PSYCH 120A Lecture Notes - Lecture 15: Voice-Onset Time, Digital Infinity, Phoneme
Document Summary
A phoneme is the smallest unit of speech that can be used to distinguish one utterance. A morpheme is the smallest unit of meaning within a language. Prosody: the way that we pronounce a sentence can alter its meaning. Garden path sentences initially suggest one interpretation but it turns out to be incorrect; needs to be reinterpreted. Pragmatics: extra linguistic factors that are unsaid. Intent of speaker, background knowledge, influence of context on interpretation. Broca"s aphasia: halting speech and disordered syntax but comprehension remains intact. Wernicke"s aphasia: production of nonsense but grammatically correct sentences. Double dissociation reveals that syntax and semantics might be represented/processed separately in the brain. Symbolic: made up of arbitrary relations between sounds and meanings. Discrete infinity (generativity): finite set of elements can generate a potentially infinite set of meanings. Phonemes morphemes words sentences. Structure dependence: meaning is conferred through a specific arrangement of symbols. Displacement: language allows referring to ideas/elements that are not present.
