CHAPTER 4 LANGUAGE AND COMMUNICATION CHAPTER OVERVIEW This chapter introduces students to the study of linguistics It presents the basic concepts of universal grammar linguistic structure sociolinguistics and historical linguistics as well as the key differences between human and nonhuman animal communication CHAPTER OBJECTIVES 1 Understand the structure and nature of animal communication and how it differs from human communication Language allows us to discuss the past and future share our experiences with others and benefit from their experiences The natural communication systems of primates are call systems consist of a limited number of sounds calls that are produced only when particular environmental stimuli are encountered They are much less flexible than language because they are automatic and can t be combined Apes have learned to use sign language Cultural Transmission is a fundamental attribute of language Apes share another linguistic ability with humans productivity Apes have demonstrated linguistic displacement key ingredient in language Humans can talk about things that are not present Primates are stimuli dependent so the food call will only be made in the prescence of food Humans have the capacity to generate new expressions by combining other For humans each linguistic community has it s own language which is culturally expressions productivity transmitted 2 Be familiar with nonverbal forms of communication like gestures facial expressions and body movements and consider how these form an interwoven part of spoken language Kinesics is the study of communication through body movements stances gestures expressions Cross culturally nodding does not always mean affirmative Body movements communicate social differences 3 Be able to identify the interrelated levels of organization in language Descriptive linguistics involves several interrelated areas of analysis Phonology the study of speech sounds considers which sounds are present and Morphology studies the forms in which sounds combine to form morphemes significant in a given language words and their meaningful parts Lexicon a dictionary containing all the languages morphemes and their meanings IM 4 1 Syntax refers to the arrangement and order of words in phrases and sentences ex Yoda 4 Be familiar with the central premise of Chomsky s concept of universal grammar as well as that of the Sapir Whorf hypothesis Chomsky argued that the human brain contains a limited set of rules for organizing language so that all languages have a common structural basis Chomsky calls this set of rules universal grammar Sapir Whorf hypothesis rather than seeking universal linguistic structures and processes they believe that different languages produce different ways of thinking Argued that the grammatical categories of particular languages lead their speakers to think about things in different ways Speaking different languages thinking in different languages and creating different meanings for things So people who speak different languages essentially live in different worlds 5 Know what distinguishes a focal vocabulary and be able to identify the subject matter of semantics Focal vocabulary specialized sets of terms and distinctions that are particularly important to certain groups those with particular foci of experience or activity ex eskimo s have many different words for snow while most people only know snow as snow Semantics refers to a language s meaning system ex women have many different words for certain colors i e peach salmon beige rust mauve cranberry while most American men don t know of these Cultural constrasts and changes affect lexical distinctions peach vs salmon within semantic domains 6 Know what sociolinguists study In particular be familiar with how social difference is organized and maintained through specific situated linguistic practices Even as fundamentally social linguistic practices are differentially valued and evaluated what does the concept of linguistic relativity assert Sociolingustics investigates relationships between social and linguistic variation Sociolinguistics focus on features that vary systematically with social position and situation They must observe define and measure variable use of language in real world situations Whether bilingual or not we all vary out speech in very different contexts we engage in style shifts Disglossia switching dialects applies to high and low variants of the same language Ppl use high variant in writing professions and media but use low variant for ordinary conversations with friends and family Geographical cultural and socioeconomic differences influence our speech We rank certain speech patterns as better or worse because we recognize that they are used by groups that we also rank ex saying ain t sounds uneducated IM 4 2 Ex people in different parts of new york don t pronounce r s in words sociolingustics linked this to dominantly lower class people not pronouncing the r s Linguistic forms which lack power in themselves take on the power of the groups they symbolize The education system denies linguistic relaticity It misrepresents prestige speech as being inherently better 7 Know what B E V is and how it compares to S E SE Standard English BEV Black English Vernacular the relatively uniform dialect spoken by the majority of black youth in most parts of the US today especially in the inner city areas of New York Boston Detroit Philadelphia etc it is also spoken in most rural areas and used in the casual intimate speech of many adults Difference from SE BEV speakers are less likely to pronounce r than SE speakers are SE speakers usually pronounce r that comes right before a vowel BEV speakers are much more likely to omit such intervocalic r s Speakers of the 2 dialects have different homonyms words that sound the same but have different meanings SE is the dialect that has most symbolic capital 8 Know what historical linguists study and how their work contributes to anthropology Historical linguistics deals with longer term change Historical linguists can reconstruct many features of past languages by studying contemporary daughter languages languages that descend from the same parent language and that have been changing separately for years Protolanguage the original language from which daughter languages diverge ex French and Spanish are daughter languages of latin Language changes over time evolves varies spreads divides into subgroups languages within a