LING 1F94 Chapter Notes - Chapter 1: Vocal Folds, Appalachian English, Word Formation
19 Mar 2018
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Document Summary
Evolution created capacity for language in humans not found in other species. Speech organs are the lungs, larynx, tongue, teeth, lips and nasal passage. Vocal cords produce vibrations for speech sound. Teeth provide place of articulation for consonants. Humans are equipped for perception of speech and newborns even react differently to speech than other sound as well as they can perceive differences among sounds in languages. Diversity of human thought and experience places demand on language to be creative so we may produce and understand new words and sentences. There are rules still and languages are systematic. There are constraints on what verbs derived from nouns can mean so as to aid communication (ex to holiday in florida can only mean you spent your holidays in. The systematic ways of language allow us to comprehend new words and sentences that we"ve never heard. Linguistic competence is the ability to recognize certain utterances as unacceptable in one"s language.
