BSEE 24

LESSON 1  Imitative sounds differ from language to

language
Theories of Origin of Human Language
 It is unclear to provide onomatopoeia for
Bow-wow Theory silent objects such as a rock
 It does not consider abstract ideas like
 Attributed to the German Philosopher love, hope, justice, etc. as there are no
Johann Gottfried Herder in 1772 sounds for these words.
 Named by Friedrich Max Muller  It does not supply words for grammar in
 Speech arose from our ancestors the English language.
imitating the natural sounds (birds, dogs,
or thunder) around them Sing Song Theory
 Sounds were onomatopoeic (imitative
 Supposed that language took birth from
and echoic)
primitive inarticulate chants.
 That general initiative abilities may have
 Suggested that language comes out of
played an important role in the evolution
play, laughter, cooing, courtship,
of language.
emotional muttering and
Questionable Concepts:  Some of our first words were actually
long and musical, rather than the short
 Lot of words that describe animal grunts many assumed we started with.
sounds in different language are similar.  Arrived at the view that referential
 Words represent the sound of a single language mut have been preceded by
animal in different language singing, which is functional in fulfilling
 Many onomatopoeic words are of recent the need for sex (or love), and the need
origin, and not all are derived from for coordinating collective work
natural sounds.
Pooh Pooh Theory
Ding Dong Theory
 Introduced by the natural scientist, pre-
 Suggested by Oxford professor Friedrich Socratic philosopher Democritus
Max Muller  Later held by Epicurus and Lucretius
 Language Originated out of a natural  As again put forward by Giambattista
correspondence between objects of Vico and Jean Jancques Rousseau in the
sense perception and the vocal noises 18th century.
 Based on onomatopoeia which stated  Speech came from the automatic vocal
that all things have vibrating natural responses to pain, fear, surprise, or other
resonance, echoed somehow by man in emotions.
his earliest age  Language began with interjections
 Stated that language began when eventually leading to the expression of
humans started naming objects, actions more developed ideas and emotions.
and phenomena after a relevant sound  In this case the first word would have
 There is a mystic correlation between been an involuntary ha-ha-ha, wawa-wa
sound and meaning. etc. These began to be used to name the
Questionable Concepts: actions which caused these sounds

 Onomatopoeia is a very limited part of Questionable Concepts:

the vocabulary of any language  Emotional exclamations are a very small
part of any language

leejidong
BSEE 24

 They are also highly language specific  The Hebrew Bible attributes the origin
 Exclamations are more like other words of language to humans, with Adam
in that they reflect the phonology of being asked to name the creatures that
each separate language God had created.
 No language contains a lot of  God gave Adam the control over the
interjections. Garden of Eden among all the animals.
 ‘And out of the ground the Lord God
Goo Goo Theory
formed every beast of the field, and
 Supported by Florida Scientist who every fowl of the air, and brought them
blamed it on baby talk. unto Adam to see what he would call
 Way before, some human ancestor them; and whatsoever Adam called
mother started saying “goo-goo” and every living creature, that was the name
“ba-ba” to her baby as a way of keeping thereof. And Adam gave names to all
in touch. cattle, to the fowl of the air, and to every
 All began because of humans became beast of the field’ (Genesis 2, 19-20).
bipedal.  Mankind was created from the
 According to Dean Falk, an beginning with an innate capacity to use
anthropologist at Florida State language.
University in Tallahassee, the universal  The tower of babel from Genesis
language of motherhood is characterized  God punishing humanity for arrogance
by a high-pitched voice, long drawn out and disobedience by means of the
vowels, repetitive phrases and a confusion of tongues
singsong cadence. These may old the  “Go to, let us go down, and there
key to the emergence of language. confound their language, that they may
not understand one another’s speech”.
Yow-he-ho Theory (Genesis 11:5-6)
 Proposed that language and speech Gesture Theory
started with grunts and groans as wells
as chants, and rhythmic sounds that the  Questions about the nature of the signed
earliest peoples used to coordinate languages of the deaf and human
movements as they work together to gestural behavior in general.
accomplish a formidable task.  Stated that human language was
 Cooperative efforts of human beings as developed from gestures that were a
exemplified by a marching chant and primitive of communication.
working songs.  According to Gillespie-Lynch et al.
(2013), bipedalism might be an
Questionable Concepts: influencing factor on gesturing, as
 The origin of words is in no way walking on two feet allows both hands
explained by the theory to be available for gesturing.
 Though this notion may account for  Hypothesizes that gestures preceded
some of the rhythmic features of the speech in human language remains a
language, it doesn’t go very far in popular topic of discussion by both
explaining where words come from. evolutionists and linguists
 It can be argued that the origin of human
Biblical Theory sign languages Is coincident with the
origin of human languages; sign

leejidong
BSEE 24

languages, that is, are likely to have  By 4 months: sounds similar to the
been the first true languages. velar consonants [k] and [g]
 At 5 months: Can already differentiate
Questionable Concepts:
between (i) and (a), (ba) and (ga)
If language began as gesture, why did it not stay
Babbling
that way?
 6-8 months old: a number of different
vowels and consonants such as ba-ba-
Lesson 2 Part 1 baand ga-ga-ga
 9-10 months old: Variation in
First Language Acquisition
combinations such as ba-ba-da-da. Nasal
 Language Acquisition is a process of sound become more common and
which can take place at any period of certain syllable such as ma-ma-ma and
one’s life/ da-da-da interpreted by parents as
 First Language Acquisition refers to “mama” and “dada”
the acquisition (unconscious learning) of  10-11 months old: expressing emotions
one’s native language (or languages in and emphasis. More complex syllable
the case of bilinguals) during the first 6 combinations (ma-da-ga-ba)
or 7 years of one’s life (roughly from
One Word Stage
birth to the time one starts school).
 12-18 months old: produce variety of
Characteristics of FLA
single unit utterances. Such as “cookie”
 It is an instinct “cup” or usually the objects used
 It is very rapid everyday
 It is very complete  HOLOPHRASTIC a single form
 It does not require instruction functioning as a phrase or sentence
describe an utterance that could be
Caregiver Speech analyzed as a word, a phrase or a
sentence
 Speech often used by adults with young
children example:
 Uses simple sentence structure, a lot of
“peach”, “daddy”, “spoon” to describe a
repetition and paraphrasing
situation where Daddy has cut a piece of peach
that was in a spoon
The Acquisition Schedule Two Word Stage

- Children develop Language at roughly  Begin around 18-20 months old

same time, hence the same schedule.  Two distinct word used together
 Child’s vocabulary moves beyond fifty
Cooing
words
 The earliest use of speech-like sounds  Generally, two nouns or a noun and a
(2-5 months old) verb
 The child gradually becomes capable of
Example:
producing sequences of vowel-like
sounds, particularly high vowels similar big bike, baby chair, mama dress
to [i] and [u].

leejidong
BSEE 24

Telegraphic Speech Mother: Did you say she held them tightly?

 2and3yearsold Child: No, she holded them loosely

 Child begins to produce large numbers
Developing Morphology
of utterances
 This stage contains many 3- and 4-word  Process after telegraphic speech.
utterances.  Usually inflectional morphemes.
 Child begins to see the links between  First to appear is the –ing form such as
words and objects and therefore cat sitting.
overgeneralization comes in.  Next is the regular plurals with –s form,
 Child starts to incorporate plurals, as in boys.
joining words and attempts to get a grip  Possessive inflection –’s such as
on tenses. Mummy’s book.
Example:  Different forms of verb “to be” such as
are and was.
Mommy eat carrot.  At about the same time, irregular past
tense such as went and came should be
What her name?
noted.
He is playing ball.  Once the regular past tense form starts
appearing such as –ed (walked, jumped)
The Acquisition Process
the irregular past tense form may
Imitation disappear for a while.
 The –ed inflection may be added to
 Child may repeat single word or phrases everything such as goed and comed.
but not thesentence structure.  Finally, the regular –s on third person
Example: singular present tense verbs such as
comes and looks and then auxiliaries
The cat s cute –Cat cute (does, has)
 Children understands what adult say but Developing Syntax
express it in their own way
First Stage
Correction
(18-26 months)
 Adults attempt to correct child speech.
 An unlikely determiner of how child  Add wh- from (where, who) to the
speaks. beginning or utter the expression with
rise in intonation at the end.
 Child will still not follow the words
corrected by adults. Example: Where Kitty? Or Doggie?
Example: Second Stage
Child: My teacher holded the baby rabbits. (22-30 months)
Mother: Did you say your teacher held the baby  More complex expression, rising
rabbits? intonation continues, more wh- forms
Child: Yes Mother: What did you say she did? such as what and why come into use.

Child: She holded the baby rabbits. Example: What book name? You want eat?

leejidong
BSEE 24

Third Stage New linguistic knowledge is acquired very

quickly.
(24-40 months)
LESSON 2 Part 2
 The presence of auxiliary verb, the wh-
questions don’t really have same Second Language Acquisition
structure as adult speech and the
 A term to describe learning a second
continuous problems with morphology
language
of verbs.
 A process by which we acquire a second
Example: Can I have a piece? Did I caught it? language
Why kitty can’t stand up? How that opened? FLA SLA
An instinct, triggered A personal Choice,
Forming Negatives by birth required motivation
First Stage Very Rapid Varies, but never as
quick as FLA
(18-26 months) Complete Never as good as
native speaker,
 Putting no or not at the beginning. though good
Second Stage competence can be
achieved
(22-30 months) Natural, no Natural or guided (for
instruction synthetic languages
 Don’t and Can’t appear, no and not grammatical
increasingly used in front of the verb. instruction is
required)
Third Stage
(24-40 months)
 The level of competence acquired with
 Auxiliary forms appear, typical stage SLA depends not so much on the time
one disappears, some stage two foms spent learning a language as the time at
used for quite a long time. which one begins.
 A First Language is acquired
Developing Semantics  A second language is learned
 Process called overextension which  SLA is dependent on factors such as
means child overextend meaning of a motivation and personality.
word by the basic similarities.  This does not apply to FLA which is
triggered by birth, i.e. it is an instinct in
Rational or Empirical? the biological sense of the word.
Acquisition proceeds in a piecemeal fashion,  Your first language is acquired without
building on what is already acquired. too much input from your surroundings.
 FLA is not dependent on intelligence or
Children begin life with some knowledge of the special ability for languages.
possible units of language.  FLA is connected to cognitive
It takes time to integrate new linguistic development wit the latter preceding the
information with existing knowledge. former somewhat. With the second
language (acquired after puberty) you

leejidong
BSEE 24

have all the cognitive structures far exceeds that of a second language
necessary to deal with the language. learned after puberty.
 You cannot forget your first language,
LESSON 3: ACQUISITION VS LEARNING
although it may become inactive if you
spend many years speaking just a second Second Language Acquisition
language. Backsliding, reverting to a
lower level of competence, making  A term to describe learning a second
mistakes are features of SLA only. language
 There are certain phases in FLA: one-  A process by which we acquire a second
word, two-word and multi-word stages. language
Furthermore, in early childhood children
make maximally simple generalizations FLA SLA
about language, e.g. that all verbs are An instinct,
A personal choice,
triggered by birth required motivation
weak. After a while they correct
Very Rapid Varies, but never as
themselves (when they just her the adult
quick as FLA
forms). One they have acquired the Complete Never as good as native
latter they remember them. speaker, tough good
 In FLA children make errors, systematic competence can be
ill-formed structures based on the level achieved
of acquisition on which they happen to Natural, No Natural or guided (for
be. In post-puberty SLA individuals Instruction synthetic languages
make mistakes which are often random grammatical instruction
and erratic, though a degree of regularity is required)
can be recognized here. With SLA there
can be interference from the first
 The level of competence acquired with
language, i.e. structures from L1 are
SLA depends not so much on the time
carried over into L2 where they do not
spent learning a language as the time at
occur natively.
which one begins.
 Interference obviously does not occur in
 A First Language is acquired
FLA.
 A Second Language is learned
 FLA children build up competence, the
 SLA is dependent on factors such as
internalized knowledge of one’s native
motivation and personality
language, from the performance of
 FLA is triggered by birth, i.e. it is an
others, i.e. by accepting spoken input
instinct in the biological sense of the
from those people surrounding them.
word.
The parents are obviously important
here, but siblings and playmates can  Your First language is acquired without
play an equally important role if they are too much input from your surroundings.
present.  FLA is not dependent on intelligence or
 In the strict sense bilinguals are those special ability for languages
individuals who have acquired two  FLA is connected to cognitive
languages simultaneously in early development with the latter preceding
childhood. Normally, one of these the former somewhat.
languages will be dominant, but the  With the second language (Acquired
degree of competence in the non- after puberty) you have all the cognitive
dominant language is still very high and structures necessary to deal with the
language.

leejidong
BSEE 24

 You cannot forget your first language.  Includes components such as phonetics,
 There are certain phases in FLA: One- phonology, syntax, semantics and
word, two-word and multi-word stages. morphology
 In FLA children makes errors,  Enables native speaker to recognize
systematic ill-formed structures based ambiguous sentences or accept even
on the level of acquisition on which they apparently meaningless sentences as
happen to be. syntactically correct
 In post-puberty SLA individuals make  Even if you have never heard these
mistakes which are often random and before, you know which one is
erratic, though a degree if regularity can “English” and which one is not
be recognized here.
Linguistic Performance
 With SLA there can be interference
from the first language, i.e. structures  The way a language system is used in
from L1 are carried over in L2 where communication
they do not occur natively.  Real world linguistic output
 Interference obviously does not occur in  Maybe affected by such things as
FLA. attention, stamina, memory, etc.
 Bilinguals are those individuals who  Performance may be flawed because of
have acquired two languages memory limitations,
simultaneously in early childhood.  distractions, shifts of attention and
 One of these languages will be interest, and errors or other
dominant, but the degree of competence psychological factors
in the non-dominant language is still  Performance of a speaker may not be
very high and far exceeds that of a fault free even though his competence is
second language learned after puberty perfect.
LESSON 4: Linguistic Competence and Why is it important to make a distinction
Sociolinguistic Performance between competence and performance?
Linguistic Competence  It allows those studying a language to
 system of linguistic knowledge know the difference between a speech
possessed by native speakers of a error and not knowing something about
language the language.
 linguistic competencies not an “competence” knowing
evaluative term. rather, it refers to the
innate linguistic knowledge that allows a “performance” doing
person to match sounds and meanings EXAMPLES AND OBSERVATIONS
 the ideal language system that enables
speakers to produce and understand an  "Linguistic competence constitutes
infinite number of sentences in their knowledge of language, but that
language and to distinguish grammatical knowledge is implicit. This means that
sentences from ungrammatical sentences people do not have conscious access to
 person’s underlying/subconscious the principles and rules that govern the
linguistic ability to create and combination of sounds, words, and
 understand sentences including sentences; however, they do recognize
sentences they have never heard before when those rules and principles have
been violated.

leejidong
BSEE 24

 "Two language users may have the same

'program' for carrying out specific tasks
of production and recognition, but differ
in their ability to apply it because of
exogenous differences (such as short-
term memory capacity). The two are
accordingly equally language-competent
but not necessarily equally adept at
making use of their competence
.

leejidong