Definitions of language
Nonsense language test
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hitiacumya? 'Is a cat listening carefully?'
hitisnosist? 'Is the little girl listening sleepily?'
myatsnohiti. 'The cat is listening sleepily.'
sisacuhiti. 'A little girl is listening carefully.‘
How does one express the following in this language?:
'cat'?_________
'little girl'?_________
'carefully'?_________
'sleepily'?_________
'a'?_________
'the'?_________
'is listening'?_________
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hitiacumya? 'Is a cat listening carefully?'
hitisnosist? 'Is the little girl listening sleepily?'
myatsnohiti. 'The cat is listening sleepily.'
sisacuhiti. 'A little girl is listening carefully.'
'cat'?___mya______
'little girl'?_sis________
'carefully'?__acu_______
'sleepily'?___sno______
'a'?____-_____
'the'?__t (post position)_______
'is listening'?___hi ti______
With a sinister tearing noise the large
package SPLIT apart.
He shrugged his shoulders, wrinkled
his face and shook with laughter.
Sometimes they open quite easily but
usually you need a knife to split
them.
My father, SEARCHING for a job, had
left Manchester and his parents in
1912.
The acres had remained intact,
growing in value and not decreasing
in number.
John Thomas Salt, whose friends
seemed to relish using both his
forenames, had married Mary Jane
Jones from North Cheshire.
To us, accustomed to such upheavals,
it would seem natural to leave
home for a safer haven.
Under the stairs was found the missing
PIECE of cake
A new car was offered as first prize.
He was handed a shovel and given
two hours to finish the job.
Can you see the ambiguity in the
following sentences?
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He kissed the girl in the bus.
They took her flowers.
She commented on the page.
He took down the name.
LANGUAGE AS A SYSTEM
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Arbitrary symbols
Patterning
Semanticity
Duality
Children’s language acquisition
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1. "What children say"
Jean Berko (1958): wug-wugs, gling-glinged-glang
wented, taked, mices, mouses, sheeps
ett, kenyért, lót, tégem
2. "What children don't say"
McNeill (1966):
CHILD: Nobody don't like me.
MUM: No, say "nobody likes me".
CHILD: Nobody don't like me.
(eight repetitions of this dialogue)
MUM: No, now listen carefully, say
"nobody likes me".
CHILD: Oh! Nobody don't likes me.
LANGUAGE AS A UNIQUE
HUMAN CAPACITY
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Genetically coded
ability:
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Unique cognitive system
Unique vocal system
Wiring
LAD
Cultural transmission
Productivity
LANGAUGE AS
COMMUNICATION
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Two-way interaction,
negotiation of meaning
Intentional
Way of expressing info, self,
feelings
Way of exchanging ideas
Interchangeability
LANGUAGE AS A SOCIAL
PRODUCT
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Bonding (phatic communication)
Expressing self, establishing status
in community (e.g. keeping a
dialect)
Operating social ties and institutions
Recording and passing on info from
generation to generation (schooling,
literature)