridens” because they are the only animal that laughs appropriately.

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LANGUAGE FOR ENGAGEMENTLANGUAGE FOR

TRANSCENDENCE• Language is a tool that allows us to deal with

the real world. It allows us to solve the problems of the real world. It helps us survive.

• But as we spend less and less time working to survive and more and more time thinking and pondering, our language needs to meet these new needs.

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Exercise 2: *Ungrammatical

A. Robin forced the sherrif go.B. Napoleon forced Josephine to go.C. The devil made Faust go.D. He passed by a large pile of money.E. He came by a large sum of moneyF. He came a large sum of money by.G. Did in a corner little Jack Horner sit?H. Elizabeth is resembled by CharlesI. Nancy is eager to please.

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• J. It is easy to frighten Emily.• K. It is eager to love a kitten.• L. That birds can fly amazes.• M. The fact you are late to class is surprising.• N. Has the nurse slept the baby yet?• O. I was surprised for you to get married.• P. I wonder who and Mary went swimming.• Q. Myself bit John.• R. What did Alice eat the toadstool with?• S. What did Alice eat the toadstool and?

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Exercise 3: Onomatopoeia

• Animals across languages:

• Cows Horses Pigs• Chickens Roosters Chicks• Lions Tigers Goat• Cats Dogs Turkeys• Geese Pigeons Sheep• Pigs Frogs Donkeys• Hens Crows Flies

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Exercise 3: Sound Symbolism

Bang

Beep

Bubble

Buzz

Clap

Click

Crackle

Crunch

Gong

Groan

Gurgle

Hiss

Kerplop

Screech

Sigh

Slap

Slurp

Smack

Smash

Snap

Swish

Thump

Tinkle

Whiz

Zing

Snap crackle & pop

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Exercise 3: Reduplication

Children

Bowwow

Dada

Dingdong

Doodoo

Mama

Peepee

Weewee

Adults:

Hanky Panky

Ticktock

Tooty Fruity

Zig Zag

Zsa Zsa

Other Examples:

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Exercise 4: Iconicity & Paralanguage

I II III IV X

1 2 3 0

٠ ٣ ٢ ١*

. ? !

$

Shhh! Shush!

Hiss

Tsk tsk

Uh Huh! (yes)

Uh uh (no)

Huh?

Giddyup

(lateral click)

Raspberry (Bronx Cheer)

Uchhhhh

Yuchhhhh

Wolf Whistle

Swearing(*^&%+#@!)

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Exercise 12: Pygmalion by George Bernard Shaw

• “The rain in Spain is mainly on the plain.”• “In Heartford, Herriford and Hartshire,

hurricanes hardly ever happen.”• “Look at her—a prisoner of the gutters;

– Condemned by ev’ry syllable she utters.– By right she should be taken out and hung– For the cold-blooded murder of the English

tongue!” (Pygmalion, 109)

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My Fair Lady by Lerner and Lowe

• An Englishman’s way of speaking absolutely classifies him.

• The moment he talks he makes some other English despise him,

• One common language I’m afraid we’ll never get.• Oh, why can’t the English learn to • Set a good example to people whose English is

painful to your ears?• The Scots and the Irish leave you close to tears.• There even are places, where English completely

disappears.• In America, they haven’t used it for years! (110)

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Exercise 13: English Only vs. Bilingualism

• Discuss Queen Elizabeth I’s outlawing of Celtic dress, music and traditions

• King James Translation of the Bible into English to unite England with Ireland, Wales, Cornwall, and Scotland by an English-Only movement

• What about the English-only movement today vs. bilingualism?