Language: Definition and Functions

Language: Definition and Adaptive Functions

• Language is the primary way humans communicate thoughts, feelings, ideas, and concepts.
• Language is a system of symbols and rules, allowing for an infinite number of messages and meanings.
• Language evolved as social units grew, facilitating communication and collaboration.
• This allowed humans to adapt by sharing complex thoughts and reacting to the environment.
• Language enables communication without direct physical interaction.

Signs and Codes

• A sign is anything conveying meaning that isn't the sign itself (e.g., gestures, images, sounds, patterns).
• A sign represents another element of reality.
• A code is a system of signs and rules governing their combination to convey specific meanings.
• Codes represent shared understanding and relationship between signs and their meanings.

Language: Rooted in Experience

• Language is grounded in experience, conceptualization, and the use of symbols. This creates a continuous loop of interaction.

Properties of Language

• Language is symbolic, using arbitrary signs to represent things in the world (not inherently linked).
• Language is structured, based on rules governing symbol combinations (creating grammar).
• Language is generative, allowing for the creation of infinite combinations of words and phrases.
• Language has displacement, allowing communication about things not physically present.

Language: Production and Comprehension

• Language production starts with thought, transforming into a sentence, and finally, expressing through sounds.
• Language comprehension begins with hearing sounds, interpreted as words and sentences, resulting in a meaning.

Structure of Language

• Surface Structure: The symbols and order in which words are arranged.
• Deep Structure: The underlying meaning of the combined symbols. A sentence can have multiple surface structures but the same deep structure.

Language Units and Processes

• Language is structured at three levels: speech sounds, words, and sentences.
• Speech sounds are sequenced phonemes that convey meaning when combined.
• Words are the smallest units of meaning, including grammatical and meaningful morphemes.
• Sentences are combinations of phrases, which communicate aspects of thought.
• Language evolves from phonemes to words to complete sentences to discourse.

Effects of Context on Comprehension and Production

• Language comprehension and production always occur within a context. This context gives insight into a speaker's intentions.
• Language understanding and creation is dependent on the setting, scene, and the information available.

Neural Basis for Language

• Language processing relies on specific brain regions in the left hemisphere:
  • Broca's area: pivotal for speech production and articulation.
  • Wernicke's area: critical for speech comprehension.
• Damage to these areas leads to aphasia (language impairment).
  • Broca's aphasia: difficulty producing language, but comprehension might be preserved.
  • Wernicke's aphasia: fluent speech that lacks meaning, resulting in comprehension problems.

Development of Language

• Children acquire language through various processes.
• They learn phonemes and combinations that convey meaning in specific languages.
• They progress from simple sounds and word combinations to complex sentences expressing nuanced meanings.
• Learning processes include imitation, conditioning and hypothesis testing. Children adapt to the language by testing rules with trial-and-error.

Learning Processes

• Language acquisition is influenced by imitation, conditioning (rewards and punishments).
• Children actively test hypotheses about grammatical rules and assimilate information from the surrounding language environment.
• The richness of innate knowledge may explain the patterns of acquisition (language acquisition device).