LANGUAGE AS A SYMBOLIC SYSTEM FOR

COMMUNICATION

Basic problem:

THE EMERGENCE OF THE SYMBOLIC SYSTEMS FOR COMMUNICATION AND THE GENESIS OF THE HOMO SAPIENS SAPIENS

gene:a specific sequence of nucleotides in DNA or RNA that is located in the germ plasm usually on a chromosome and that is the functional unit of inheritance controlling the transmission and expression of one or more traits by specifying the structure of a particular polypeptide and especially a protein or controlling the function of other genetic material

gene:a specific sequence of nucleotides in DNA or RNA that is located in the germ plasm usually on a chromosome and that is the functional unit of inheritance controlling the transmission and expression of one or more traits by specifying the structure of a particular polypeptide and especially a protein or controlling the function of other genetic material The web version is cut and without illustrations

Something that stands for or suggests something else by reason of relationship, association, convention, or accidental resemblance

SYMBOL

e.g. The lion is a symbol of courage

Origin of Language: One Theory

Early hominines, began using gestures to communicate intentions within a social setting.

When Homo erectus moved out of the tropics, they needed to plan and communicate to survive seasons of cold temperatures.

By the time archaic Homo sapiens appeared, finely controlled movements of the mouth and throat had given rise to spoken language.

EMERGENCE OF LANGUAGE AS A SYMBOLIC SYSTEM FOR

COMMUNICATION

NO DIRECT EVIDENCE

INDIRECT:

• BIOLOGICAL CHANGES RELATED TO SPEECH

• OTHER SYMBOLIC ACTIVITIES OF HUMINIDS DOCUMENTED . HOW DID THEY RELATE TO SPEECH?

OBJECTIVES:

1. DEFINE THE THEORETICAL BACKGROUND

2. CHARACTERIZE WHAT THE LANGUAGE IS

3. DESCRIBE THE EVOLUTION OF THE HOMINIDS AS A LONG-TERM PROCESS OF BIOLOGICAL ADAPTATION AND REPRODUCTION OF SOCIAL BEHAVIOR AIMING NOT ONLY SURVIVAL OF SPECIES BUT CREATING A NEW WORLD OF CULTURE IN CONTEXT OF CLIMATIC LOCAL CHANGES AND CHANGING ENVIRONMENT (MIGRATIONS)

EVOLUTION AS ADAPTATION AND CREATING A NEW WORLD – THE WORLD

OF CULTUREA. ADAPTATION AS ACTIVE INTERACTION OF THE HUMINIDS WITH THE NATURE, AND AS INTERBREEDING

BIOLOGICAL – FROM AUSTRALOPITHECUS TOWARDS HUMAN SAPIENS SAPIENS

1. AUSTRALOPITHECINES – BIPED

2. HOMO HABILIS – FIRST TOOL MAKERS

3. HOMO ERECTUS AND NEWLY DISCOVERED PRECEDERS – HANDAXE MAKERS

4. HOMO SAPIENS – THE PROBLEM WITH HOMO NEANDERTHALENLIS

5. HOMO SAPIENS SAPIENS

SOCIAL BEHAVIOR – ADAPTATION, INNERCONTACTS, INTERBREEDING

B. CLIMATE AS A LEADING FACTOR IN THE ADAPTATION

THEORETICAL BACKGROUND

What Is Language?A symbolic system for communication of any kind of information.

Inter-social contacts (sharing experience, concerns, beliefs and interests) Communication between generations. One one of the cultural component, without which the culture would not exist easily. Why?

Inter-social

Timespace

Between generations

Integrative function

Strikingly, the lowering of the larynx, which permits a greater variety of articulations with the tongue, has the consequence of making it much easier for humans to choke.

larynx

air sacs

tongue

The Biology of Human Speech

Linguistic

  The roots of linguistics, the modern scientific study of language, go back a long way to the works of ancient grammarians in India, more than two thousand years ago.

The modern scientific study of language began in the 17th century with the accumulation of facts about the languages spoken by people encountered during the Age of Exploration.

   In the 19th century, laws and principles of language were formulated.

Many theories of language have been developed in the 20th century.

Linguistics is the study of all aspects of language:

Phonetics Phonology Morphology Syntax

Grammar

historical linguisticsThe branch of linguistics that studies the histories of and relationships between languages, both living and dead.

descriptive linguistics attempts to explain the features of a particular language at one time in its history and looks at languages as separate systems without considering how they might be related to each other.

Science of soundsPhonology

The study of abstract rules that guide the sound patterns of a language is called

Systemic study of the production, transmission, and reception of speech sounds

Phonetics

e.g. phonetic alphabet(a way to write these sounds down)

the patterns, the

phonological theorizing

The smallest class of sound that makes a difference in meaning (distinctive sounds)

phoneme

•consonants: p, t, k, b, d, g, č, , f, θ, s, š, h, v, ð, z, ž, m, n, ŋ, l, r, w, y

•vowels: i, u, I, U, e, o, , ə, :, æ, a, ay, aw, oy

There are often differences in the way a phoneme is pronounced in a specific context. The variant pronunciations are called allophones ("other sounds")

•in the ideal case, [ ] = allophone, / / = phoneme.

A classic example of sound alternation in English relates to the [s] found at the beginning of a syllable before a voiceless stop.

Although a word like spin is basically pin with [s] added, the /p/ in each case is pronounced differently.

•pin contains an aspirated version of /p/, with a puff of air after the stop is released; this is written [ph]

•spin contains a plain /p/, without a puff of air after the stop; this is written just [p]

The same is true for pairs like pit~spit, pot~spot, pair~spare, etc.

A simple statement of this alternation is as follows:

the phoneme /p/ becomes:

allophone [p]immediately following [s]

allophone [ph]at the beginning of the word

Phonetics refers to the physiological and acoustic parts of the following diagram, while phonology resides in the brain.

writing systemA set of visible or tactile signs used to represent units of language in a systematic way.

alphabetA series of symbols representing the sounds of a language arranged in a traditional order.

morphemesIn linguistics, the smallest units of sound that carry a meaning (e.g. pan, dog)

morphologyThe study of the patterns or rules of word formation in a language (including such things as rules concerning verb tense, pluralization, and compound words).

frame substitutionA method used to identify the syntactic units of language. For example, a category called “nouns” may be established as anything that will fit the substitution frame “I see a . . [****]. ”

Signal and Symbol Pavlov’s classical study of conditioning, a dog that

salivated to the taste of meat was taught to salivate to the sound of a bell by having the two stimuli paired. After this training, the ringing of a bell constituted a _______________ for the dog because the meaning, “meat,” was implicit in the immediate experience of bell ringing; for the dog it had a natural or self-evident meaning. (p. 90).

a.       symbol

b.       signal

c.       language

d.       grammar

Paralanguage

In human beings, there exists, besides the first system of signals, a second one, language, that increases the possibilities of conditioning. For human beings words can function as stimuli, so real and effective, that they can mobilize us just like a concrete stimulus.

Signals and symbols

  Forms of communication.

Can be learned.

Signals are in response to aspects of the immediate environment

 Symbols are arbitrary and can be used independent of a particular environment.

Learned gestures different cultures assign different meanings to are known as conventional gestures

Gesture

paralanguageThe extralinguistic noises that accompany language, for example, those of crying or laughing.

Paralanguage includes not only the way that people say things but also a variety of extralinguistic noises called

vocalizations

voice qualitiesIn paralanguage, the background characteristics of a speaker’s voice.

There are more than 7000 facial expressions documented in the humankind

Two people say to you, “You sure look nice today.” Although they are saying the same words, you can tell that one person is being complimentary and the other sarcastic by their voice qualities

The Nature of LanguageThere are approximately 6,000 languages.

All languages are organized in the same basic way.

Spoken languages use sounds and rules for putting the sounds together.

Sign languages use gestures rather than sounds.

OOn April 10, 1984, the Northern Ute became the first community of Native Americans in the United States to affirm the right of its members to regain and maintain fluency in the ancestral language.

Among the oldest writing systems in the world is Egyptian hieroglyphics , developed about 5,000 years ago and in use for about 3,500 years.

Mastering the verbal system of a foreign language does not guarantee effective communication because mastering the non-verbal systems of that foreign language is also essential. These verbal and nonverbal systems are connected, and the use of one without the other might cause a disequilibrium.

Kinesics (body language)

A system of notating and analyzing postures, facial expressions, and body motions that convey messages.

proxemicsThe cross-cultural study of humankind’s perception and use of space.

space, distance, and territory.

North Americans and Latin Americans, for example, have fundamentally different proxemic systems. While North Americans usually remain at a distance from one another, Latin Americans stay very close to each other. This simple fact can tell much about these people's different concepts of privacy. While most North Americans value privacy, Latin Americans seldom consider it an important aspect of life.

syntaxIn linguistics, the rules or principles of phrase and sentence making.

grammarThe entire formal structure of a language consisting of all observations about the morphemes and syntax.

language familyA group of languages descended from a single ancestral language.

linguistic divergenceThe development of different languages from a single ancestral language.

glottochronologyIn linguistics, a method for identifying the approximate time that languages branched off from a common ancestor. It is based on analyzing core vocabularies.

Most of the alphabets in use today descended from the Phoenicians

Indo-European languages

core vocabulariesIn language, pronouns, lower numerals, and names for body parts and natural objects.

pidginA language in which the syntax and vocabulary of two other languages are simplified and combined.

CreoleA pidgin language that has become the mother tongue of society.

linguistic nationalismThe attempt by ethnic minorities, and even countries to proclaim independence by purging their languages of foreign terms.

ethnolinguisticsThe study of the relation between language and culture.

linguistic relativityThe proposition that diverse interpretations of reality embodied in languages yield demonstrable influences on thought.

gendered speechDistinct male and female syntax exhibited in various languages around the world.

dialectsVarying forms of a language that reflect particular regions or social classes and that are similar enough to be mutually intelligible.

code switchingThe process of changing from one language or dialect to another.

displacementThe ability to refer to things and events removed in time and space