Term
Bigger Concepts (1/6)
Language Universals |
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Definition
phonology
grammar
discourse |
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Term
Language Universals
Phonology |
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Definition
phonemes-- functional speech sounds that make a difference in the meaning of a word
(phonemes are drawn from a restricted set of phonetic contrasts that we perceive in categories, not as acoustic continua)
some language make phonemes out of sound differences we ignore or don't have
some languages use tone and intonation to change a word's meaning |
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Term
Language Universals
Grammar |
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Definition
all rules are structure dependent, referring to linguistically defined phrases
not just strings of words, but combinations of grammatically defined elements = phrases
grammatical rules of a language specify what elements can be combined in what orders to an acceptable sentence in that language |
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Term
Language Universals
Discourse |
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Definition
meaning is constructed across conversational discourse and interpreted in context
some languages have different conversational styles for different genders, status indicators, and politeness markers. |
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Term
Word Specificity
Fast Mapping |
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Definition
children hear an unfamiliar word in a familiar, structured, and meaningful social interaction.
they read the speaker's direction of gaze and intended meaning
they use the referential situation and the linguistic context to attribute an immediate meaning to the word. |
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Term
Word Specificity (Word Learning Constraints and Strategies)
Whole-Object Principle |
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Definition
| assume a label applies to whole object not to part of it or to some property of it |
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Term
Word Specificity (Word Learning Constraints and Strategies)
Categorizing Principle |
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Definition
| assume that object labels extend to classes of similar objects |
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Term
Word Specificity (Word Learning Constraints and Strategies)
Mutual-Exclusivity Principle |
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Definition
| assume that an object can have only one name |
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Term
Word Specificity
Family Resemblance Network |
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Definition
| very young children sometimes extend their word use more associatively to other objects and actions that they want to refer to. |
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Term
Word Specificity (Why basic level?)
Conceptual Coherence |
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Definition
| maximizing the trade off between internal similarity and external difference between categories of meaning |
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Term
Word Specificity (Why Basic Level?)
Functional Usefulness |
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Definition
| "money" more useful for child's behavior than "dollar, quarter"; "flower" more useful than "plant" or "tulip" |
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Term
Word Specificity (Why Basic Level?)
Input Frequency |
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Definition
| naming practices of caregivers |
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Term
Biology and Language
Sign Languages |
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Definition
sign languages all have the formal design features of spoken languages anc can express as much abstraction
natural sign languages are controlled by the language areas in the left hemisphere
babies learning sign go through very similar stages, even showing babbling with their fingers, developing creative rules of grammar, etc. |
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Term
Biology and Language
A Critical or Sensitive Period |
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Definition
prior to puberty in which it is easier to learn a language
shown by:
differences in language 1 and language 2 learning
accents in language 2 or dialect 2 after a certain age
sign language acquisition less efficient or complete |
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Term
Biology and Language
Creoles |
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Definition
pidgin language develops from forcing adults from different native language backgrounds to communicate by means of another simplified language
the next generation's first language is a pidgin, they elaborate on the vocabulary and the grammar to communicate more subtle meanings
creole languages follow the rules of universal grammar (the properties all languages share) |
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Term
Biology and Language
An Example: Nicaraguan Sign |
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Definition
home sign systems are combined in the minds of the first arrivals in 1978, later arrivals learn the language and add words
the sign language of the early cohort is grammatically less complex, arrivals past about 1990 have all acquired a full NSL with universal properties of sign languages |
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Term
Syntax Acquisition
Syntax Differences |
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Definition
english uses a dominant SVO word order
languages with variable word order typically use a lot of prefixes and affixes to mark "who does what to whom...etc"
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Term
Syntax Acquisition
What Infants Can Do Before They Speak |
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Definition
build up a mental dictionary or lexicon, with placeholders for familiar sequences they hear, for which no meaning is attached yet.
they are sensitive to concrete sound repetitions and split them out from the speech stream.
they can also recognize patters of an abstract kind, which will be needed for grammar learning in which the words change, but the pattern is key |
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Term
Syntax Acquisition
Marcus's Experiment |
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Definition
11 month olds
training grammar by patterns of sounds
change up the pattern and see if the baby notices
they do. |
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Term
Syntax Acquisition
Syntactic Bootstrapping |
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Definition
we can use syntax to hone in on verb meanings
which one is: the duck is gorping the bunny?
which one is: the duck and the bunny are gorping? |
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Term
Syntax Acquisition
Theories of Syntax Acquisition |
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Definition
Behavior learning Theory
Social-Interactional Theory and Constructivism
Universal Grammar and an Innate Language Acquisition Device |
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Term
Syntax Acquisition (Theories of)
Behavioral Learning Theory |
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Definition
| the child learns by imitation and the shaping of her linguistic behavior by reinforcement and correction |
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Term
Syntax Acquisition (Theories of)
Social-Interactional Theory and Constructivism |
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Definition
| The child gathers up data from the language input to her and extracts regularities (rules) from it, aided by interacting adults who tailor their language to the child's language level |
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Term
Syntax Acquisition (Theories of)
Universal Grammar and an Innate "Language Acquisition Device" |
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Definition
| the child comes with innate,universal biases to look for certain kinds of grammatical rules |
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Term
Syntax Acquisition
Evidence for an Active, Constructive Process of Syntax Acquisition |
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Definition
production of totally novel but correct utterances
over-generalisation of grammatical rules
past tense -ed
plural -s
causative verbs
creative removal of -er when it isn't an agentive morpheme
acquisition of complex sentence forms without communicative pressure. |
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Term
Syntax Acqusition
Syntactic Formation of Tag Questions |
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Definition
pronominalization
negation
interrogation
ellipsis (cut out redundancy) |
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Term
Bigger Concepts (6/6)
Worfian Hypothesis |
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Definition
Benjamin Worf: Our experience of the world and our ability to think about it is conditioned by our habits of speech
Worfian Hypothesis: Speakers of different languages see the world through different lenses provided by the way their language uses words and grammar |
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Term
Child Language Acquisition
General Time Line
Year 1 |
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Definition
regular course of speech development from cooing through babbling to first words.
Infants can break up the speech stream into repeated "chunks." |
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Term
Child Langauge Acquisition
General Time Line
Year 2 |
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Definition
"word spurt" around 18 months
first two word sentences usually by 24 months |
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Term
Child Langauge Acquisition
General Time Line
Year 3
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Definition
| function morphemes added, sentences get longer, word order mastered |
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Term
Child Language Acquisition
General Time Line
Year 4 |
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Definition
| grammar explosion, approximates adult, questions, etc. abound, vocabulary takes off (9 to 10 new words learned per day) |
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