Chapter 10 - Language Slide 1

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Chapter 10

Language

Chapter 10 - Language Slide 2

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The Building Blocks of Language

What are the elements that make up spoken language?

Language can be broken down into elements at several levels.

Take a sentence such as:

“The players talked to the fans”

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Phonemes

Morphemes

Words

Phrases

Sentences

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Phonemes

/p, b/ Bilabial Plosives /s, z/ Alveolar Fricatives

Phonemes are the smallest significant units of sound in a language.

Difference between p and b as well as between s and z is voicing (vibration of vocal cords). Carlson book shows how onset of voicing is responsible for difference between pa and ba.

What’s involved is changing the column of moving air.

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Interesting Facts About Phonemes

There are 40 phonemes in English, yet only 26 letters to capture these sounds?! Some letters can stand for different phonemes! For example “O” in HOT and COLD. Really confusing for ESL folks.

The normal rate of speech is about 180 words per minute which is equivalent to 14 phonemes per second. More trouble for ESL folks!

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Morphemes

Morphemes are the smallest units of sound that denote meaning in a language.

As an example, the word “talked” has two morphemes:

“talk” and the suffix “-ed ”

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Lexicon or Vocabulary

A lexical item is a root word in the vocabulary .

Most English-speaking high school students have a vocabulary of over 60,000 words.

Most English-speaking university students have a vocabulary of well over 120,000 words.

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Syntax or Grammar

Syntax refers to the way users of a particular language put words together in sentences.

Each language has rules of grammar. “The players to the fans talked” is wrong.

The rules differ across languages. “John drives the car orange” sounds wrong in English, but that order of words is correct in French.

Phrases

Sentences

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Properties of Language

Language is a complex skill that humans excel at:

•It is symbolic, allowing us to communicate concrete or imaginary thoughts.

•It has structure because it is governed by rules.

•It is generative so that symbols can be combined in an infinite number of ways.

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Language and Humans

Language has been described as:

“The last bastion of human uniqueness”

Is it true that only humans possess the ability to:

•Use symbols to communicate.•Arrange the symbols in a structured way.•Generate an infinite number of combinations of symbols.

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Chapter 10 - Language Slide 12

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Video on Chimp Vocal Language

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Approach to Chimp Language

Chimps obviously do not have the vocal apparatus to generate language sounds.

But what happens if a chimp is taught to speak usingsign language.

Meet Washoe, who was taught American Sign Language(also known as “Ameslan” or “ASL”).

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Video on Washoe

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What’s to Make of Chimp Language?

Does the experiment with Washoe convince us thathe could:

•Learn to use signs to label things?•String together signs into “grammatical” sentences?•Generate new combinations of signs to communicate new ideas?

Before reaching a firm conclusion, let’s consider anegative opinion that nearly brought all chimp languageresearch to an end...

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Meet Nim Chimpsky

Nim Chimpsky with psychology professor Laura Ann Petitto. Petitto was his caretaker and sign language tutor.

Question: “Nim Chimpsky” is a play on the name of what famous psycholinguist?

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At Columbia University, Herbert Terrace designed the program to teach Nim sign language.

Herbert Terrace was optimistic, envisioning that one day Nim might serve as a chimp interpreter for chimps in the wild.

After years of work and videotape analysis of Nim’s conversations, Terrace found that when Nim combined symbols into longer sequences, he was either imitating his trainer’s previous signs, or “running on” with his hands until he got what he wanted (e.g., “eat Nim eat” or “play me Nim play”.

Moreover, Nim signed spontaneously only when he wanted something whereas humans use language in a more diverse way.

Did Nim Have Language?

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The Controversy Heats UpAt Georgia State University, Sue Savage-Rumbaugh (and others) has taken the position that primates can learn a rudimentary form of language.

Could Washoe and Nim Chimpski have been handicapped by:

•Their species?

Savage-Rumbaugh worked with Kanzi, a bonobo chimpanzee. Koko, another famous example, was a gorilla.

•The use of sign language?

Kanzi pointed to geometric symbols. Lana, yet another famous example, pressed on symbols on a board.

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The Controversy Continues

The question of whether the communication skills of animals constitutes language is still being debated.

On the question of whether primate language is:

•Symbolic

•Structured

•Generative

Evidence for the first of these criteria seems the most compelling.

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Language: The Brain and Language Disorders

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Hemispheric Specialization

Language is mostly localized in the left hemisphere. This ismore the case for men than women (fMRI scan). Rhyming Task

Inferior frontal regions

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Localizing Language Centres

Speech Production Comprehension:Recognizing

sequencesof sounds and

words.

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Aphasia

Aphasia refers to problems of speech.

Some aphasias involve difficulty with the production of speech.They are known as nonfluent aphasias

Other aphasias involve difficulty with understanding speech.They are known as fluent aphasias.

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Language Centres and Aphasias

Speech Production Comprehension:Recognizing

sequencesof sounds and

words.

Broca’s Aphasia:Laborious speechAgrammatism (no production orcomprehension of complex grammar.No function words)

Wernicke’s Aphasia(receptive aphasia)Poor comprehension.Produce fluent gibberish.Use function words butfew content words.

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Video on Broca’s Area

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A Clear Distinction?

Lesions caused by strokes are seldom limited to a specific areasuch as Broca’s or Vernicke’s.

Still, does the broad distinction between disorders of productionand disorders of comprehension map neatly on Broca andWernicke’s areas?

Not quite. The problem is that speech involves a series ofprocesses, and that problems with one process have an impacton what happens in other processes.

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Stuttering

Stuttering involves disfluencies of speech at the motorend of speech production.

Patterns of stuttering differ a lot. Physical tension is usuallyinvolved.

The causes of stuttering are not known. What is known isthat stuttering is not caused by emotional problems.

Let’s look at a video that illustrates the problem and oneapproach to therapy.

National Stuttering Association web site: www.nsastutter.org

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Video on Stuttering

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AutismAutism is characterized by three general impairments:

• Deviant social development.• Delayed and unusual language development.• Repetitive and ritualistic behaviour.

The specific symptoms of autism vary a lot and theimpairment is often difficult to diagnose.

Autism is a lifelong condition.

The causes of autism are not well understood.

Autism Society of Ontario: www.autismsociety.on.ca

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Video on Autism

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Asperger SyndromeAsperger syndrome (AS) is characterised by:

• Poor social skills.• Very poor at reading nonverbal cues.• Preoccupation with a particular subject of interest.• Over sensitivity to textures, sounds, tastes, smells etc.• Vocabulary can be extremely rich.

Those with AS have a normal or above average IQ and many individuals exhibit exceptional skills in a specific area.

The causes of AS are not well understood, though the disorder appears to be hereditary.

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Video on Asperger Syndrome

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Tourette’s SyndromeTourette Syndrome (TS) is a neurological disordercharacterized by tics -- involuntary and uncontrollable sudden movements or vocalizations.

• Cursing, uttering obscenities and ethnic slurs are manifested in about 15% of cases.

• The onset of TS is usually before the age of 18.

• The causes of TS are not fully understood, but it is thought that abnormal levels of the neurotransmitter

dopamine (and perhaps others like serotonin) are involved.

• Medication can help control symptoms: (e.g. Haldol, Catapres, Orap, Prolixin, Permitil and Klonopin).

• Therapy helps patient and family cope with social impact.

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Video on Tourette’s Syndrome