Biological Bases of Language Acquisition Part 2

what makes language and langiage acqusition possible?

• specialization

• human language (characteristics)

• acquisition

what makes language unique? How can this be explained?

• Hockett’s 10 characteristics

Explain Interchangeability

• ability to both send and receive messages

Explain Feedback

monitor and correct output (based on..)

Explain semanticity

• the idea that we use symbols to refer to ideas, events, objects

Explain Arbitrariness

• lack of direct connection between a symbol and what it represents

• e.g. something socially decided

Explain discreteness

use of repeatable units (e.g. sounds, words)

explanation—> we can use the same words over and over again

Explain continuity

The idea that the next generation acquires and learns the system

Explain displacement

ability to use the system outside of the immediate context

• past and future

• unique to us bc bees return to their hives and forget

Explain learnability

• ability to learn different variants of the system (how the system works in general)

• e.g. we can learn a different language

Explain productivity

ability to communicate on any topic and produce “new” sentences that you never heard before

• unique to us

• language evolve overtime

• animals (e.g. dogs) dont evolve communication they do the same tale wagging

Explain reflexiveness

ability to use the system to discuss the system itself

How is our species unique according to hockett’s 10 characteristics?

• language unique to humans

• displacement, learnability, productivity, reflexiveness

According to Hockett how is our species uniform?

• languages

  • they all fulfill the same communicative function

  • follow the same organizing principles

  • have limited variation

  • They are uniform, so acquisition is all the same