Aula 01/03 Concern- the way we understand, acquire and use the

What is language?
language
Co-reference - the ability to the name and pronoun refer the
same entity
• Range of human and non-human activities linked to
Innateness hypothesis - programmed from birth to acquire
communication.
language
• Has a naming function (animals don't have) - things
are attributed with a name.
The core of linguistic inquiry :
• To communicate with others and ourselves and help
1. Phonetics
us think about the world.
2. Phonology
• Take something from one point to transfer to another
3. Syntax
point.
4. Semantics
• Creativity
• Unique in the animal kingdom
Language: meaning - a system of words - sound
• The capacity for language is essential for us
Linguistic level: semantics/pragmatics - morphosyntax -
• Is structured dependent and category-based
phonology/phonetics
• Instrument of thought
• Works through symbols (have forms and functions)
Study lang - study ourselves
Verbal language (most complex communication)
-body language - by small physical movements they can tell Why study language?
if someone is lying. Linguistic - extensive discipline
-micro gestures- leakage To write and speak better but also appreciate how the study of
language will provide greater insights into language.
Only human language can rage over time and space Understanding the language is crucial to understanding the
(displacement). human mind.
Language is and involves a code (use symbols)
Goal of language
The powers of name The communication process

• For children, language is a symbolic code.

• The construction of words depend on double
articulation relation between word and object is
arbitrary
• Grammar stipulates the rules for combining sounds Is mentally encoded ; air/sound ; travel ; to understand
into words and then into phrases, clauses, and If something in the line goes wrong, it becomes missing
sentences. information.
• Creativity and double articulation are the systems to If we don't decode, we can't understand the message.
advance from contextually xed meanings to those Fals can cut proper communication.
which are constrained by the conventions of
particular languages. Perspective rules - strict ones that were used before
Descripted rules - language that we use now (correspondent
Human language - a three-tier system of communication behaviour between reality and rules)
(meaning - system of words - sound)
Animal signaling - two-tier system (meaning - sound) What is linguistics?

Linguists conventionally talk about 4 macro functions:

Sociolinguistics- Like when English people talk, you can tell
their status by the way they do it.
1. Ideational - represent the world to ourselves
Psycholinguistics- The physiological process involved in the
2. Interpersonal - concerned with the use of language
use of language.
to represent ourselves
Field linguistics- The researchers in the eld.
3. Textual - the way language can be used to form
Neurolinguistics- How and where our brains store our
texts
knowledge of the language.
4. Poetic - relates to the creation of jokes and riddles
Computational linguistics- Understanding written and
spoken language from a computational perspective.
Effective communication- being able to put sentences
Corpus linguistics- words and expressions on a database that
together
people use to understand language.
Applied linguistics- Like political language
Linguistics in the study of language Comparative linguistics- Analyse different languages in
The aim of linguistic investigation - is to determine the rules order to see how closely they are related to one another.
that govern linguistic behaviour
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 Corporate linguistics- The language that a company uses to Whorf hypothesis
communicate internally and externally. -Antropologist - sutdied people in a social context
-American linguist
-Had a student (Benjamin Lee Whorf)
Aula 06/03
Chomsky
They were studying eskimos and
- Jewish origin (EUA) realised that they lived with snow
- Father of the cognitive linguistics (not interested anymore) everyday , having different names for
- Retired from teaching and linguistics the different types of snow.
- Ideas mind blow They thought that , because eskimos had more words for
- Present in politics (absurd ideas) he is becoming an snow , they were able to understand and consider snow better
than people that don't live with it.
extreme left wing and right extreme wing. Strange opinions
about the war and covid
- Until 1960 “behaviourism”- ling theory (B.F.Skinner) Linguistic relativity
- Started studying animals. Concluded that mice could be -Our language is in uenced by the surroundings we live in.
thought of a pattern. -Language doesn't determine the way we think , only
- in uences.
Theory: Animals would have pattern behaviours ruled by -have to consider the social context , the daily lives , etc…
compensation -In 1950 linguistic relativity substituted determinism
- Until 1960 it was defended but the Chomsky destroyed it
Book: verbal behaviour - In 1970 this theory was highly criticised and relativity was
. Children behaviour like adults , copy them dead.
. React to the stimulus and to the compensation
They evaluate language without language
This theory was applied then in humans that is way it englobe
animals and humans. Levison and Boroditsky
Culture through language affects the way we think
Skinner base: repetition, imitation , react stimulus, and especially the way we perceive and see the world.
compensation (CHOMSKY DISAGREED TO THIS)
Aula 08-03 (visiting teacher)
Chomsky asked how behaviourism could explain how Generative grammar
children could repeat what they have seen or heard? - Chomsky 1950
. He said that behaviourism couldn't explain most of it - Language - the innate human ability ; can be studied by
. Humans are born with an innate capacity for language examining the rules that generate sentences ; modular
(universal grammar) view of the mind
- Language , an autonomous mind module
UNIVERSAL GRAMMAR - Syntax- the study of new words and morphemes combine
- Human language is biological (allows us to acquire to form larger units like sentences
language without learning it / without being thought) - Morphology- The study of how parts of words create
- Things that are not explained to us, we know either way different meanings combined or alone
- We are all born with an inner capacity for language - Phonology- The study of the patterns of sounds in a
- Language Acquisition Device (LAD), an example is when language and across languages
someone absorves another country’s language like
immigrants Linguistic wars
Ex. I like the book
Pinker The book pleases me
-Was Chomsky student (disciple) and continued his work (The same meaning but different deep structures - we should
- Tried to simplify notions to understand him to every public look more for the meaning ; abstract vs. Usage-based)
- We rst think than we develop
- Introduced the word instinct
Cognitive linguistics
Interdisciplinary approach (language and mind)
The language instinct (philosophy, psychology , arti cial intelligence,
- we are born with an instinct for language
neuroscience)
- Language is part of our nature
1. Cognitive commitment - cognitive and brain sciences
NURTURE vs NATURE 2. Generalization commitment- linguistic knowledge : a
Nurture is what is outside , what feeds us , what we imitate. result of general cognitive abilities
Nature is what comes from living , instinct.
2 points of interest:
Sapir
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Aula-06103
• language has caracteristic world views we think
language and thought-Hombolt
thought • anguage determines the

Happen against behavoriasm! focus on patterns

Hypothesis - a linguistic determinism → hard view}
←
→ a stmimulants-rewards, mainly beatyle
linguistic relativity-easy view
language shapes the way we
see the world, but the world doesn't necessary
changes because of our
9850-Hom bolt language
55 9ms K9D.
""8: infinity /linguistic?.
1960- Chomsky denied all theories, children are capable of more and differently
1 996800/-90't- upsurge linguistic.
than adults. Human creativity
Imvate linguistic becameareevident
knowledge-we almost born with the abilitye to ditteremt.at the WORDS

198017990- language and thought concept are dead.

Revival of Linguistic Relativity./bumpers and Levinson)
concept of culture
Introduce
culture through
Language affects the
way we think
 1- How is knowledge representation (conceptual structure) Ex. Coronavirus is a celebrity
organised with mind ? Pandemic is a war
-Cognitive linguists use language to investigate conceptual Enemy-virus
structure Soldiers-health workers
Battle-stopping the spread of the virus
2- How does language represents organisational properties of
cognition? Hammer and dance strategy
Hammer:
Encyclopaedic knowledge -Short
To have “a vast and complete” knowledge about a large -Act quickly and aggressively
number of diverse subjects -Strict measures
Ex. -Control the virus
The colour red - we also say : red hair , red wine Dance:
(None of them are actually red but we say it anyway) -Longer
-Most restrictions removed
Categorization -Measures if needed
Grouping objects , events and concepts based on their
Conceptual metonymy
perceived similarities and differences.
Property theory:
The name of an object or concept is replaced with a word
- E.Rosch , 1970
closely related to a suggested by the original.
- Categories are not xed , they are exible and dynamic
- Experience
-In a statement , the white house said more documents were
- Context
found
- The team needs some fresh blood
Ex. A glass and a jar
If we put a ower in a glass , it becomes a jar
• Process- mapping within one domain
• Contiguity (closeness in space or time) , association
Embodiment
• Referential - stans for
Our thought and language are based on and shaped by our
bodily experiences (perceptions , movements , touch…)
The white house (building) - metonymic source
American government - metonymic target
Figurative expressions :
-I am down in the dumps . She is feeling down
The part for the whole metonymy
-She has a warm personality
1. We need a couple of strong bodies for our team
2. There are a lot of good heads in the university
Conceptual metaphor
One idea is understood in terms of another. The whole for the part metonymy
1. My car broke down
Fighters-participants in an argument 2. The pen is red
Attacking-raising objection
Loosing-giving up your opinion
Metaphor vs metonymy
- Different cognitive process
Linguistic metaphor - Conceptual metaphor - mapping elements of one
conceptual domain onto another (similarity)
.Structural - Conceptual metonymy- using one aspect / element of a
One concept is understood and expressed in terms of other
concept to refer to the entire concept (closeness ,
(argument , pandemic , illness)
association)
Highlighting and hiding - partial metaphorical structuring

Ex. We ght the virus Conceptual blending

We are moving in the right direction Combining two dissimilar concepts and using creative
thinking to work out the dissonances.
.Orientational
Spatial orientation : up-down , in-out , front-back RIDDLE: Is there a place on the path that the monk occupies
at the same hour of the day on the two separate journeys ?
Ex. Im on top of the situation
He is under my control For mental spaces:
• Generic space- person walking , a path , a time
.Ontological • 2 input spaces - going up , going down
Entity and substance (mind , anger) , personi cation • Blended space (blend) - the time and path of both journeys
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 Aula 13-03 - What is shared by the community
-
Importance of language to social identity
Global
- The language system
- Abstract global
- A complete system of language , science and symbols
- A system of signs that express ideias

PAROLE
(speach)-manifestation of the
There is a close bond between the 3 of them. - What the individual speaks langue
- Speci c
Linguistic relativity: - The use of the system , the speech itself
- Goes back to the langue , selects what it wants and
Language in uences the way you think produces it
-researchers asked- - Individual production of language
How can you prove this if you are using language to study - Written or spoken or signed
language? (Language is the instrument of study)
Chomsky - 1960's
Non-verbal tasks/activities that did not include language and
were enough to prove that language affects thought. COMPETENCE VS. PERFORMANCE
Competence (langue
Code • All the language that exists and that we could use
-A symbol that corresponds to the reality • All the possibilities of language
Ex. Paper • Similar to language , doesn't really belong to the
Pode ser uma folha ou um lenço — COMMON FACTORS community , belongs to all of us
AND INDIVIDUALIZED FACTORS • We all can go trough this process
(universal characteristics of paper(common) - but then we • OUR INTERNAL / MENTAL LANGUAGE “I language”
have the typology (texture , colour) with are individualised)
Performance (Parole)
Activity • What we produce , what we do with language
• External language
We didn’t draw the male sex symbol • Language production
| • All different from one person to another
Culture • Impossible to copy
|
We are not used to it How do we arrive to this perception / language

The same happens with age , colour , nationally , it can also Language acquisition
be blind for example but anyone draws a blind person. - No teaching element
- No external in uence
- Is autonomous and self centred
How mental is language? - You don't question the logic, you assimilate it
- Innate language system
Mind - the product of the brain - Language acquisition device (LAD)
- the product of the organ - Adults are also capable of acquiring for example when
- the software ( pc) they move to another country
Brain - the organ itself, it actually exists
- like the hardware (pc) Language learning
Body. -mind in uences the body, the behaviour - There is always somebody something to teach you
- It involves explaining , organising concepts (logic)
- language is mental too , we need to communicate with
ourselves (like in a test) Language perception vs. Production
what we perceive/understand
cap; toe-s Perception - data basis
We need the language to communicate with ourselves - perception of what exists
Competence
emcomding → Production - much less than what we perceive
Ferdinand Saussure - what comes out
and
-suisse linguist decoding Performance- our opinion
-interesting theory - combine words in different places

There are 2 types of language:

LANGUE (abstract language)

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Reference- yackemdoff (page 27)
 Aula 15-03 The level of the symbols and the characteristics of the
symbols. (Namely , symbols that are meaningful , discret and
Human vs. Non-human language
arbitrary )
|
2nd level
Math ; arti cial ; animal language
(The smaller units that compose the symbols - the meaningful
symbols)
Experiment on chimps (chimpanzés) Do not have meaning by their own.
- EUA in a zoo , 1980
- Experimenting the capacity to learn human language D
- Went down - people thought they were hurting people O.
G rent
Was shown a key for water, a key for birds… Phonemes/letters (smallest units of sound)
- When they wanted to communicate, they pressed the key It's defer The symbol, is
Morphemes (units of meaning ; we use to
- When they saw a duck, they pressed the key for water and Tron-99%91 words are morphemes but not all morphemes
constitute a symbol) are words)
the the key for bird Phonology (when combined , are meaningful in
that they indicate the undoing of the morpheme that follows.
Chimps associated 2 symbols and came up with productive Any given language has a set of rules that speci es
language. They can form sentences and are able to see the permissible sound combinations. These rules are known as
difference. phonology. )
Then chimps were teaching a kid the same symbols (they are Word → It's independent ogether
able to transmit and process thoughts) A SYMBOL IS A COMPLETE UNIT OF MEANING

If they are similar to us, why do we develop a 'thethi ef ☁☁ ☁☁ camp""

5.Productivity (creativity)
sophisticated language and they don’t? • In nitive productive and creative
-They don't have the need. • Symbols are combined in endless possibilities of
combinations (The way we combine language is always different)
The theory of evolution- Darwin • Rules of syntax (7structures)
• We develop and survive because we feel the need of things
• Natural selection ( quem tem e mais desenvolvido 6.Displacement
sobrevive melhor) • By using language we can communicate about things that
• Humans need to live in a society (we need to communicate) are physically and temporally displaced (aren’t here and
now) ex:sea
The characteristics of human language • Use language to our bene t
• Language helps us to understand time and space
Charles Hockett
• American linguist and anthropologist
• 1960 Human language is unique because of these 6
• Studied the human behaviour characteristics
• De ned a set of features that are speci c in human
language (universal characteristics of language)
Aula 22-03
→ it means" meaning"
1.Semanticity
• Language is composed of a symbol (is verbal and spoken/ Speech production - the way we produce sounds
written) Speech reception - the way we hear
• Symbol has a semantic content (meaning) and is something
of human understanding , is universal and common. To produce sound:
we recognise the signubal of am object
for exampdloeesnth'te lwooorkd""µdoag"dog -air goes to mouth/nose
2.Arbitrariness - lls up our lungs
• There is no relation between symbol and content " m:*:&: *: -below lungs- diaphragm (muscle up and down)
• No similarity between symbol and representation -to expel air we need both
• Justi cation of why there are so many languages -then up to the trachea, faringe and all mouth
-needs to pass the vocal cords (teeth, tongue … helps us
3.Discretness/Distinctness modelling the sound)
• Human language does not vary / change / progress • does not grow or
diminish according to the
• Need more symbols to express continuity Up- lungs smaller
- air out
4.Duality of patterning Down- lungs bigger
Works in 2 levels - air in
• Human language have a duality of Pa term:

1st level Brain- important ; knows what we want to produce

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 How to produce a sound :
The aps on a tube vibrate — vocal cords

1- Brain (initiator)
2- The motor (lungs and muscles that are used to supply air)
3- The vibrator (vocal cords that give pitch, tone)
4- Mouth and nose ( resonator- pharyngeal nasal and oral
cavities)
The sound is resonating inside these cavities.
5- Enunciators / Articulators (palate , tongue , teeth and lips)
Will shape the sound.
6- Everything will go back to the brain (another person -
needs to hear- physical encoding)

Receiving the sound (decoding)

Need the ear

1. External ear (visible ear)
2. Middle ear
3. Inner ear

Tympanic membrane
Sound comes, vibrates and it's transformed.
They are not at so they can capture sound and then are
directed to the ear canal.

Sound production
- Physical way sound is produced

Speech reception
- The way sound is received

Sound/speech perception
- The purely mental aspect (takes place in the brain)

Phonetics
Study of how speech sounds are made/produced/ transmitted
and received. All possible speech sounds. The neurological
and physical basis of speech (action, movements). How
sound is received and then interpreted by the brain.
VS
Phonology • How speakers produce those sounds.
Related to the study of phonemes (smallest units of sound of • Study the way speakers of a speci c language
a speci c language). systematically produce sounds from a large variety as well
Can’t be used to relate to a speci c language. Study of sounds as the way that they combine those sounds to express
in a particular/speci c language. meaning.
• Human vocals operators can produce a very wide variety of
sounds but only a smaller number of those are used in each
Different languages have different sounds and organize language to make individual words and sentences.
sounds in different ways.
Prosodics
Phonemes-smallest unit of sound - Related to intonation and stress
that can be pronounced on their own - Study of the tune and rhythm of speech and how these
features contribute to meaning.
Grapheme-letter of the alphabet.
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 Aula 28/03 Language is used to control the meter or the reality that the
meter represents.

Language functions
Recording of facts
Why do we use language?
use of language To store information for the future.
To communicate ideas and thoughts.
We are able to organize and story better
Eg. Scienti c reports
Uses of language:

Ideational (communication of ideas)

Referential (meaning - inform of facts, factual information)
Prepositional (function of language to dialogue)

Language is used to :
Transform abstract into concrete language. Without language,
we couldn't transmit ideas.

Emotional expression • we use languages to express emotions.

• Language can be used as a mean of getting rid of emotions
(energy, stress, negative emotions)
Eg. When we get hurt, we say “ouch”
• Way of coping with emotions

Social interaction
• Not used to transmit factual information
• Not to communicate ideas/dialogue
• It is to ll up the social gap (maintain a connection between
people)

We are social beings, we need to live in society. We

acknowledge through social language.

Eg. Talk about the weather

The power of sound relies on:

• Repetitive and Rythm of sound.
• Including nonsense ;
• The sound effect-the only reason to exist

Eg. Games (help children develop sound)

Language is used to maintain rhythm and coordination

Instrument of thought
we use language to think
lan guage is aidin g your thinking
Subvocal language (inner speech)
Eg. Fazer contas de cabeça

Expression of identity

“Yes we can” - we associate this with Barack Obama

The language that we use tells who we are, our gender,

regional origin, and social background.
Signals who we are and where we belong.

The control of reality

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