PSY 0010 Lecture Notes - Lecture 14: Deep Structure And Surface Structure, Language Acquisition Device, Operant Conditioning
Document Summary
Language is the liquid that we"re all dissolved in: great for solving problems, after it creates a problem. Language: a system for communicating with others using signals that are combined according to rules of grammar and to convey meaning. Grammar: a set of rules that specify how the units of language can be combined to produce meaningful messages. What is so special about human language: semanticity and arbitrariness. Good dog bad dog: displacement of time and space, discreteness and productivity. Of all the sounds and all the combinations that become words, phrases, and sentences we have an unlimited amount of product. Phonemes: the elementary units of sound that distinguish meaning: there are approximately 44 phonemes in english. Morphemes: the smallest unit of linguistic meaning: every word in every language is composed of one or more morphemes. Syntactical rules: a set of rules that indicate how words can be combined to form phrases and sentences: deep structure and surface structure.
