ANT 2063 EXAM

Innateness hypothesis

theory that suggests humans are born with certain innate knowledge or abilities, rather than acquiring them solely through experience or learning. (acquire language through LAD)

Lingustic Anthopologists

language is LEARNED though soical interactions (though LASS)

LAD

Language Acquisition Device, Noam Chomsky

an inherited mechanism that enables children to learn language

LASS

Language Acquistion Support System, Bruner

adults that interact with children and support the child’s language development through interactions

UG

Universal grammar- Certain parts of languages are shared by all human languages and are considered to be innate and helps humans acquire language

Vocal Auditory Channel

 the use of speaking and hearing as a key feature of language

Broadcast Transmission and Direct Reception

The sounds of human language are sent out in all directions, but listeners perceive the sounds coming from a specific direction

Rapid Fading

Language signals dont last

Interchangeability

speaker can send and recieve the same signal

total feedback

speakers can hear themselves talk and they can monitor what they say as they speak

Specialization

language sounds are specialized for communication. When humans speak it is to transmit information

Semanticity

specific sound signals can be linked to certain meanings

Arbitrariness

no necessary or causal connection between signals and its meaning

Discreteness

units used for communication can be separated into distinct units that cannot be mistaken for each other

Displacement

Talk about things that aren’t in the present

Productivity

Allows you to produce and comprehend new utterances that you’ve never spoken or heard before

Traditional Transmission

language is learned in social groups

Duality of patterning

The ability to combine a limited set of meaningless sounds (phonemes) to create an infinite set of meaningful words and sentences

Design features unique to humans

Productivity, displacement, traditional transmission, duality of patterning

Innatist theory

humans are born with an innate ability to understand language. brain is pre-wired to acquire language and that exposure to language simply triggers this ability.

Behaviorist theory

\
language acquisition is based on imitation, reinforcement, and conditioning. children learn language by observing and imitating others, and through positive and negative reinforcement.

Cognitivist theory

language develops in fixed states

Theory theory

children develop their understanding of the world through forming theories based on their experiences and testing them out through observation

stages of language development

1\.      __**Cooing (first months after birth)**__: all vowel sounds

2\.      __**Babbling (4-6 months):**__ alternating consonants and vowels

3\.      __**Holophrastic stage (~12 months)**__: one-word utterances that express a sentence

4\.      __**Two-word stage (after 18 months)**__: combing words into 2-word utterances

The Tiwi

learn to address people by their kinship term, not by name. First words children learn and kinship terms

Kalui

greatly value teaching children to speak properly, no baby speak

Receptive vocabulary

The words that a person can understand when they hear or read them, even if they cannot produce those words themselves

Productive vocabulary

The set of words that a person is able to use accurately and effectively to communicate their ideas and thoughts

According to the fossil record, when was the possibility for speech?

\-Australopithecus and Homo habilis

\-Homo habilis shows distinct frontal lobe and parietal lobes and Broca’s and Wernicke’s area

R-complex

brainstem and cerebellum

movement, digestion and breathing. Housekeeping brain

Limbic system

similar to the mammalian brain

            \~Amygdala and hippocampus, memory storage

            \~primary centers of emotions

Neocortex

Language, complex social interactions, advanced planning

Human vocal apparatus

\-lower larynx= longer pharynx

            \~more flexible tongue allows greater variety of vowels and sounds

Curved basicranium indicates

lower larynx

Broca’s Area

responsible for PRODUCTION of speech

            \~located in the frontal region of the left hemisphere

Wrenicke’s Area

responsible for COMPREHENSION of language

            \~located in the temporal region in the left hemisphere

Broca’s Aphasia (exoressive)

nonfluent aphasia

            \~can comprehend but problem with function words

Wernickie’s Aphasia (receptive)

Fluent aphasia

            \~incorrect sentence structure (nonsensical) and limited comprehension

Redundancy in honeybee communication

Using several signals to send the same message

            \~leave pheromones at food source, bring some back to the hive, waggle dance all send the same message about food

Waggle dance and round dance

\-Waggle dance coveys a MESSAGE. Tells other bees the location of the food, directions to the food and the quality of the food

\-Round dance: doesn’t convey message. Used to wake up other bees

Bird calls and songs (what’s the difference?)

Bird CALLS: shorter

Bird SONGS: more elaborate

Reflective vs Voluntary

animal commination signals are involuntary

Affective vs Representational

human language is symbolic whereas animal communication represents animals’ internal state

Genetically determined vss learned

human signals are learned whereas animal signals are genetically determined

Haptics

the study of nonverbal communication through touch

Vocalics

nonverbal aspects of speech that convey meaning. It includes pitch, volume, tone, rhythm, intonation, and pauses

Oculesics

the study of eye movements, and gaze as a form of nonverbal communication.

four body distances

\-Intimate distance: When caressing and touch are appropriate (direct contact-1.5 ft)

\-Personal distance: close friendship (1.5- 4 ft)

\-social distance: impersonal interactions/business transactions (4-12 ft)

\-public distance: greater than 12 ft

5 categories of gestures proposed by Ekman and Friesen

Emblems, illustrators, affect displays, regulators, adaptors

Emblems

gestures that have specific meaning with direct verbal translation

Illustrators

accompany speech to depict what is being said (hand movements, facial expressions

Affect Displays

convey emotion (smile, frown, tears)

Regulators

coordinate interaction , control flow of conversation

Adaptors

release body tension

Pidgin

**a hybrid of 2 languages that combines the vocabulary of one language with the grammar of the other. It is only used as a 2nd language and is considered a trade language**

Creole

developed from a pidgin and can serve as a complete first language

Diglossia

where 2 varieties of the same language are used in different situations ( formal and informal)

Codeswitching

alternating between two languages within a conversation

Transitional bilingualism

People gradually abandon their bilingualism in favor of speaking a more dominant language

Stable bilingualism

when a person regularly uses 2 languages

Protolanguage

is a parent language where ancestral and modern languages were derived from. It is a HYPPOTHICAL language

Regularity hypothesis

**languages, as they branch off from a prototype language, change overtime in regular ways**

relatedness hypothesis

numerous similarities in languages indicate that languages derive from a mother language

Sound change

he processes by which the sounds of a language undergo systematic shifts or transformations over time

            \~Great English vowel shift: unconditional sound changes where long vowels did their “merry chase upward”

Morphological change

the processes by which the structure and form of words undergo transformations over time.

            \~words can be lost overtime

            \~typewriter, record player

Semantic and sociocultural changes

changes in culture that effect language

            \~changing definitions of homosexuality

            \~words that meant something different back then

Conditional sound change

changes in the pronunciation of sounds that occur under specific linguistic conditions

\~in English, "t" in "water" is different from "stop" because of the "r" sound.

Unconditional sound change

modifications in the pronunciation of sounds that occur consistently, regardless of the linguistic context.

            \~EXAMPLE: the Great Vowel Shift

Internal change

language changes because it us modified by he speakers of the language

            \~reflects culture change

            \~EXAMPLE: Words can expand their meanings over time. the word "mouse" originally a small rodent is now broadened to include computer devices.

External changes

the borrowing of words from other languages

            \~reanalysis

            \~EXAMPLES: English has borrowed numerous words from French, such as "restaurant" or "ballet."

Statistics on language loss

\-85% of the world’s languages have fewer than 100,000 speakers

\-90% of the world’s population speaks only 10% of the worlds languages

 

\-90% of the world population speaks the 100 most used languages

\-50% of the world’s languages are moribund

\-80% of the native Indian languages (US and Canada) are moribund

\-In Australia, 90% of established 250 aboriginal languages are near extinction

\-Africa and Asia have the highest number of living indigenous languages