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

We’re mammals Distinctive traits include Lactation Mammalian “isolation cry” Neoteny Middle ear Larynx As factual examples we could choose any of the systems whose evolution is documented by the fossil record, a source apparently acceptable to Behe. The three smallest bones in the human body-the malleus, incus, and stapes-carry sound vibrations across the middle ear, from the membrane-like eardrum to the oval window. This five-component system fits Behe's test of irreducible complexity perfectly-if any one of its parts is taken away or modified, hearing would be lost. This is the kind of system that evolution supposedly cannot produce. Unfortunately for "intelligent design," the fossil record elegantly and precisely documents exactly how this system formed. During the evolution of mammals, hones that originally formed the rear portion of the reptilian lower jaw were gradually pushed backwards and reduced in size until they migrated into the middle ear, forming the bony connections that carry vibrations into the inner ears of present-day mammals. A system of perfectly-formed, interlocking components, specified by multiple genes, was gradually refashioned and adapted for another purpose altogether - something that this book claims to be impossible. As the well-informed reader may know, creationist critics of this interpretation of fossils in the reptile to mammal transition once charged that this could not have taken place. What would happen, they joked, to the unfortunate reptile while he was waiting for two of his jaw bones to migrate into the middle ear? The poor creature could neither hear nor eat! As students of evolution may know, Fuzz Crompton of Harvard University brought this laughter to a deafening halt when he unearthed a fossil with a double articulation of the jaw joint-an adaptation that would allow the animal both to eat and hear during the transition, enabling natural selection to favor each of the intermediate stages. English 306A; Harris

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

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

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

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

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

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

Oh, and one more thing English 306A; Harris

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

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

Motor cortex English 306A; Harris

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

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

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

Parity All languages are equal. English 306A; Harris

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

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

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

Charles Hockett’s ‘Design Features’ Parity Universality Mutability Tacitness Displacement Duality Productivity (creativity) "The design-features listed below are found in every language on which we have reliable information, and each seems to be lacking in at least one known animal communicative system. They are not all logically independent, and do not necessarily all belong to our defining list for language--a point to be taken up separately..." 1. Mode of communication-vocal-auditory, tacticle-visual, or chemical-olfactory 2. Rapid Fading: Message does not linger in time or space after production. 3. Interchangeability: individuals who use a language can both send and receive any permissible message within that communication system. 4. Feedback: users of a language can perceive what they are transmitting and can make corrections if they make errors. 5. Specialization: the direct-energetic consequences of linguistic signals are usually biologically trivial; only the triggering effects are important. 6. Semanticity: there are associative ties between signal elements and features in the world; in short, some linguistic forms have denotations. 7. Arbitrariness: there is no logical connection between the form of the signal and its meaning. 8. Discreteness: messages in the system are made up of smaller, repeatable parts; the sounds of language (or cheremes of a sign) are perceived categorically, not continuously. 9. Displacement: linguistic messages may refer to things remote in time and space, or both, from the site of the communication. 10. Productivity: users can create and understand completely novel messages. 10.1. In a language, new messages are freely coined by blending, analogizing from, or transforming old ones. This says that every language has grammatical patterning. 10.2. In a language, either new or old elements are freely assigned new semantic loads by circumstances and context. This says that in every language new idioms constantly come into existence. 11. Cultural transmission: the conventions of a language are learned by interacting with more experienced users. 12. Duality (of Patterning): a large number of meaningful elements are made up of a conveniently small number of meaningless but message-differentiating elements. 13. Prevarication: linguistic messages can be false, deceptive, or meaningless. 14. Reflexiveness: In a language, one can communicate about communication. 15. Learnability: A speaker of a language can learn another language. English 306A; 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. "The design-features listed below are found in every language on which we have reliable information, and each seems to be lacking in at least one known animal communicative system. They are not all logically independent, and do not necessarily all belong to our defining list for language--a point to be taken up separately..." 1. Mode of communication-vocal-auditory, tacticle-visual, or chemical-olfactory 2. Rapid Fading: Message does not linger in time or space after production. 3. Interchangeability: individuals who use a language can both send and receive any permissible message within that communication system. 4. Feedback: users of a language can perceive what they are transmitting and can make corrections if they make errors. 5. Specialization: the direct-energetic consequences of linguistic signals are usually biologically trivial; only the triggering effects are important. 6. Semanticity: there are associative ties between signal elements and features in the world; in short, some linguistic forms have denotations. 7. Arbitrariness: there is no logical connection between the form of the signal and its meaning. 8. Discreteness: messages in the system are made up of smaller, repeatable parts; the sounds of language (or cheremes of a sign) are perceived categorically, not continuously. 9. Displacement: linguistic messages may refer to things remote in time and space, or both, from the site of the communication. 10. Productivity: users can create and understand completely novel messages. 10.1. In a language, new messages are freely coined by blending, analogizing from, or transforming old ones. This says that every language has grammatical patterning. 10.2. In a language, either new or old elements are freely assigned new semantic loads by circumstances and context. This says that in every language new idioms constantly come into existence. 11. Cultural transmission: the conventions of a language are learned by interacting with more experienced users. 12. Duality (of Patterning): a large number of meaningful elements are made up of a conveniently small number of meaningless but message-differentiating elements. 13. Prevarication: linguistic messages can be false, deceptive, or meaningless. 14. Reflexiveness: In a language, one can communicate about communication. 15. Learnability: A speaker of a language can learn another language. English 306A; Harris

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

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

Elements + combinatorics = Language English 306A; Harris

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

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