Psychology 2040A/B Chapter Notes - Chapter 2: Nicaraguan Sign Language, Language Acquisition Device, Willard Van Orman Quine

• School: Western University
• Department: Psychology
• Course: Psychology 2040A/B
• Professor: Rod Martin

Document Summary

Natural language acquired automatically; refers to any language spoken on a daily basis by a community. Generativity using a relatively small number of basic linguistic components and rules, we can create a boundless variety of unique expressions. Phonology the sound patterns of a language and the rules for combining sounds into words. Phonemes - the smallest units of sound that create differences in meanings: ex. Morphemes languages" smallest units of meaning: can be individual words or prefixes/suffixes. Semantics tells us the meanings of individual words and how to combine words to convey larger meanings: ex. Every arrow hit a target has 2 meanings; all arrows hit the same target, or all arrows hit their own target. Lexicon the vocabulary of a person or language. Syntax a set of rules concerning how words are combined into sentences. Grammar structural relations of a language that govern how words and other syntactic units are organized.