Linguistics In the early 20th century Ferdinand de Saussure distinguished between the notions of langue and parole in his formulation of structural linguistics. According to him, parole is the specific utterance of speech, whereas langue refers to an abstract phenomenon that theoretically defines the principles and system of rules that govern a language.[9] This distinction resembles the one made by Noam Chomsky between competence and performance, where competence is individual's ideal knowledge of a language, while performance is the specific way in which it is used.[10] In classical Indian philosophy of language, the Sanskrit philosophers like Patanjali and Katyayana had distinguished between sphota (light) and dhvani (sound). In the late 20th century, French philosopher Jacques Derrida distinguished between the notions of speech and writing.[11] Nomenclature[edit] Variation and Universality[edit] Lexicon[edit] The lexicon is a catalogue of words and terms that are stored in a speaker's mind.
Language module The language module or language faculty is a hypothetical structure in the human brain which is thought to contain innate capacities for language, originally posited by Noam Chomsky. There is ongoing research into brain modularity in the fields of cognitive science and neuroscience, although the current idea is much weaker than what was proposed by Chomsky and Jerry Fodor in the 1980s. In today's terminology, 'modularity' refers to specialisation: language processing is specialised in the brain to the extent that it occurs partially in different areas than other types of information processing such as visual input. The current[vague] view is, then, that language is neither compartmentalised nor based on general principles of processing (as proposed by George Lakoff). It is modular to the extent that it constitutes a specific cognitive skill or area in cognition.[1][2][3] Meaning of a module[edit] No singular anatomical module[edit] No double dissociation – acquired or developmental[edit]
A priori and a posteriori Two types of knowledge, justification, or argument The terms originate from the analytic methods found in Organon, a collection of works by Aristotle. Prior analytics (a priori) is about deductive logic, which comes from definitions and first principles. Both terms appear in Euclid's Elements and were popularized by Immanuel Kant's Critique of Pure Reason, an influential work in the history of philosophy. Examples[edit] A priori[edit] A posteriori[edit] Consider the proposition: "George V reigned from 1910 to 1936." Aprioricity, analyticity and necessity[edit] Relation to the analytic–synthetic distinction[edit] Several philosophers, in reaction to Immanuel Kant, sought to explain a priori knowledge without appealing to, as Paul Boghossian explains, "a special faculty [intuition] ... that has never been described in satisfactory terms The analytic explanation of a priori knowledge has undergone several criticisms. Relation to the necessary truths and contingent truths[edit] Separation[edit] G.
Sense data Theory in the philosophy of perception The theory of sense data is a view in the philosophy of perception, popularly held in the early 20th century by philosophers such as Bertrand Russell, C. D. Broad, H. H. Price, A. Sense data are often placed in a time and/or causality series, such that they occur after the potential unreliability of our perceptual systems yet before the possibility of error during higher-level conceptual analysis and are thus incorrigible. Talk of sense-data has since been largely replaced by talk of the closely related qualia. Bertrand Russell heard the sound of his knuckles rapping his writing table, felt the table's hardness and saw its apparent colour (which he knew 'really' to be the brown of wood) change significantly under shifting lighting conditions. H. When we twist a coin it 'appears' to us as elliptical. Consider a reflection which appears to us in a mirror. The nature of sense data [edit] Abstract sense data "Sense data".
Developmental psychology Developmental psychology is the scientific study of changes that occur in human beings over the course of their life. Originally concerned with infants and children, the field has expanded to include adolescence, adult development, aging, and the entire lifespan. This field examines change across a broad range of topics including motor skills and other psycho-physiological processes; cognitive development involving areas such as problem solving, moral understanding, and conceptual understanding; language acquisition; social, personality, and emotional development; and self-concept and identity formation. Developmental psychology examines issues such as the extent of development through gradual accumulation of knowledge versus stage-like development—and the extent to which children are born with innate mental structures, versus learning through experience. Theories[edit] Attachment theory[edit] A child can be hindered in its natural tendency to form attachments. Constructivism[edit]
Phrase structure rules Rewrite rule used to describe a given language's syntax Definition and examples[edit] Phrase structure rules are usually of the following form: is separated into the two subconstituents and . Beginning with the sentence symbol S, and applying the phrase structure rules successively, finally applying replacement rules to substitute actual words for the abstract symbols, it is possible to generate many proper sentences of English (or whichever language the rules are specified for). Colorless green ideas sleep furiously This sentence was constructed by Noam Chomsky as an illustration that phrase structure rules are capable of generating syntactically correct but semantically incorrect sentences. A constituent is any word or combination of words that is dominated by a single node. Top down[edit] Alternative approaches[edit] Constituency vs. dependency[edit] Phrase structure rules as they are commonly employed result in a view of sentence structure that is constituency-based. See also[edit]
Language A mural in Teotihuacan, Mexico (c. 2nd century) depicting a person emitting a speech scroll from his mouth, symbolizing speech Language is the human capacity for acquiring and using complex systems of communication, and a language is any specific example of such a system. The scientific study of language is called linguistics. Languages evolve and diversify over time, and the history of their evolution can be reconstructed by comparing modern languages to determine which traits their ancestral languages must have had in order for the later developmental stages to occur. Definitions[edit] As an object of linguistic study, "language" has two primary meanings: an abstract concept, and a specific linguistic system, e.g. Mental faculty, organ or instinct[edit] One definition sees language primarily as the mental faculty that allows humans to undertake linguistic behaviour: to learn languages and to produce and understand utterances. Formal symbolic system[edit] Tool for communication[edit]
Linguistic prescription Linguistic prescription, or prescriptive grammar, is the attempt to lay down rules defining preferred or "correct" use of language.[1][2] These rules may address such linguistic aspects as spelling, pronunciation, vocabulary, syntax, and semantics. Sometimes informed by linguistic purism,[3] such normative practices may suggest that some usages are incorrect, improper, illogical, lack communicative effect, or are of low aesthetic value.[4] They may also include judgments on socially proper and politically correct language use. Linguistic prescriptivism may aim to establish a standard language, teach what a particular society perceives as a correct form, or advise on effective communication. If usage preferences are conservative, prescription might appear resistant to language change; if radical, it may produce neologisms.[5][page needed] Aims[edit] Linguistic prescription may also be used to advance a social or political ideology. Authority[edit] The Royal Spanish Academy, Madrid
Linguistic description Work of objectively describing a particular language All academic research in linguistics is descriptive; like all other scientific disciplines, it seeks to describe reality, without the bias of preconceived ideas about how it ought to be.[2][3][4][5] Modern descriptive linguistics is based on a structural approach to language, as exemplified in the work of Leonard Bloomfield and others.[6] This type of linguistics utilizes different methods in order to describe a language such as basic data collection, and different types of elicitation methods.[7] Descriptive versus prescriptive linguistics[edit] Linguistic description is often contrasted with linguistic prescription,[8] which is found especially in education and in publishing.[9][10] History of the discipline[edit] Even though more and more languages were discovered, the full diversity of language was not yet fully recognized. Methods[edit] The first critical step of language description is to collect data. Challenges[edit] See also[edit]
Pedagogical grammar A pedagogical grammar is a modern approach in linguistics intended to aid in teaching an additional language. Structure[edit] This method of teaching is divided into the descriptive: grammatical analysis, and the prescriptive: the articulation of a set of rules. Following an analysis of the context in which it is to be used, one grammatical form or arrangement of words will be determined to be the most appropriate.It helps in learning the grammar of foreign languages. Pedagogical grammars typically require rules that are definite, coherent, non-technical, cumulative and heuristic.[1] As the rules themselves accumulate, an axiomatic system is formed between the two languages that should then enable a native speaker of the first to learn the second.[2] References[edit] Jump up ^ Odlin, T., (ed.) Notes[edit]