Module: Introduction to Language

Course Professor: Professor Hafida CHEKEIRI

Document Composer: TAYAA Jallal-eddine [21009290]

The Origins of language

Sources Theories Arguments/Experiments Counter-

arguments
The Human language 1. Psamtik’s
experiment with 2
1. The Mogul
emperor Akbar
is a God given gift.
divine newborn babies, the Great
sourc where he isolated
both of them for
carried out
similar
e two years with experiments
goats and a mute where he
shepherd, and he arranged
concluded that newborn
Phrygian must be babies to be
the original raised in
language because silence, and
they uttered the they produced
Phrygian word no speeh at
“bekos” all.
2. King Charles IV
carried out a similar
experiment where
he claimed the 2. Psamtik’s
children spoke experiment is
Hebrew, concluding falsified
that Hebrew is the because the
original language. children were
imitating the
sound of
goats.
The 1. The Bow-wow
theory: human
 1. Bow-wow
counter
natur language  argument: the
al originated from
the imitation of  number of
onomatopoeic
sound sounds in nature.  words in
sourc (onomatopoeic
words) 
human
language is
e 2. The Pooh-pooh very limited
theory: human  2. Interjection
language
originated from
 such as Ah!
Ouch! are
emotional usually
exclamations of produced with
pain, pleasure, etc sudden
intakes of
breath,
 which is the
opposite of
ordinary
talk.
The  The yo-he-ho   Apes,
theory: the sounds primates, and
social of a person  other animals
interactio involved in live in social
n source physical effort  groups, but
may be the source
of human
 they do not
have a
language,  language nor
especially when the developed
that physical capacity for
effort involved speeh.
several people
and the
interaction ha to
be
coordinated.
The  The theory  Features found in  Those
states that fossils that have physical
physical there is a link been discovered features by
adaptation between the 35000 years ago themselves
source human’s resemble those of would not
physical modern humans. guarantee
features and speech.
the produced
sounds.
The  Manual gestures  Humans may have
may be the first developed a
tool- origins of human naming ability by
making language combining noises
source and using them to
convey a message.
 The areas of the
brain responsible
for complex
vocalization and
object
manipulation are
very close to each
other in the left
hemisphere of the
brain.
The  Humans may be  The innateness
born with a hypothesis states
geneti special, innate that human
c capacity for offspring are born
sourc language. with an innate
capacity for
e learning
language.
 Animals and human language

Communicative signals: signals that are used intentionally to tell something.

(Gestures, facial expressions, body postures, etc.)
Informative signals: signals that are not used intentionally. (Sneezing
signals sickness, crying signals sadness, etc.)

Some properties of human language:

Properties Explanation
Reflexivity We can use language to talk about language.
Displaceme We can use language to talk about things and places
nt that are not present in the immediate environment or
whose existence we cannot even be sure of.
Arbitrariness There is no natural connection between a word and what
it
represents. Onomatopoeic words are and exception but
their number in human languages is very limited.
Cultural Language is acquired in a culture with other speakers
transmissi and not from parental genes.
on
Productivity We can create an infinite amount of words
Duality It essentially refers to the property of human language
that enables the combination of meaningless sounds
into morphemes (prefixes and suffixes) and words,
which themselves could be combined further.

Some functions language:

Functions Explanation
Referenti When the addresser uses the language to convey an
al/ information to the receiver(s).
Informativ
e
Conative/ When the addresser uses the language to get the
Persuasiv attention of or a reaction from the receiver(s).
e
Emotive/ When the addresser uses the language to interpret
Expressiv emotions, feelings, desires, and moods of the subject
to the receiver(s).
e
Phatic When the addresser uses the language to establish
social connection with the receiver(s) or check the
current status of the relationship, without
communicating any meaningful information.
Poetic When the addresser uses the language to convey an
information in an artistic way to the receiver(s).

Metalingua When the addresser uses the language to talk about

l language itself to the receiver(s).
Chimpanzees and language:
 Gua: Gua was reported to be able to understand 100 words but
did not say any of them.
 Viki: Catherine and Keith Hayes tried to get a their chimpanzee
Viki to say English words by trying to shape her mouth as she
produced sounds, she eventually manage to say 3 words, Papa,
Mama, and Cup.
 Washoe: Washoe came to learn to use signs for about 100 words,
and was even capable of combining them to produce sentences.
 Sarah: Sarah learned to use plastic shapes to communicate with
her foster parents, she eventually learned to produce sentences
using those plastic shapes.
 Lana: Lana learnt to convey messages using Yerkish, which
consisted of a set of symbols on a large keyboard linked to a
computer.
 Nim: Nim learnt to use sign language, his longest sentence was
16 words long.
 Kanzi: Kanzi learnt by being exposed to and observing language
rather than being taught, by the age of eight he was reported to be
able to demonstrate understanding of spoken English at a level
comparable to a two and a half year old human child.

Romans, Greeks, & Indians

interest in language.
Civilization Pioneers Interests Purpose
Greeks Conventionali Written Origins of
st school, language. language.
naturalist Fields of Study of
school grammar language.
(Stoics), Plato, and Preservation
Socrates… etymology of language.
…
Romans Varro, Etymology, Study of
Julius Morphology, languag
Caesar… Syntax, e.
Grammar
and
rhetoric,
Style,
Usage and
public
speaking,
 Grammatic
al
regularity
…
Indians Panini… Phonetics, Preservation
Etymology, of language
Grammar, for religious
Metrics, purposes to
Production of avoid
an profanation.
authoritative
text…

Prominent linguists.

A-Leonard Bloomfield:
The main tenets:
1) Linguistics is a descriptive science
2) The primary form of language is the spoken one
3) Every language is a system on its own right
4) Language is a system in which smaller units
arrange systematically to form larger ones
5) Meaning should not be part of linguistic analysis
6) The procedures to determines the units in language
should be objective and rigorous
7) Language is observable speech, not knowledge.

B-Fernand De Saussure:
The idea of language as a system of signs.
He was devoted to finding out the prototype of languages.
This devotion was based on the premise that some
languages evolved from the same language.
-Diachronic: the study of language evolution
throughout a period of time.
-Synchronic: the study of language at the current time.
-Signifier: The words referring to the object. (Sound)
-Signified: The object. (Concept)

Signifier Signified
(Sound) (Concept)

-Langue: the abstract system.

-Parole: The way we use the abstract system.
-Syntagmatic: according to their positions in a given
sentence or utterance. (Horizontal)
-Paradigmatic: according to the membership in
particular types or classes of signs. (Vertical)
The man deceased relationship
paradigmatic

boy passed

died

Syntagmatic relationship
C-Noam Chomsky:
Main assets of his theory:
-Universal grammar
-Competence vs. Performance
-LAD (Language Acquisition Device)
-Transformational Generative Grammar

“Chomsky states that all languages have something in

common, even the primitive languages, so there are
similarities between languages. He also stated that we
are born with
Language Acquisition Devices.’’

-Competence: idealized knowledge of language. (The Knowledge)

-Performance: application and use of language. (The use)

‘’Competence is not always reflected by

performance in a perfect way, seeing as some non-
linguistic factors such as boredom may hinder the
performance of a speaker, but not their
competence’’

-Generative grammar: we can produce an infinite

amount of sentences.
-Transformational generative grammar: we may
change the structure of the sentence without
changing the meaning.
-Universal grammar: Chomsky argues that language is
an innate faculty- that is to say that we are born with a
set of rules about language in our mind.
-Language acquisition device: a tool located in the
brain, it helps children learn and understand
language quickly. It is a theoretical concept, it isn’t a
section of the brain. Rather, it’s
used to explain that there are most likely
hundreds or thousands of underlying
development in the brain.
-The deep structure of grammar: refers to the abstract
structure that allows the speaker of a language to
know what the produced structure means.
-The surface structure of grammar: refers to
the actual produced structure as is it
pronounced or written.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~28/03~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

-Standard language: a variety of language that has

undergone substantial codification. It is associated
with administrative, commercial and educational
centers, regardless of region.
-Dialect: a regional variety of language that differs
from the standard language.
-Accent: a distinctive way of pronouncing a language.
-NORM: Non-mobile, Older, Rural, Male speaker.
-Isogloss: a boundary line between two distinct
linguistic regions.
-Sociolinguistics: a term that refers to the study of the
relationship between language and society, and how
language is used in speech communities. It is
interested in explaining why people speak differently
in different social contexts.
-Bilingualism: is commonly defined as the use of two
languages by an individual. Bilingualism is the native-
like control of two languages (Bloomfield). A bilingual is
anyone who possesses a minimal competence in at
least one of the four language skills, listening,
speaking, reading and writing, in a language other than
his mother tongue (Macnamara).
-Simultaneous bilingualism: when a child has had
significant and meaningful exposure to two
languages from birth.
-Sequential bilingualism: when an individual has had
significant and meaningful exposure to a second
language, usually after the age of three and after the
first languages is well established.
-Passive bilingualism: when a bilingual understands
more than one language but speaks only one of them.
-Causes of bilingualism: *-Education
*-Immigration
*-Religion
*-Economy
*-Politics
*-Child’s parents have
different mother tongue
*-Minority vs. Dominant
linguistic community
-Diglossia: refers to a situation in which two
varieties of the same language are used under
different conditions within a community.
A relatively stable language situation in which, in
addition to primary dialects of the language, there is a
very divergent, highly codified superposed variety, or
a large and respected body of written literature,
either of an earlier period or in another speech
community, which Is learned largely by formal
education and is used for most written and formal
spoken purposes but is not used by any sector of the
community for ordinary conversation.
-Function of Diglossia:
 Low variety High variety
 Not formally learnt  It’s learned at school
 Speakers don’t  Its speakers
learn grammar or learn grammar
writing rules
 It is more flexible  It is often considered
and it is more likely the “correct” variety
to change over time and does not change
a lot.

*Diglossia is used in a speech community where two

languages or dialects are in complementary
distribution. (You will only find one variant of a
language/dialect in a specific context, while the other
variants will be found in other non-intersecting
contexts) [I.E.: using formal language in formal situations,
using familiar language with friends and family {you can’t use
formal language with your parents and you can’t use familiar
language with your boss}]

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

First Language
Acquisition

-First language acquisition: how a child develops its ability to

speak and use the language of its environment.
-Language Acquisition: Somehow absorbing a target
language’s sound system and structure without ever
thinking explicitly about the language’s actual structure.
(Gaining language knowledge naturally)
-Language Learning: Actively learning about a language, its
sound system, and its structure. (Formally taught)
-Input: Language samples provided to language learners by
other more experienced speakers around them.
-Output: Language samples provided by language learners
to other more experienced speakers around them.
-Caregiver speech: Conversations between an adult and an
infant before they even develop speaking capabilities.
-Cooing: earliest use of speech-like sounds that involves
single-vowel sounds such as “ooh” and “aah”.
-Babbling: an early use of speech-like sounds that involves
producing a number of vowels and consonants as well as
combinations such as “muh-muh” and “bah-bah”.
-The one-word stage: the stage when the child begins to
produce recognizable single-unit utterances.
-The two-word stage: the stage when the child begins to
produce recognizable double-unit utterances like “cat
bad” / “mommy car”.
-Telegraphic speech: during and after the two-word stage, the
chil has clearly developed a sentence-building capacity, but
the majority of those sentences are grammatically incorrect
such as “daddy go choo choo”, “cat drink milk”

The acquisition process

-Learning through imitation: when the child tries to imitate the

words it hears.
-Learning through correction: when the child makes a mistake
and the adult corrects it for them.

Second
Language
Acquisition/Learni
ng

-Second language acquisition/learning: Learning a second

language after a first language is already established.
-Acquisition barriers: factors that hinder a person’s process of
learning a second language such as the age factor and the
affective factors.
-Age factor: after the critical period for language acquisition
(the ideal period –from 2 years of age until puberty- for the brain to
acquire its first language in a linguistically rich environment) has
passed, it becomes very difficult for the person to acquire
another language fully.
-Affective factors: factors such as the speaker’s fear of
embarrassment, dull textbooks, unpleasant classroom
surroundings, exhausting schedules at school/work, can
create a barrier to second language acquisition.

Second language teaching methods:

-The grammar-translation method: a method of learning any

foreign language by the practice of translating or converting
the sentences of the native language into the target
language or vice versa.
-The Audio-lingual method: a method of learning any foreign
language by the practice of listening and speaking before
writing and reading.
-Communicative approaches: approaches of teaching foreign
language through emphasis on the function of language
rather than the forms of the language.
-Task-based learning: an approach to language where
learners are given different interactive tasks and activities
to complete.
-Transfer: using sounds, expressions, or structures from the L1
when performing the L2. Positive transfer refers to when L1
and L2 are similar in certain characteristics like marking the
plural on the ends of nouns.
Negative transfer refers to when L1 and L2 are not
similar in said characteristics.
-Interlanguage: a language or form of language having features
of two others, typically a version produced by a foreign learner.
-Motivation: it refers to the goal of learning a second language.
Instrumental motivation is when you learn another language
for goals
such as completing a graduation requirement or being able
to read scientific publications. Integral motivation is when
you learn another language for social purposes.
-Communicative competence: the general ability to use
language accurately, appropriately and flexibly.
-Grammatical competence: the accurate use of words and structures.
-Sociolinguistic competence: the accurate use of words,
phrases and sentences in their appropriate context.
-Strategic competence: the ability to organize a message
effectively and to compensate for any difficulties.
-Communication strategy: when a foreign speaker substitutes
words they don’t know for much more simpler words, for
example saying “what horses wear under their feet” as a
substitute for “horseshoes”.