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ANTH7022 - What is language?
What is language - faculty of language
39
Anthropology
Undergraduate 3
04/22/2016

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Term
What is language?
Definition
aristotle - 'sound with meaning'
Term
meaning
Definition
thinking - is subjective
Term
sound
Definition
language units - are inter-subjective
mediate transfer of information
Term
faculty of language
Definition
Faculty of language in the broad sense
faculty of language in the narrow sense
Term
FLB
Definition
sensory-motor system
conceptual-intentional system
FLN - internal computation system
Term
sensory-motor system
Definition
sound production and perception
Term
conceptual-intentional
Definition
'meaning' - language related thinking
conceptualisation
theory of mind
signal learning
Term
FLN
Definition
faculty of language, narrow sense
computational system (narrow syntax) that generates internal representations and maps them into the sensory-motor interface by the phonological system, and into the conceptual-intentional interface by the (formal) semantic system
Term
HCF - language is computation
Definition
not communication
language is more sophisticated than required for language
"a system for expressing thought", not communication
simpler ways to communicate
language as communication is limited in practice (working memory, lungs, lifespan...)
Term
HCF - because of FLN, human language is:
Definition
hierarchical
generative
unlimited
recursive - which explains all other features
Term
Language is hierarchical
Definition
language is structured; there are rules relating parts to whole
syntactic - word classes - function of part defined by the whole
semantic - meaning of parts depends on the whole
beyond the one-to-one mapping of sounds to meaning - establishing a hierarchical structure of symbols
Term
language is generative
Definition
chomsky - poverty of stimulus
children are so good at generalising rules ('I looked', 'I drinked')
- need to be corrected to conform to irregularities
Term
poverty of stimulus
Definition
natural language grammar is unlearnable given the relatively limited data available to children learning a language
Term
language is unlimited
Definition
individual lexicons are finite (~35,000-50,000); grammatical rules too
but the number of possible sentences in language is a 'discrete infinity'
Term
discrete infinity
Definition
'use of finite means to express an unlimited array of thoughts'
Term
similarity to DNA
Definition
both information systems
both characterised by modularity, hierarchy and discrete infinity
Term
language is recursive
Definition
the use of linguistic units or sentences as parts of other sentences according to a similar rule
HCF - recursion is the central mechanism of FLN and language
Term
three hypotheses for language evolution
Definition
FLB is like other forms of animal communication (agreed as wrong)

FLB as a whole is a unique adaptation for language - FLN/SM/CI systems were so transformed by selection that they became unique to humans and to language

only FLN is unique to humans (HCF) - aspects of FLB are shared with other animals and are not unique; language uniqueness due to FLN (recursion) soley
Term
HCF's choice of hypthosis
Definition
if any aspect of FLB is present in other animals, it is proof it doesn't require language to evolve
(may not have even evolved for language in humans)
Term
For HCF - sensory-motor system is not unique
Definition
other animals can discriminate between language - Kuhl and Padden (1982) studied macaques who exhibit phenome boundary effect
red and fallow deer also exhibit descended larynx which elongates vocal tract/exaggerates size (Fitch and Reby 2001)
Term
For/against HCF - conceptual-intentional system
Definition
it is clear that primates know a lot about their peers (social brain) but they just rarely vocalise such knowledge fabre-thorpe (2003) - rhesus monkeys are able to sort novel photographs into 'animal' and 'food' no displacement
Term
domain-general recursion
Definition
is unique to humans
HCF - evolved to solve other computational problems such as navigation, number quantification, or social relationships
became domain-general by breaking a barrier
Term
language as an evolutionary accident
Definition
reducing language to a single feature means it could have evolved by accident
Term
Pinker and Jackendoff - Language is an adaptation
Definition
support hypothesis 2 - FLB as a whole is a unique adaptation to human language
reject that the components of FLB are not adaptations for language and that the FLN is just recursion
Term
PJ - conceptual system
Definition
a conceptual world doesn't require language to exist however many concepts exist only because of language; a 'week'
Term
PJ - sensory-motor system
Definition
human vocal production was clearly adapted for speech
- vocalisations in other apes are comparatively limited
- capacity for vocal imitation not inherited from apes

vocal imitation is not uniquely human but that is irrelevant to whether vocal imitation evolved for language
other species with comparably talents are not ancestral to humans
descended larynx to exaggerate body size in humans is a wrong explanation
- women and children also have it (Lieberman 1984)
Term
PJ - FLN: syntax is more than just recursion
Definition
syntax also requires: ordering, agreement, case-marking
recursion may not be universal (Piraha)
Term
PJ - language is for communication
Definition
if language was inner speech, it would not need mapping of sound to meaning/phonological and auditory systems would not have evolved can one possibly argue that humans do not use language for communication?
Term
PJ - what is innate about grammar?
Definition
without exception, linguistic isolates do not develop speech or a new language
we seem to have the innate ability to learn or copy grammar, not to create it
Term
syntax
Definition
'principles by which words and morphemes are concatenated into sentences'
Term
PJ - what they believe
Definition
FLB as a whole is a unique adaptation
reject that FLN is just recursion
reject that FLB is not an adaptation
agree that FLN/recursion are unique to humans, and to language
Term
what is wrong with PJ/HCF
Definition
never relate language to culture - creation and diversification of linguistic rules serve important purposes in social life (to establish group membership, cultural identity etc.)
Term
Lieberman (2003)
Definition
'the descended larynx is part of a suit of vocal tract modifications" that evolved at the cost of other biological functions (eating/swallowing)
Term
phonemes
Definition
individual units of sound (/r/ is 'red' is replaced by /b/ in 'bed')
Term
PJ - phonological structure of language is discretely infinite...
Definition
... but not technically recursive
Term
intonation
Definition
allocate the grammatical role of the phrase with respect to a verb "convery who did what to whom, what is where, and other semantic relations"
Term
Kuhl and Padden (1982)
Definition
macaques exhibit phoneme boundary effect
Term
Fitch and Reby (2001)
Definition
red and fallow deer also exhibit extended larynx elongates vocal tract and exaggerates size
Term
fabre-thorpe (2003)
Definition
rhesus monkeys were able to sort novel photographs into 'animal' and 'food
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