The Properties of Language

Lecture #2

LING 2301 Fall 2008

LING 2301 Fall 2008 2

Do you remember?

What is Language (“big-L”)?

What is a language (“little-L”)?

grammar

• The systematic “rules” and patterns that govern linguistic behavior

• The body of knowledge that allows one to produce a particular language

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GrammarA Body of Linguistic Knowledge–How to:

Combine soundsCreate wordsBuild sentencesConstruct textsParticipate in conversations

“Language is so built into the way people live that it has become an axiom of being human.”

--Bolton

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Stepping Back: Looking at Communication

But, is this LANGUAGE???

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Core Properties of all Communication

sign•Form (various modalities)

•Meaning

•Function (purpose)

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Analyze this Non-Linguistic Sign

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How About This Sign?

? ? ?

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Three Types of SignsIconic– Signifier (form) resembles signified (meaning)

Indexical – Signifier gives directional information

Arbitrary– No inherent relationship between form and

meaningQ: If words are signs – and they are –

what kind of sign are they?

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7 Design Features of Human Language

Arbitrariness

Discreteness

Duality

Productivity

Displacement

Cultural Transmission

Interchangeability

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Arbitrarinessthe connection between the signifier (form) and the signified (meaning) is arbitrary

these arbitrary relationships are agreed upon by speakers, i.e. a matter of convention (consensus)

even interjections and onomatopoetic signs are arbitrary

– ouaoua ~ bow-wow ~ mŏng-mŏng ~ wan-wan

– aïe! ~ ouch! ~ aigo! ~ aiya!

moonsignifier

signified

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Arbitrariness

moon

lune

kuu

lua

달

月

mahina

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Arbitrariness

shoe“shu”

additional“muu”

moo“muu”

daikon“muu”

book

“shu”

cabbage“shu”

silent“muu”

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7 Design Features of Human Language

Arbitrariness

Discreteness

Duality

Productivity

Displacement

Cultural Transmission

Interchangeability

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DiscretenessWhat is “discrete” vs. “continuous”?Discrete entities have clear boundaries; they’re units; categorical.Continuous entities don’t have clear boundaries.Language is… DISCRETE

Language is made up structured units if…–… you have knowledge of the system!–Otherwise, utterances can sound like continuous streams of sound, without discernible units.

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Color Test: How many do you see? Which set of colors is DISCRETE?

color chart 1 vs. color chart 2

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7 Design Features of Human Language

Arbitrariness

Discreteness

Duality

Productivity

Displacement

Cultural Transmission

Interchangeability

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7 Design Features of Human Language

Arbitrariness

Discreteness

Duality

Productivity

Displacement

Cultural Transmission

Interchangeability

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DualityLinguistic units have a dual nature:1.They are observable physical events

“noise” or “image”2.They are more than simple physical events

They are produced in order to communicate meaning

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7 Design Features of Human Language

Arbitrariness

Discreteness

Duality

Productivity

Displacement

Cultural Transmission

Interchangeability

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Productivity (a.k.a. “Creativity”)

How many utterances are there in a language?

Humans are capable of unlimited expression.

We routinely create and comprehend novel utterances.

“Rule Governed Creativity”– An infinite number of utterances can be created by a

limited number of rules / patterns.

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7 Design Features of Human Language

Arbitrariness

Discreteness

Duality

Productivity

Displacement

Cultural Transmission

Interchangeability

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The Last Three Design Features

Displacement– We can communicate beyond the here and now– We are not “stimulus bound”

Cultural Transmission– Grammars are transmitted from one generation to the next– Acquiring “a language” requires involvement in a culture– COMPARE Genetic Transmission of big-L “Language”

Each human is born with Language; it’s a biological instinct.Interchangeability– All members of the community are physically capable of

transmitting and receiving messages

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Focus on SentencesConsider the following finite lexicon:– hugged– saw– laughed– dog– cat– the– a– cute– big– baby– we

Create two different sentences using

only these words

*The we laughed a cute.*A a a baby cat dog the the.*Cat the hugged baby the.

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Which of the Following Strings are Grammatical?

a. I shall speak to her tomorrow

b. I shall her tomorrow speak.

c. Tomorrow her to speaking do shall.

d. Speak shall I with her tomorrow.

• Ik zal haar morgen spreken. Dutch

• Naeil ke-ege mal-ha-gessumnida. Korean

• Falar-ei com ela amanhã. Portuguese

*

*

*

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What do we Mean by “Grammatical”?

Prescriptive Grammar (Prescriptively Grammatical)– The set of rules (or patterns) that are deemed to be the

“correct” or “proper” way to use a language

– Set by members of the community that possess the power to enforce the rules: teachers, editors

Descriptive Grammar (Descriptively Grammatical)– The set of rules (or patterns) that characterize observed

language behavior

– Determined by observing language users and extracting relevant generalizations

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Determine the Grammaticality of…

Descriptively Grammatical

Prescriptively Grammatical

NoNoI shall her tomorrow speak.E

YesYesThe brave little toaster jumped into the lake to save the drowning duck.D

YesNoThey want to boldly go where nobody has gone before.C

YesNoWhat are you talking about?B

YesYesThe student said that our dog saw a cat.A

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Grammaticality vs. Semantically Odd

Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that each men created equal.

The industrious bunnies baked a delicious cake for Mimi’s birthday.

The red roses are yellow.

*

√

!

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Relationship between Prescription and Description

Universe of all word combinations in language X

Combinations that speakers actually produce

Combinations that are officially sanctioned by the authorities

Descriptively grammatical but prescriptively ungrammatical

Descriptively ungrammatical but prescriptively grammatical

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Judging what is “Good” in Language

According to Algeo, “Good” Language:– Communicates something successfully– Meets literary standards– Is scholarly – makes the language police

happy– Is logical

Who gets to judge what is good?

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Comparing Languages: Who’s is Better?

Who gets to judge what is good?

Do you have the right to say that somebody else’s language is too hard or backwards or illogical or ugly?Yes!From a linguistic perspective, what makes language X better than language Y?Nothing!As Bolton says, “Language is very fertile ground for ethnocentricity.”

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Muddiest PointBefore you leave class today, tell me what one point in today’s lecture was the least clear?

What concept do you find the hardest to “get”?