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1 Course taught by Dr Marie-Claude Tremblay LIN1300 What is language? Dr Marie-Claude Tremblay 1
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2 Course taught by Dr Marie-Claude Tremblay Thursday, September 13 Previously › Syllabus › Introduction Langage – langue – parole The study of language Today › Human language 2
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3 Course taught by Dr Marie-Claude Tremblay Recap Langage-Langue-Parole Which concept (langage, langue or parole) would you associate with the following statements? › Individual variation in the use of a system › Innate › Acquired › Specific code/system used by a linguistic community › Psychological ability › Use of Japanese by a speaker of that language 3
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4 Course taught by Dr Marie-Claude Tremblay › Individual variation in the use of a system parole › Innate langage › Acquired langue › Specific code/system used by a linguistic community langue › Psychological ability langage › Use of Japanese by a speaker of that language parole 4
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5 Course taught by Dr Marie-Claude Tremblay Properties of Human Language What is human communication about? What is unique about human language? › Differences and similarities with other types of communication in different species 5
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6 Course taught by Dr Marie-Claude Tremblay Properties of Human Language Association form-meaning › signifier-signified Variety of functions Displacement Productivity and creativity Complexity Cultural transmission Duality (of patterning) 6
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7 Course taught by Dr Marie-Claude Tremblay Human language Linguistic signs Association signified – signifier › 7 Associating form and meaning
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8 Course taught by Dr Marie-Claude Tremblay Referential calls Association btw “call” - “meaning” Acoustic differences (in duration and rhythm) signal differences in meaning › E.g. dominant male vs. isolated (looking for mother) Warning of danger different calls for different predators reactions (e.g. snake vs. eagle) Food different types, quality, quantity 8 Associating form and meaning communication in non-human primates http://jvi.asm.org/content/81/14.cover-expansion
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9 Course taught by Dr Marie-Claude Tremblay Studies › Recordings of various calls are played › Same reaction as for authentic calls › Even if no real danger, food, etc. › http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3lsF83rHKFc › Reaction is not due to them having seen the actual danger/food Ability to associate call and meaning Conclusion › Other primates are able to produce and categorise different signals (calls) based on meaning 9 Associating form and meaning communication in non-human primates
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10 Course taught by Dr Marie-Claude Tremblay Humans › Communication and socialisation, entertainment, etc. Non-human primates › To cause a reaction › Instrumental (≠ declarative/statement) E.g. do not communicate to say: “There is no predator”, “the predators is leaving”, “what happened to you? I didn’t see you yesterday”, etc. 10 Variety of functions
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11 Course taught by Dr Marie-Claude Tremblay Context and time of reference › Humans No limit Present, past, future and hypothetical events Any close, far, fictive context, phenomenon, concept, etc. › Non-human primates Referential limits Here and now only 11Displacement
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12 Course taught by Dr Marie-Claude Tremblay Displacement Exception: honeybees › Able to communicate location of nectar through dance http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-7ijI-g4jHg 12
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13 Course taught by Dr Marie-Claude Tremblay Productivity and creativity Humans › Large number of units of meaning (words, morphemes) › Infinite number of potential combinations Infinite number of units of meaning which can be combined in an infinite number of ways to form new meanings Non-human primates › Fixed reference Finite inventory of signals E.g. around 36 calls for chimpanzees No new signals are created to form new meanings Signals cannot be combined to form new meanings 13
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14 Course taught by Dr Marie-Claude Tremblay Complexity Humans › Internal structure in the system Morpho-syntax Contains elements with a purely grammatical function Non-human primates › No structure in the system › No elements that have a grammatical function 14
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15 Course taught by Dr Marie-Claude Tremblay Cultural transmission Humans › Language is learned from the environment › Not born with an instinctive language Exposure is essential for acquisition E.g. Children not exposed to language in first years of life Animals › Born with a set of signals that are produced instinctively Programmed in their genes E.g. Bird songs 15
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16 Course taught by Dr Marie-Claude Tremblay Duality of patterning The speech stream can be divided into units which carry meaning (words/morphemes) which can be divided into units (sounds) which themselves do not carry meaning Unique to human language › E.g. “cat” = k + a + t Animals › E.g. “woof” is not w + oo + f *oowf *foow 16
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17 Course taught by Dr Marie-Claude Tremblay Human language is unique › Other modes of communication do not have the same properties nor do they have the same level of complexity Is it possible for other species to learn human language? 17 Human language for other species?
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18 Course taught by Dr Marie-Claude Tremblay Teaching chimpanzees to use human language Chimpanzees raised like human babies › First attempts using speech sounds failed Vocal tract not shaped for human speech sounds 18
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19 Course taught by Dr Marie-Claude Tremblay American Sign Language (ASL) › http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CM1NOAz9Ba8&feature=related 19 Teaching chimpanzees to use human language
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20 Course taught by Dr Marie-Claude Tremblay American Sign Language (ASL) › Nim Chimpsky Vocabulary › Around a dozen signs, mostly related to food and eating › No innovation in the use of words vs. children: from general to specific 20 Teaching chimpanzees to use human language
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21 Course taught by Dr Marie-Claude Tremblay Production of about 20,000 utterances Production of 2 word+ utterances › Juxtapositions of signs without structure (no syntax) › Same signs repeated in same utterance › Mostly requests for object/action E.g. banana-eat; eat-eat; banana-eat-eat-Nim-banana Lack of linguistic curiosity and innovation › Only learns what is taught to him 21 Teaching chimpanzees to use human language
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22 Course taught by Dr Marie-Claude Tremblay HumansChimpanzees Vocabulary Association signifier- signified 50 000-100 000 words Innovations Association signifier- signified Small number of words No innovation Grammatical aptitude -Structure of language learned No structure in utterances 22 Can chimpanzees learn to communicate by using a system developed by humans? Yes Does it compare to the acquisition of language by humans? No Acquisition of language Humans vs. Chimpanzees
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23 Course taught by Dr Marie-Claude Tremblay Language acquisition If human language is unique to our specie, do we have a genetic predisposition for language? Are we born with a brain that is ‘wired’ for language acquisition? What kind of evidence could we use to answer this question? 23
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24 Course taught by Dr Marie-Claude Tremblay Next class Human language (continued) No reading 24
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