PSYCO105 Lecture Notes - Lecture 6: Nicaraguan Sign Language, Language Acquisition Device, Aleut Language
26 Aug 2016
School
Department
Course
Professor
Document Summary
Language: a system for communicating with others using signals that are combined according to rules of grammar. Animals capable communication with other members of species + across species: forms of communication, not language. Grammar: a set of rules that specify how the units of language can be combined to produce meaningful messages. Communication considered language if have all 3 properties: general-purpose. Symbolically arbitrary: general purpose: able to be used to convey information about any arbitrary topic. Bee"s waggle dance: when find nectar, speed = how far, angle of dance = where in accordance to nest, change in accordance to the sun. Pidgin languages: allow for restricted forms of communication and what they are doing in same context, common ethnically diverse workgroups, are not true languages because are not general purpose, restricted to what you can talk about. Nicaraguan sign language: developed 1977 used by deaf children, started as pidgin and developed into creole over time.
