Some Fundamental Points of Language Some General Concepts About Language Wherever humans exist, L exists Language is systematic & very complex Different languages are very diverse but also share universal properties Speech is primary, writing is secondary Children ACQUIRE and are not TAUGHT their L1 Every language changes as time passes Some Myths About Language Some L are primitive Writing is more perfect than speech French is romantic, German harsh, English hard to learn Swearing degrades a language Sloppy speech should be avoided Speech versus Writing Why does ling consider speech primary? Writing is a later development Writing does not exist everywhere, spoken L does Writing must be taught, one can still communicate using language without being literate Different Definitions of “Grammar” Mental Grammar Unconscious rules of L that allow us to construct grammatical utterances (plural /-s/ in English) Descriptive Grammar Linguists’ descriptions of the rules of L Prescriptive Grammar The “proper” or “correct” way to use language Prescriptive v. Descriptive Grammar Prescriptive “Right” v. “wrong” Casts value judgments Tries to force specific L variety Descriptive Accounts for observed rules/patterns Unbiased Allows for different varieties Is a prescriptive variety necessary?  Helps establish a ‘standard’ for crossdialectal communication Second language learning Marking social distinctions Everyone uses several registers: What is a register? Professional Peer group Motherese Language Statistics How many languages are there? Which languages have the most speakers and which are more official? What some people think about English Animal Communication Observations from File 2.3 “Primate Studies” We share 99% of genetic material with the great apes, yet that 1% difference is responsible for human’s ability to “speak” Gua versus Donald Animal Communication cont. Viki: female chimp taught to “vocalize” Washoe and Koko: From human speech sounds to ASL Sarah: language board ‘sentences’ Lana: lexigrams Animal Communication cont. Still the main questions is Did these chimps acquire human language? The chimp “Nim Chimpsky” Use of language: use of grammar Mental referents, symbols we conjure when we think of a word