A means of communication. Language A means of communication.

Language can be…..

Language Structure Phonemes Morphemes Grammar Syntax

All languages contain…. Phonemes Morphemes The smallest units of sound in a language. English has about 44 phonemes. The smallest unit of meaningful sound. Can be words like a or but. prefixes or suffixes…”ed” at the end of a word means past tense How many phonemes in cats? How many morphemes in cats? How many phonemes does platypus have?

Language Structure Grammar: The rules of a language. Semantics - rules by which we derive meaning from morphemes, words, and sentences. Syntax: the order of words in a language. A European visitor to the United States asked a taxi driver, “Can you please a ride to the airport me give?” This visitor has apparently not yet mastered the syntax of the English language. Syntax – in English, adjectives precede nouns Nouns precede verbs Is this the White House or the House White?

Language Acquisition Stages that we learn language… Babbling Stage make speech sounds both in and out of native language First able to discriminate speech sounds Holophrastic Stage/one word stage Productive language begins (speaking meaningful words) Receptive language (comprehension of meaning) Telegraphic Stage/two word stage Grammatically correct 2 word saying Contains mostly nouns and verbs Follows rules of syntax Overgeneralization – extending the application of a rule to items that are excluded from it in the language norm

How do we learn language?

Operant Conditioning B.F. Skinner Association – sights and sounds Imitation – modeling others Reinforcement- by smiles and hugs

Chomsky’s Theory (nativist theory) Inborn universal language acquisition device – In born (innate)readiness to learn grammatical rules Languages share universal grammar Children born with language acquisition device settings or standards regarding the rules of language are activated Example:

Statistical Learning and Critical Periods Statistical Learning – discerning word breaks, analyzing which syllables most often go together Critical Period – sensitive period for mastering certain aspects of language Children not exposed to language by age 7 gradually lose ability to master any language Learning a language as an adult you will always speak with an accent Most easily master language as a child

Whorf’s Linguistic Determination Hypothesis The idea that language determines the way we think. The Hopi tribe has no past tense in their language, so Whorf says they rarely think of the past. Underestimates how much thinking occurs without language

Thinking and Language Bilingual advantage Thinking and images Thinking affects language, which then affects our thoughts.