1. Some Fundamental Points of Language

2. Some General Concepts About Language
Wherever humans exist, L exists
Language is systematic & very complex
Different languages are very diverse but also share universal properties
Speech is primary, writing is secondary
Children ACQUIRE and are not TAUGHT their L1
Every language changes as time passes

3. Some Myths About Language
Some L are primitive
Writing is more perfect than speech
French is romantic, German harsh, English hard to learn
Swearing degrades a language
Sloppy speech should be avoided
- Some L are primitive, by only having a few hundred words
- Writing is more perfect than speech
- People who say “nobody ain’t done nothing” can’t think logically
- French is romantic, German harsh, English hard to learn
- Kids need to study in school to learn to speak “properly”
- Every L distinguishes singular from plural by adding an ending to the plural
- All Asian L are dialects of the same L
- Swearing degrades a language
- Correct spelling preserves a language
- The more time parents spend teaching their children English, the better their children will speak
- Sloppy speech should be avoided

4. Speech versus Writing Why does ling consider speech primary?
Writing is a later development
Writing does not exist everywhere, spoken L does
Writing must be taught, one can still communicate using language without being literate

5. Different Definitions of “Grammar”
Mental Grammar
Unconscious rules of L that allow us to construct grammatical utterances (plural /-s/ in English)
Descriptive Grammar
Linguists’ descriptions of the rules of L
Prescriptive Grammar
The “proper” or “correct” way to use language
You might be asking - So why is a linguists description of rules not the same as the “proper” ways to use language
What are some reasons you think the two are different?

6. Prescriptive v. Descriptive Grammar
“Right” v. “wrong”
Casts value judgments
Tries to force specific L variety
Descriptive
Accounts for observed rules/patterns
Unbiased
Allows for different varieties
In prescriptive grammar the rules that are deemed correct are prescribed to the language; this grammar does not describe how the language is used.
Descriptive grammar describes your basic ling knowledge. It explains how it is possible for you to speak and understand, and it tells what you know about your language in all the areas; sounds, phrases, etc.

7. Is a prescriptive variety necessary?
Helps establish a ‘standard’ for cross-dialectal communication
Second language learning
Marking social distinctions
The next subject I want to move on to deals with social distinctions in the terms of “situation dialects” which are called registers

8. Everyone uses several registers:
What is a register?
Professional
Peer group
Motherese
What is a register?
A register is defined as a functional speech variety , functional speech varieties are bits of talk that are appropriate to particular speech situations
Motherese – a type of speech that is typically addressed to young children (caregiver speech)
With all that said I want to discuss the reading for today a little

9. Language Statistics How many languages are there?
Which languages have the most speakers and which are more official?
What some people think about English

10. Animal Communication Observations from File 2.3 “Primate Studies”
We share 99% of genetic material with the great apes, yet that 1% difference is responsible for human’s ability to “speak”
Gua versus Donald
Various styles of teaching communication were mentioned in this section. I would like to briefly go over the different ones that were mentioned.
The earliest project dealing with animal communication and human communication
Gua versus Donald
Where even though Gua was being raised in the same enviro as Donald the language development was not the same between the two. So it is not the case that the reasons chimps don’t use language in the same sense as humans is because of lack of exposure to it in their enviro

11. Animal Communication cont.
Viki: female chimp taught to “vocalize”
Washoe and Koko: From human speech sounds to ASL
Sarah: language board ‘sentences’
Lana: lexigrams
Viki: female chimp taught to “vocalize” through training, unlike Gua who did not receive direct training
Yet in 3 years she was only able to “speak” 3 words
Again not comparable to human language
The next few studies presented seemed to have greater accomplishments and success
Washoe acquired 132 signs and supposedly invented combinations similar to Koko who was said to know hundreds of signs while also inventing her own combinations also
In the case of Sarah it was claimed that she knew some category names and concepts
Then in another approach, Lana had minimal human contact and was taught to use symbols as language through a computer

12. Animal Communication cont.
Still the main questions is Did these chimps acquire human language?
The chimp “Nim Chimpsky”
Use of language: use of grammar
Mental referents, symbols we conjure when we think of a word
Even with all these studies and the claims made by them there still is the question as to whether or not these chimps actually acquired human language
Herbert Terrace viewed the use of grammar as evidence for use of human language
Use of language: use of grammar
So in comes another chimp named Nim Chimpsky
Even though he learned 125 signs there were still many differences between his use of signs and that of human language, and there was no evidence that he knew any grammar
So were still left with many questions, hopes, criticisms But one of the last projects mentioned seems to be a step in the right direction in the case of using an arbitrary symbol to represent something, in other words mental referents
Mental referents, symbols we conjure when we think of a word
Humans do this with language, but how are we to know if an ape does or can
Any thoughts…….questions
Future research is needed