Ling 240ling.umd.edu/~omaki/teaching/Ling240_Summ2007/slides_review1.pdf · Grammaticality =...
Transcript of Ling 240ling.umd.edu/~omaki/teaching/Ling240_Summ2007/slides_review1.pdf · Grammaticality =...
Questions:1) What is it that we know when we
know a language? 2) How do children acquire that
knowledge?
Linguistics as Cognitive Science
Mental Grammar:
the system of rules stored in the mind of a speaker that generates the words and sentences of that speaker’s language.
What do you know about your language?
Example 2b
cat catsdog dogstick tickspole polescar cars
[s][z][s][z][z]
Arguments for Mental Grammar
Mental grammar vs.
memorizing or storing the list of possible sentences
Argument for Mental Grammar #1
• The number of sentences we are capable of using is too large to store them all
Argument for Mental Grammar#2
BUT, it’s not just that the possible number of sentences is enormous
It’s infinite.
Because we can do this:
This is the house [that Jackie built].This is the door [that leads to the
house [that Jackie built]].This is the mold [that grew on the
cheese [that fell out of the fridge [that stood in the house [that Jackie built]]]].
Recursion
We can produce (and understand) potentially infinitely long sentences.
Therefore, there are an infinite number of sentences.
Argument for Mental Grammar #2
Given that our brains are finite, there is no way we can store all of the possible sentences of our language
Methodology: Scientific Method
• Examine data• Make generalizations (describe
observable patterns)• Make hypotheses to explain observed
generalizations• Test predictions of hypotheses against
more data
Pronunciation of the plural
[s] [z]cats dogsticks polestrips cars
tabstoesdoves
If it’s a rule, what’s the rule?
Pronunciation of the plural
[……….. X]N
If X is voiceless, then plural => [s]If X is voiced, then plural => [z]
Hypothesis B: complex forms derived by rule
LexiconCat [kæt]Dog
Rules
N + PL = Npl
PL → [s] if […-vc]N→ [z] if […+vc]N
PREDICTIONS?
“s” after [r]
Doors [z]Horse [s] NOT [z]
Rule only applies to the plural “s”
Conclusion: mental rule
Mental rule or physical necessity?
The linguist’s job
Build a model of the speaker’s knowledge of language.
Discover what the rules are
Grammaticality = meaningfulness?
One often-heard statement:A sentence is grammatical if it makes sense. If we can understand the meaning, then the sentence is grammatical.
• Remember: The job of the linguist is to determine what the rules are that allow people to speak and understand novel sentences in their native language
• Study of the human mind
• Linguists study how people really speak (describe patterns that exist in the data)
• They do not try to tell people how to speak
How do children learn language?
Child: Nobody don’t like me.Mother: No, say “nobody likes me.”Child: Nobody don’t like me.
x 8Mother: Now listen carefully; say,
“nobody likes me.”Child: Oh! Nobody don’t likes me.
a) manu-fuckin-facturer (manufacturer)
b) cali-fuckin-fornia (California)
c) *Chom-funckin-sky (Chomsky)
d) *ele-fuckin-phant (elephant)
cf. http://www.cafepress.com/tvtee.41728115
How do children learn language?
A Paradox
Language is unbelievably hard to figure out– Engineers and computer scientists trying to
solve problems of machine translation and AI for 50 years
– Linguists studying grammatical principles underlying language
Innateness Hypothesis
The human brain contains a genetically determined specialization for language.
Language learning = natural ability
Part of human biology
• Just like the ability to walk
• Just like using sonar to echolocate is part of bat biology
Arguments for innateness
• Uniformity throughout the species• Species-specificity• Poverty of the stimulus: children create
grammar beyond what they have evidence for
• Critical period
What could a baby possibly have in her brain that could help her acquire any language that she might end up being exposed to?
=> Universal Grammar (UG)
Language Universals
How are all languages alike?What is the range of possible differences?
This is the research program
Review questions…
• What are the features of the following sounds:
1. [t]2. [∂]3. [ß]4. [dΩ]5. [˜]6. [h]7. [w]8. [®]
Diphthongs: two-part vowels (cf. monophthongs)
1. [åI] bite, aisle, choir, island
2. [å¨] brown, doubt, loud, hour
3. [øI] boy, rejoice, annoy, poison
4. [o¨] boat, grow, though, over
5. [eI] bait, reign, great, they, gauge
Is the pronunciation predictable?
[th] [‰] [÷]
timetoptable
waterlittlebutternotable
buttonkittencarton
(cf. notation)
Patterns
[th] occurs at the beginning of stressed syllables.
[‰] occurs between two vowels
[÷] occurs in the middle of words before a syllabic nasal.
Articulatory Processes
• Sounds are pronounced differently in different environments
These are RULES in mental grammar
Phoneme
• the abstract representation of a sound. • the way the sound is stored in word in
the mental lexicon
Allophone
• how the sound is actually produced in a given environment
• an instance of a phoneme• a member of a more general category
Inventory of Phonemes
First step: look for minimal pairs• if difference between sounds causes a
difference in meaning => contrastive=> different phonemes
Second step:If no minimal pairs, look for a pattern(distribution of the two sounds)
– What environments does sound X occur in?
– What environments does sound Y occur in?
Inventory of Phonemes
steps in finding out a generalization
• List the environments for the target phones
• Generalization (e.g., x occurs in environment Y) and distribution (x and z are in complementary/contrastive distribution)
• Formulate a rule that derives the pattern
Exercise: making generalizations about the environments
can /k(æ)n/I can ask [åI kn æsk]I can see [åI kn si]
I can bake [åI km beIk]I can play [åI km pleI]
I can go [åI k˜ go¨]I can gather [åI k˜ gæ∂\®]
Generalizations
[m] occurs before a bilabial consonant
[˜] occurs before a velar consonant
[n] occurs everywhere else (elsewhere)
Generalizations => Rules
/n/ becomes [m] before a bilabial consonant
/n/ [m] / ___ (bi)labial consonant
/n/ becomes [˜] before a velar consonant
/n/ [˜] / ___ velar consonant
elsewhere /n/ is pronounced [n]
/n/ [n] / elsewhere
Categorical perception
• The mind imposes discrete, abstract categories which do not exist in the physical world
• Gradations in the phonetic categories are ignored
Is phoneme discrimination innate?
• Hypothesis A: Innate ability to discriminate all possible phoneme distinctions (in any language)
• Hypothesis B: children learn to discriminate the contrasts in their language
• Hypothesis C: Something in between…some contrasts are innate, others learned
High Amplitude Sucking Procedure
• Initially sucking rate increases (novelty)
• Then decreases• Decline in response
= habituation
LSCP Infant Lab
Kuhl & Miller, 1978
010
2030
4050
6070
8090
100
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80
Voice Onset Time (ms)
Perc
ent l
abel
led
[b]
English SpeakersChinchillas
Testing Across the Lifespan
• HAS works only with infants from birth to 4 months
• Adults & children can be asked to detect a change
• The Conditioned Head Turn Paradigm can be used for 6-12 month-old infants
First proposal: Maintenance/loss Hypothesis
• role of experience is to maintain perceptual sensitivities
• lack of exposure leads to loss of perceptual ability