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What is language?
Lesson 1
Aliyah Morgenstern Université Sorbonne Nouvelle – Paris 3
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The puzzle
Where does language come from?
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OTHER SPECIES
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Vervets
Eagle Leopard Snake
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Washoe
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- Memorizing huge amounts of vocabulary
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- Word order and syntax
Jane
theateHe
the childsaw
last piece of cake .
.
Jane saw the child who ate the last piece of cake
1)
2)
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- Lies, metaphors, hypotheses
I love maths.The earth is an orange.If I were you I would buy that dress.
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-Dexterity (motor dexterity also found in musicians, jugglers…)
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- Shared attention and imitation
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Lesson 2Characteristics of language
Aliyah Morgenstern Université Sorbonne Nouvelle – Paris 3
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Charles Hockett’sSet of design features of human languages
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Vocal-Auditory channel
Except for writing and signing
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Human language signal sent out in all directionsbut perceived in a limited direction
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Does not persist over timeBut writing and recording are now possible…
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The speaker can receive and broadcast the same signal
sticklefish = épinoche
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The speaker can hear himself speak and monitor his performance
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Organs used are adapted to the task
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Specific signals can be matched with specific meanings
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No necessary connection between the form of the signal and the thing being referred to
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Iconicity
Quantity principle
LengtheningShe is soooooooo niceHe’s veryyyyyyy happy
ReduplicationHe’s very very happyA long long time ago
Onomatopoia
Cuckoo, sizzlebow bow / oua oua
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Creation of novel utterances that others can understand
The little lavender men who live in my socks drawer told me that Elvis will come back from Mars on the 10th to do a benefit concert for unemployed Pekingese dogs.
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Not inbornacquired from other speakers
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/t/ /a/ /k/
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Lesson 3What is meaning?
Meaning of words - Meaning of utterances
Aliyah Morgenstern Université Sorbonne Nouvelle – Paris 3
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Sense and reference
Sense = meaning of a word within a language.
Reference = what a word refers to in the world outside language – « the real world ».
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Different languagesEnglish/ Pitianiatiara
Mother Father
son
Uncle UncleAunt Aunt
Noannytiu Kamuru Mama Kurntili
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Literal and figurative meaning
He kicked the bucket
Literal meaning:He hit the bucket with his foot
Figurative meaning:He died
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Metaphor
Belgium drivers are cowboys.
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Sentence and utterance meaning
Actor Event Temporal location
The carThe car Broke downBroke down yesterdayyesterday
Past tense
Jennifer: - What’s been happening while I was away?Gary: - The car broke down yesterday
Jennifer: - Do you feel like going out tonight?Gary: - The car broke down yesterday
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The meaning of utterances
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Speech acts
Informing, promissing, requesting, commanding, warning, preaching, congratulating, laying bets, swearing, exclaiming…
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Performatives
I bet you he won’t come.I resign.I apologize.I pronounce you man and wife.I order you to leave the premises.
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Direct and indirect speech acts
Can you pass me the salt?
It’s noisy in here.
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Felicity conditions
I pronounce you man and wife.
Right speakerRight contextRight environment
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The cooperative principle
Make your contribution such as is required, at the stage at which it occurs, by the accepted purpose of direction of the talk exchange in which you are engaged.
Grice 1989: 26
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The four maxims
Maxim of quantity: Make your contribution as informative as required, but not more (or less) informative as required
Maxim of quality: Try to make your contribution true; do not say that which you believe false of for which you lack adequate evidence.
Maxim of Relevance: be relevant
Maxim of Manner: Be perspicuous – avoid ambiguity, prolixity, disorderliness and obscurity.
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Lesson 4
Language in its social context
Aliyah Morgenstern Université Sorbonne Nouvelle – Paris 3
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Variations according to regions
Australia
A: Thank youB: No worries
United States
A: Thank youB: You’re welcome
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Variations according to uses
Grab a chair
Take a seat
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A speech community
= a coherent group of people who share the same language or language and more or less the same norms of language use.
Elastic term: different sizes
Example: English speakers, British English, Cockney
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Variation according to social group
Criteria: income, education, occupation….
Working class, middle class(upper, middle, lower)
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Language shift and endangerment
Languages are put to new uses
Examples: email, instant messaging, SMS, WWW
Language shift: changes of habits of language useLanguage endangerment: a language replaces another
in an entire communityLanguage death: no speaker remains
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Causes of language shift
Disruption of the speech community (fewer opportunities of interaction amon them)
Attitudes to the langage
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Lesson 5
Language, the mind and the brain
Aliyah Morgenstern Université Sorbonne Nouvelle – Paris 3
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View one: language forms a distinct module separate form other cognitive processes.Noam Chomsky, Jerry Fodor, Stephen Pinker
View two: no distinction between the cognitive processes employed in language and those employed in other domains of thought.Ronald Langacker, Georges Lakoff, Talmy Givon
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Language and cognition
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Is there a relationship between the language one speaks and the way one thinks about and conceptualizes the world?
Wilhelm von Humboldt (1767-1835)Franz Boas (1858-1942)Edward Sapir (1884-1939)Benjamin Lee Whorf (1897-1941)
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Language and thought:
the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis
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Lexical and grammatical differences between languages correlate with non linguistic cognitive differences.
Many words for snow in Inuit.
Hopi language: two different words for water drinking water in a container / natural body of water
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Principle of relativity
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Differences in cognitive styles between cultures (in thir way of thinking) are due to differences in the grammatical and semantic system of languages
Example: tenses in English / HopiLinear in English / cyclic view of time in Hopi
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Linguistic determinism
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Empirical testing by linguists, anthropologists and psychologists.
Color termsHeider (1972)Dani speakers (Papua)
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Testing the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis
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Lesson 7
The history of the English language and
Language change
Aliyah Morgenstern Université Sorbonne Nouvelle – Paris 3
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Old English (450-1100)
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Features of Old English
3 genders5 cases
7 classes of strong verbs3 classes of weak verbs
Two main tenses. No progressive nor continuous No future tense.
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Evolution of Old English
2 terms side by side:wish / wantcraft / skillraise / rearSometimes they acquire different meanings:skirt / shirtstick / stichbreak / breachGrammatical formsThey, them, their
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Evolution of Old English
Norman conquest of 1066.
French speaking aristocracy
Court, government, fashion, high living
Mason, painter, tailor
Beef, mutton, veal, bacon
French speaking aristocracy
Court, government, fashion, high living
Mason, painter, tailor
Beef, mutton, veal, bacon
English speaking peasantry
Eat, drink, work, sleep, play
baker, miller, shoemaker
Sheep, cow, ox
English speaking peasantry
Eat, drink, work, sleep, play
baker, miller, shoemaker
Sheep, cow, ox
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Middle English (1100-1500)
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Middle English (1100-1500)
Less inflected language(apart from was/were)Disappearance of gender
Disappearance of French?In the 14th century, Oxford University ordered
that students be partly taught in French
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« The English tongue is of small account, streching no further than this island of ours, nay not there over all. »
Richard Mulcaster, 1582
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More words
1) Industrial Revolution and technology
2) Adoption of foreign words from many countires
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Late Modern English (1800-Present)
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Some losses
This / that / yon (yonder)
Thee / thou
« English has thus attained the only manner of address worthy of a nation that respects the elementary rights of each individual. »
Jespersen
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1% of the words in the Oxford English dictionary= 4500 words
But basic words: man, wife, child, brother, sister, live, fight, love, drink, sleep, eat, house…
Function words: for, but, in, and, at, on
Everyone of the most common 100 words are Anglo-saxon
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Remains of Old English?
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Lesson 8
Languages of the world
Aliyah Morgenstern Université Sorbonne Nouvelle – Paris 3
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7000 languages (100 sign languages).
Most lack detailed grammatical decriptions and dictionaries.
But to count languages, you need to know what a language is.
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1) Orally transmitted2) Passes through primary social bonds3) State policies not usually relevant4) Encapsulated in the wider system of economic life
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How does a language develop?
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« Globalization is causing loss of identity »(McDonaldization or cocacolanization)« the internet is imposing a uniformity in our self-
expression »« text messaging is reducing the expressiveness of
languages »
Is diversity really disappearing or significantly reducing?
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Loss of language diversity?
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New pidgins and creoles are continually evolving.
Singlish TaglishMalenglish
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Emergence of new languages
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= the normal human condition.
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Multilingualism
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Paraguagy: most of the population is bilingualSpanish = official languageGuarani= national language
ScotlandA minority speak Gaelic
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Very diverse situations
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Native proficiency in each language?
The exception, not the rule.
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Being bilingual
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The choice of language depends on the type of person addressed:
- Member of the family- Schoolmate- Colleague- Superior- Friend- Shopkeeper…
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In a multilingual society…
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1)Problem of expression in L1 (upset, tired, distracted or lack of a term in a specific semantic domain)
2)To express solidarity with a group or exclude other people
3)To convey a different attitude, a special effect…
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Language switching
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http://amorgenstern.free.fr/Introduction/
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Where to find the pdfs