PS102 Chapter Notes - Chapter 8: Metalinguistic Awareness, Fast Mapping, Phoneme
Document Summary
A language consists of symbols that convey meaning, plus rules for combining those symbols, that can be used to generate an infinite variety of messages. Phonemes are the smallest speech units in a language that can be distinguished perceptually. Humans are capable of recognizing only about 100 basic sounds. The english language is composed of about 40 phonemes. A letter in the alphabet can represent more than one phoneme if it has more than one pronunciation. Morphemes are the smallest units of meaning in a language. Includes root words as well as prefixes and suffixes. Semantics is the area of language concerned with understanding the meaning of words and word combinations. Syntax is a system of rules that specify how words can be arranged into sentences. A simple rule of syntax is that a sentence must have both a subject and a verb. Reflexive communication: vocalizes randomly, coos, laughs, cries, engages in vocal play.
