Language some basics

- 5,000 different languages

- Problem of discerning languages and dialects
o Could be political issues (Czech x Slovak
- dialect continuant
- language
o natural (used
o artificial (something created ! mathematics, computer languages
- all humans can learn language
- language is a s"stem
o language is in a certain balance
o language is open (this can destro" the aforementioned balance
e#g# influx of foreign $ords
o s"stem can re-establish itself
- % & ' % ( '
o enough %f'
o laugh %f'
o eight % ( '
)edium of language
- sound
o allo$s distance
*anguage is not continuous
- made of discreet units
+on-verbal communication
- paralanguage
o bod" language
o , paralinguistics
- kinesics
o bodil" gestures, facial expressions
- e#g# tone - .ualit" if voice
/estures
- complementing language
- learned gestures
o culture based
o e#g# giving the 0finger1
- instinctive gestures
o involuntar"
o voluntar"
o e#g# smiling, blushing
2rigins of language
3# 4ivinit" ! g-/od-given
o experiments ! children gro$ing in isolation
5# +atural source
a# 0+atural sounds1 theor"
onomatopoeic $ords
6bow-wow theory7
b# natural cries of emotion
c. yo-heave-ho theory
ph"sical collective activities
8# 2ral-gesture source
9# Ph"siological adaptation
o certain ph"sical features of human beings not shared b" other animals
even upper teeth
flexible rounded lips
flexible moveable top of mouth
changing shape
phar"nx
brain
specialized functions of the lobes