CMNS 110 Lecture Notes - Lecture 3: Spoken Language, Noam Chomsky, Animal Communication
20 Nov 2012
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Document Summary
Early theorists were concerned with the excessive power of language. Speech acts = actions made with language: sees language as a natural phenomenon, then says that language is a gift from the gods (supernatural) Family politeness: please & thank-you will get you things: gives you some power. Society expletives: cursing & swearing: generally have a class function, people retreat from some words as they became associated with the lower classes. Legal system hate speech: maximum sentence of 14 years in prison: can cause harm. Dysphemisms use harder words to describe something (ex: kicking the bucket) Euphemisms use softer words to describe something (ex: passing away) Chomsky claims the chimps are using imitation, not actually communicating themselves: impossible to communicate in the dark . Concerned with context in relation to the origins of language. Need the social and cultural context to understand a language. Humans have language; animals have communication systems. What does spoken language consist of? (1) vocal.
