Language and Thought: A Linguistic Overview

Study Notes

The relationship between language and thought is complex and studied by linguists and cognitive psychologists.
The Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis suggests that different languages can influence how people think about the world.

Lexicons, also known as vocabulary, are unique to each language.
Syntactical structures, such as word order and grammatical inflections, vary across languages.

Also known as "universal grammar", it's a system of mechanisms, categories, and constraints shared by all human languages.
Hundreds of linguistic universals have been identified in areas like phonetics, morphology, semantics, and syntax.

The names of colors differ across languages.
There's a hierarchy of five levels for basic color names, with black and white at the lowest level and more nuanced colors added progressively.

Bilingualism involves proficiency in two or more languages.
Monolinguals speak only one language, while multilinguals speak multiple languages.

Bilingualism can be additive, where a second language is learned in addition to a well-developed first language.
Subtractive bilingualism involves replacing elements of the first language with the second.
Simultaneous bilingualism is when a child learns two languages from birth.
Sequential bilingualism happens when someone learns a first language followed by another language later.

The single system hypothesis states that two languages are represented in one brain region.
The dual system hypothesis proposes that each language is independently represented in separate brain systems.

Learning a second language can increase gray matter in the left inferior parietal cortex.
TMS (Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation) is a non-invasive technique that uses magnetic fields to stimulate brain activity.
TMS is used in research to study brain activity during language processing in bilinguals.

Pidgins are simplified forms of communication that emerge between groups speaking different languages, with limited vocabulary and grammar.
Creoles are stable natural languages that evolve from pidgins as they become more complex and standardized.
Protolanguages are hypothetical ancestral languages from which actual languages descend.
Dialects are regional variations of a language with distinct vocabulary, syntax, and pronunciation.
Linguicism is the unfair treatment of individuals or communities based on their language use.

Cognitive psychologists study slips of the tongue, also known as verbal errors, to understand how language processing works.
Slips of the tongue can occur at different levels of linguistic analysis, from phonemes to morphemes.
Freudian psychoanalysts believe that some slips of the tongue reveal unconscious thoughts.
Slips of the tongue may suggest differences between the "language of thought" and the language we use to express our thoughts.