DOC PREVIEW
Purdue IIE 269 - Lecture 27
Course Iie 269-
Pages 5

This preview shows page 1-2 out of 5 pages.

Save
View full document
View full document
Premium Document
Do you want full access? Go Premium and unlock all 5 pages.
Access to all documents
Download any document
Ad free experience
View full document
Premium Document
Do you want full access? Go Premium and unlock all 5 pages.
Access to all documents
Download any document
Ad free experience
Premium Document
Do you want full access? Go Premium and unlock all 5 pages.
Access to all documents
Download any document
Ad free experience

Unformatted text preview:

Professor Greg Francis 5/27/081WordsIIE 269: Cognitive PsychologyGreg FrancisLecture 27What is the plural of walkman?Grammar The rules of phrases rules for combining phrases universals for all languages So why do we have so difficult a timecommunicating with people that speak otherlanguages?Words Even if all languages have similarrules for combining phrases, they usedifferent words Words are symbols that are arbitraryin many respects“dog” is nothing like a dogis it rote memorization?» partly, but it is also more than that--?-E or L--?-E or LWords are special We are better at identifying a word thanan individual letterWord superiority effectXXXX L XXXXFELT--?-E or L--?-E or LWords are special Note: context does not give the answer Just knowing there was a word should not help FEET FELTXXXX L XXXXFELTWords are special Nevertheless, a letter in a word is better identified CogLab class data Results are based on data from 140 participants Condition Percent correct detections Target letter in a word 77.7 Target letter in isolation 79.0 CogLab global data Results are based on data from 10,285 participants Condition Percent correct detections Target letter in a word 79.4 Target letter in isolation 77.9 No convincing explanationProfessor Greg Francis 5/27/082Word rules Part of linguistics identifies the rules for working withwords (morphology) e.g., take a preschooler and say» “Here’s a wug.”» “Now there are two. There are two _____.” The child will say wugs even though he has neverseen a wug before there must be a rule for pluralizing nounsMorphology The rules of word formation In many respects English has a verylimited morphology nouns have two forms verbs have four formsduckducksquackquacksquackedquackingMorphology Other languages have many morevariations Italian and Spanish have 50 forms of each verb classical Greek has 350 forms of each verb Turkish has 2 million forms of each verb some languages build entire sentences aroundone complex verb There are rules for these formsMorphology On the other hand, English morphologyallows one to easily create new wordsfrom old words add suffixes and prefixesteachteachableunteachableteacherteachablenessSuffixes English has lots of these derivational suffixes-able-age-al-ate-ed-en-ify-ion-ish-ize-an-ant-ance-ary-er-ful-hood-ic-ism-ist-ity-ive-ness-ory-ous-yYou probably donot consciously know what some of these mean, but your language system does.Examples of morphemesCompounding English also allows new words to be createdout of other words and combinations can be combinedtoothbrushtoothbrushunmicrowaveabilitybootyliciousProfessor Greg Francis 5/27/083Rules So what are the rules? One looks to be easy to pluralize a noun, add -sNNstem Ninflectiondog-sNNstem Ninflectionwug-sRules The creation of compound nouns also followsa simple ruleNstemNstem NstemtoothbrushNstemNstem NstemdogbiteBy the way, ignore what grammarschool taught, these are not adjective-noun phrasesAmbiguity Some compound words can look like a phrase written language often does not help distinguish thetwo explains why headlines are difficult to writeSquad Helps Dog Bite VictimMan Eating Piranha MistakenlySold as Pet FishJuvenile Court to Try ShootingDefendantMore detail on rules Consider a rule that creates an adjective out ofa verb Or a noun out of a verbAstemVstemAstemaffixcrunch-ableNstemVstemNstemaffixcrunch -erRoot Some morphemes canonly be attached to certaintypes of words a root is a word that cannotbe split into smaller parts some morphemes attachonly to roots thus, Darwinianisms is aword, but not Darwinismiansis not» -ian must attach to a rootNstemNstem NstemaffixNroot-ianDarwinNrootaffix-ismNNinflection-sLexicon To keep track of what can attach to what,there must be a mental dictionary ofmorphemes -able» adjective stem affiix; means “capable ofbeing X’d”;attach me to a verb stem -er» noun stem affix; means “one who X’s”;attach me to a verb stem ...Professor Greg Francis 5/27/084Exceptions You can probably think of lots of exceptions tothese types of rules many words seem to follow arbitrary rules electricity --> not the state of being electric intoxicate --> nothing to do with toxic substances pluralization» mouse, mice teach, taught» leaf, leaves buy, bought» man, men fly, flewExceptions These exceptions generally come from otherlanguages (with appropriate rules) English adopts the words but not the rules These exceptions tend to be very common words drink-drank sink-sank throw-threw ring-rang sit-sat blow-blew All derive from a proto-Indo-European languagethat formed past tense by replacing one vowelwith anotherVery special cases What is the plural of walkman? walkmans? walkmen? Neither feels quite right To answer this question we have to understandhow the word walkman is formed and what it isabout this tells us how to pluralize the wordHeads Most words have a head that indicates whatthe word is “about” In English it is always the rightmostmorpheme crunchable cruncher workman sawtootha thing that can be “x”-eda thing that does “x”a type of persona type of toothHeads and compounds The plural form of a compound word is basedon the plural form of the head of the compoundword toothbrush --> toothbrushes sawtooth --> sawteeth snowman --> snowmen Is walkman a compound noun? yes, but it is not normalNstemNstem NstemwalkmanHeadless compounds Some compound words are headless How can you tell? a walkman is not about a type of man thus, the “head” is not what the word is about this tell us that walkman is more like a new wordthan a compound word (e.g., electricity) For headless compounds the irregular pluralform is not appropriate no plural form “feels” correct because the word hasno headProfessor Greg Francis 5/27/085Headless compounds Sony corporation suggests that the plural ofwalkman is A similar analysis explains the plural form ofnamesWalkman Personal StereosToronto Maple Leafs (not Leaves)Florida Marlins (not Marlin)I am sick of all the Mickey Mouses in thisadministration. (not Mickey Mice)Conclusions Words follow rules Morphology / morphemes Lexicon Explains characteristics of languageNext time Interpreting


View Full Document

Purdue IIE 269 - Lecture 27

Course: Iie 269-
Pages: 5
Download Lecture 27
Our administrator received your request to download this document. We will send you the file to your email shortly.
Loading Unlocking...
Login

Join to view Lecture 27 and access 3M+ class-specific study document.

or
We will never post anything without your permission.
Don't have an account?
Sign Up

Join to view Lecture 27 2 2 and access 3M+ class-specific study document.

or

By creating an account you agree to our Privacy Policy and Terms Of Use

Already a member?