PSY10004 Lecture Notes - Lecture 6: Noam Chomsky, Transformational Grammar, Universal Grammar
PSYCH 101 - PSY10004 WEEK 6
LANGUAGE
Language refers to symbols and a set of rules for combining them that provide a vehicle for
communication.!
Universal Features of Language!
Expressive Power: a language’s ability to communicate virtually anything.!
Productivity: the ability to produce an infinite number of sentences.!
Displacement: the ability to talk about something that is not present.!
Arbitrariness: the understanding that symbols to meaning is not predetermined.!
Elements of Language!
Phonemes: the smallest units of sound in spoken language (eg. /b/,/d/,/m/, /n/)!
Morphemes: the smallest units of meaning (eg. Prefixes, suffixes, words)!
Phrases: groups of words that act as a unit (eg. I attended the lecture (1) in the morning (2))!
Sentences: organised sequences of words that express a thought or intention!
Nonsense Words!
•Buv!
•Mig!
•Grusk!
•Glostab!
•Brunkstanp!
Syntax!
Syntax refers to the rules for organising words and phrases into sentences. (eg. We went coffee
for class after for = not correct).!
Divide into two phrases:!
— noun phrase (eg. Young boy)!
— verb phrase (eg. Carried his ruler)!
Divide into smaller constituents
– young (adjective) boy (noun)
– Carried (verb) his (pronoun) school (adjective) bag (noun)
Grammar!
Grammar is a system for generating acceptable language utterances and identifying unacceptable
ones. !
•Grammar related to those rules that determine how sentences are formed!
•Grammar is generative!
Noam Chomsky!
Surface structure: the order in which words area arranged in sentences.!
Deep structure: an abstract representation of the underlying meaning of a given sentence!
Proposed by the model of transformational grammar to convert underlying, deep structure into
the surface structure.!
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
Language refers to symbols and a set of rules for combining them that provide a vehicle for communication. Expressive power: a language"s ability to communicate virtually anything. Productivity: the ability to produce an in nite number of sentences. Displacement: the ability to talk about something that is not present. Arbitrariness: the understanding that symbols to meaning is not predetermined. Phonemes: the smallest units of sound in spoken language (eg. /b/,/d/,/m/, /n/) Morphemes: the smallest units of meaning (eg. pre xes, su xes, words) Phrases: groups of words that act as a unit (eg. i attended the lecture (1) in the morning (2)) Sentences: organised sequences of words that express a thought or intention. Nonsense words: buv, mig, grusk, glostab, brunkstanp. Syntax refers to the rules for organising words and phrases into sentences. (eg. we went co ee for class after for = not correct). Carried (verb) his (pronoun) school (adjective) bag (noun)
