Lecture Notes 05 13 14 Important Questions o To what degree does language and culture influence the way we process information o Do people who speak different languages or come from different cultures perceive the world in a way that is significantly different o But how do we account for those differences Are they due to language To culture To basic cognitive abilities Human and animal communication o Do primates have language How about bees Birds Language o Origins Charles Hockett o Would you draw a line between human and animal communication Where Early attempts to find origins of human language o 1 living fossils attesting to earlier stages of evolution Through study of their language could see how language evolved Problem no language or people discovered that is more primitive than others all language and cultures are equally evolved Language evolution Language in the context of biology and culture o Material remains found in Neanderthal sites suggest a belief system in life after death Language as a required aspect of culture Stokoe o The lack of biological information o But is language only auditory Sign Languages Primary sign languages languages used by those who are unable to acquire true spoken competence Alternate sign language used in addition to a spoken language Signing and Speech Friends Early stages a visual language form of signing o As did Neanderthals When speech arose it probably coexisted like it is evident in contemporary cultures How do you go from visual to auditory visual Spoken language evolution o Large groups driving force for encephalization Why do humans have big brains o Social intelligence hypothesis Larger group size requires Dependence on each other requires Social bonds between individuals requires Larger neo cortex Evolutionary pressures o Increases in brain size and group size only if it offered some sort of evolutionary advantage Primates with biggest brains live in open areas spend lots of time on ground Protection against predators Development of social grooming These needs set the limits to group size o 50 chimps spend 20 of their time grooming o 150 chimps could need to spend close to 50 of their time grooming Group Size and Social Bonding Development of language o Communicate while doing other things o A form of vocal grooming designed to accommodate larger groups Why Gossip is Good for You Dunbar Groups needed to be bigger but their size was limited by social grooming Social grooming is time consuming so they have to balance social and food needs What is gossip o Exchange of information about individuals not present What advantages does talking in the form of gossip provide Charles Hockett 2 Comparative method of historical linguistics o Languages with common origins o Reconstruction of proto languages o Might find some earlier more primitive language o Lexicostatistics relationships between languages quantitative comparison of lexical cognates does not reconstruct a proto language o Glottochronology archaeology of languages part of lexicostatistics that deals with the chronological relationships of languages o Examples of basic words cognates I you this who what one two fish dog louse blood bone egg horn tail ear eye nose tooth tongue hand know die give sun moon water salt stone wind fire year full new name o Features o Functions o Characteristics