Key Attributes of Human Language

This PP presentation uses several graphics and examples from similar material created by Dr. Alicia Wassink, University of Washington, for her introductory linguistics course. I have edited and adapted it for English 301. (August 2007)

Points of Focus Seeing language as a set of rules Distinguishing linguistic competence vs.

linguistic performance Naming attributes of language Separating animal communication from human language Identifying fields of linguistic study

Linguistic competence What we know when we “know” a

language. This knowledge is largely unconscious.

How do we study linguistic competence?

By observing a speaker’s linguistic

performance.

How Grammar Works Prescriptive grammar

Prescribes rules governing what people should/shouldn’t say

Descriptive grammar Describes the rules that govern what people

do or can say (their “mental grammar”)

Prescriptive Rules“Don’t end a sentence with a

preposition!”“Don’t split infinitives!”“Don’t use double negatives!”

Descriptive Rules

In English sentences, words follow a predictable order.

The boat sailed away.

*Sailed boat away the.

Summing up this point Descriptive rules are linguists’ attempt to

represent your mental grammar. They are

natural followed intuitively need not be taught

Prescriptive rules are not natural must be learned by rote (in school)

Naming Language Features Goal: Characterize language, distinguish

it from other communication systems Caveat: If a system lacks even one

feature, it is communication, not language

Language Attributes

Discreteness Arbitrariness Cultural transmission Displacement Productivity (AKA Creativity)

Discreteness Larger, complex messages can be broken

down into smaller, discrete parts

e.g., [pat]

[tap]

[apt]

p

a t

Arbitrariness There is no (necessary) connection

between the form of signal and its meaning e.g., whale is a small word for big animal,

microorganism is just the reverse

Cultural transmission At least some aspect of communication

system is learned from other users

e.g., child of Italian-speaking parents will first speak Italian

Displacement

Ability to talk about things not present in space or time

e.g., “The Dutch bought

Manhattan from the

Native Americans

for $24.”

Productivity Speakers can create an infinite number of

novel utterances that others can understand

e.g., “Little purple gnomes

living in my sock drawer

said, ‘Elvis lives’.”

Elvis lives!!

/

Animal Communication

Does not include displacement, arbitrariness or most of the other features of HUMAN language.

Aspects of Language Human language consists of several

levels or dimensions of knowledge These dimensions are used by linguists to

separate language into separate areas of study

Core Subfields Phonetics Phonology Morphology Syntax Semantics Pragmatics

Phonetics and Phonology Phonetics: the study of individual units of

sound

e.g., “ee” is a single sound in “seek” Phonology: the study of how speech

sounds pattern and how they are organized (i.e., the sound system)

e.g., art, *rta (where ‘*’ = ungrammatical)

Morphology Morphology: The study of the origin and

structure of words.

e.g., algebra is “borrowed” from Arabic

e.g., unrealistic un-real-ist-ic

Syntax Syntax: the study of the structure of

sentences

e.g., Fido brought in the paper.

BUT NOT *Fido in paper

brought the.

Semantics and Pragmatics Semantics: the study of meaning in

language.

Pragmatics: the study of how linguistic meaning depends on context.