Language is essential to: -communicate in detail - -share knowledge with others - -create community - -share intellectual division of labor - -advance as a species
What is Language? uniquely human sent and received arranged according to rules creative and open-ended symbolic
Be creative using language - 1) Make up a meaningful sentence that you think has never been written before 2) Invent 5 words that have never existed in English and teach them to us 3)Design a word using graphemes (squiggles/symbols) and translate into English 4)Translate this famous nonsense poem into English: 1)Twas brillig, and the slithy toves 2) Did gyre and gimble in the wabe: 3)All mimsy were the borogroves 4)And the mome raths outgrabe.
THEORIES OF LANGUAGE: 1) DEFINITION THEORY - words must be defined according to a commonly accepted meaning (dictionary) 1) PROBLEMS: Can all words be properly defined? Are dictionary definitions precise? 2)Try defining the following words: 1)Table 2)Love 3)Red
THEORIES OF LANGUAGE: 1) DENOTATION THEORY - words must have meaning - refer to something that exists 1) PROBLEMS: What about emotional or philosophical words? 2)Try defining the following words: 1)Freedom 2)Wisdom
THEORIES OF LANGUAGE: 1) IMAGE THEORY - the meaning of a word is the mental image that it creates (nonsense words, or just repeating sounds don t create mental images) 1) PROBLEMS: Can you be sure someone else has a similar mental image? 2)Try thinking of a word that doesn t create a mental image.
THEORIES OF LANGUAGE: 1) KNOW-HOW (PRACTICE) THEORY - the meaning of a word is something you must learn how to use correctly 1) PROBLEMS: Could a robot learn to use language appropriately? 2) Think of three red items - can you use the word red in a way that we all understand?
1) Language is AMBIGUOUS - due to VAGUENESS, SECONDARY MEANING, METAPHOR, & IRONY 2) Language requires knowledge & context 3)Language is constantly changing and evolving 4) Physical factors can impede learning, processing, remembering and producing language (DYSGRAPHIA, DYSLEXIA, BLINDNESS, DEAFNESS, ALZHEIMER S DISEASE, BRAIN TRAUMA ETC.)
1) VAGUENESS - some words are vague and only context/ explanation can define them Can you think of 3 VAGUE words? ( fast...) Write down a figure for these questions: 1) John lives close to the school. How near does he live 2) Janet is a heavy smoker. How much does she smoke 3) The man is middle aged. How old is he? 4) She earns a lot of money. How much does she make? Do vague words serve a purpose? Should we get rid of them?
1) SECONDARY MEANINGS- some words have a PRIMARY MEANING (DENOTATION) and a SECONDARY MEANING (CONNOTATION - a personal meaning usage, the web of words connected to the main word) People often have different CONNOTATIONS (emotional connections/meanings) to some words. Think of peace. Does it mean the same thing to a kid (boring?), a soldier (safety?), a zen monk (enlightenment?) 1) Come up with the DENOTATION (main word) for the following CONNOTATIONS: 1) throw up, heave, regurgitate 2) slender, skinny, undernourished 3) flatter, commend, kiss up to 4) stench, fragrance, perfume, 5) hyper, spirited, bouncing off the walls, pumped up
1) AMBIGUITY - some words are not clear because of double meanings Can you think of 3 words or phrases that have more than one meaning? ( cool...) ( hangs around the house ) Each of these sentences is ambiguous. Please define 2 meanings: 1) Refuse to be put in the waste basket. 2) Flying planes can be dangerous. 3) As the girl entered the room I saw her duck. 4) The class wanted to hear Mr. Bowe sing very badly. Do people ever use ambiguity on purpose? Who? When? Why?
1) AMBIGUITY - some words are not clear because of double meanings A baby seal walks into a club... Panda mating fails...veterinarian takes over Iraqi head seeks arms Bus driver says children should be belted Obesity scientists seek larger test group Cars kill 100 each day; let s resolve to do better
1) METAPHORS- some words are shown through comparisons. These comparisons have a LITERAL (actual) meaning, and a METAPHORICAL (accepted by culture) meaning. 1) Define the LITERAL (real, word) meaning and the METAPHORICAL (secondary but intended) meaning for the following METAPHORS: 1) Granny passed away last night 2) She has her head in the clouds 3) We killed ASD in the game last night 4) My dentist is a butcher 5) The Russian put down roots in Africa. 6) No man is an island 2) Very common metaphors are called dead metaphors. Here are a few: nightfall, a sharp tongue, a chair leg. Can you think of 3 more?
1) METAPHORS- some words are shown through comparisons (essentially word pictures ) 2) Metaphors are very common! Find the metaphors (words/ phrases that are picture-like connections) in this piece of text: Final frantic run for health care Unpredictable Massachusetts Senate race gives urgency to health care talks with end in sight WASHINGTON (AP) -- Like a roller-coaster ride on its last twisting turns, President Barack Obama's campaign to remake health care is barreling into final days of breathless suspense and headlong momentum. Democrats -- led by Obama himself -- are deploying this weekend to salvage an unpredictable Senate race in Massachusetts, while senior White House and congressional staffers in Washington hurry to finish work on cost and coverage options at the heart of the sweeping legislation.
1) IRONY some words are used to mean THE OPPOSITE of what is meant. SARCASM is a common form of this. What context knowledge is needed to understand the following statments in a LITERAL or an IRONIC way Nice weather, eh? She s a real beauty Any more bright ideas, Einstein? Thanks a lot!
1) Why should we care about the precise meaning of words? What situations could you be in where the precise meaning of the word could be ESSENTIAL to your happiness, or survival even? (Examples - manslaughter vs. murder) (terrorist vs. patriot) Come up with three more examples/ situations for yourself!
1) Why should we care about the precise meaning of words? Words have a hidden value (feeling)! (come up with more examples) Man words - positive (command, manners) Animal words - negative (beast, ass) Black (race) words - negative (black day)