Language and Speech

Jaap Murre

Introduction

Language: A symbolic means of communication that is shared by several individuals

Introduction

Language: A symbolic means of communication that is shared by several individuals Symbolic: words symbolise or represent

ideas and concepts (is or is music not a language?)

Communication: thoughts -> public message

(can a language-of-thought exist?) Shared: known to more than 1 user

(is this necessary?)

Introduction

Universals of language Semanticity

speech sounds convey meaning (compare snoring, coughing, etc.)

Introduction

Universals of language Arbitrariness

Symbols of language (letters & sounds -> words) have no direct relationship with the meaning they convey

De Saussure’s principle of the arbitrariness of linguistic signs (symbols)

Ferdinand de Sausssure (1857-1913), Swiss Founder of Modern Linguistics

From de Saussure’s Course in General Linguistics (1916), on the nature of the Linguistic Sign

“The linguistic sign unites, not a thing and a name, but a concept and a sound-image. The latter is not a material sound, a purely physical thing, but the psychological imprint of the sound, the impression it makes on our senses.” (p.66)

Generalization of the sign beyond the verbal domain

I propose to retain the word sign [signe] to designate the whole and to replace concept and sound-image respectively by signified [signifié] and signifier [signifiant]; … (p.67)

Principle: The Arbitrary Nature of the Sign

“The bond between the signifier and the signified is arbitrary” (p.67)

“… the individual does not have the power to change a sign in any way once it has become established in the linguistic community…” (p.69)

Potential problems for psychology

Categories in the brain are also determined by regularities in the perceived world and by the brain’s architecture: They are not arbitrary (symbols/signs are)

Language (in the Saussurian sense) thus puts arbitrary labels (i.e., words) on non-arbitrary categories

Introduction

Universals of language Flexibility

Connection between a word and its meaning is not fixed.

Novel words (neologisms) Other word for the same concept

Introduction

Universals of language Name giving

With language you can name anything Objects Feelings Ideas

Introduction

Universals of language Displacement

Language allows communication about events that are not currently taking place

It also allows communication in the absence of the speaker (long afterwards)

Introduction

Universals of language Productivity

Language is generative With a small number of words and grammatical

rules, one can generate an infinite number of utterances

Phonology (part of linguistics)

and phonetics: the science of speaking and hearing

What is speech?

Speech are modulated wave forms that are produced by a source (lungs and glottis) and filtered by the vocal tract and lips and cheeks

Phoneme: Basic unit from which spoken language is

composed Phoneme is determined by:

Place of articulation Manner of articulation Voicing

Speech production

Speech perception is very difficult

Phonology

Studies how speech sounds are structured, and the rules are with which they can be combined

Phonology

Speech production Speech is not just a string of phonemes

Pronounced phonemes vary considerably, depending on the proceeding and following sounds Coarticulation Problem of invariance

Phonology

Phonemic competence (knowledge of phonotactics) Language users know which orders of

phonemes are allowed and which are not ‘rops’ vs ‘rpos’

This knowledge typically remains implicit

Phonology

Speech production Slips of the tongue (Spoonerisms)

The Lord is a shoving leopard Can I sew you to another sheet?

Substitution (usually an anticipation)1. een drup op de knop (druk)2. iemand feliciferen (feliciteren)Exchange3. ik weer niet meeg (weeg/meer)4. hij speelt holosoorn (solohoorn)Addition5. vier vlazen bloemen (vazen)6. die lepel bloven je bord (boven)

Phonology

Speech perception: two problems Problem of invariance

Coarticulation Speaker differences

Words are not neatly segmented (e.g., by pauses)

Phonology Categorical perception:

Despite many gradual differences between phonemes, they tend to be perceived as absolutely different (in apparently very different categories)

All-or-nothing principle: a speech sound is either a /b/ or a /d/ or a /g/

Phonology Categorical perception

Phonology

Speech perception is partially a bottom-up process Within a word

Phonemic restoration effect (see http://www.psychology.sunysb.edu/asamuel-/frame/framehome.html for demo)

Also within a sentence

Syntax

Chomky’s generative linguistics

What is language?

De Saussure distinguished ‘langue’ from ‘parole’

Chomsky distinguished ‘competence’ from ‘performance’

Chomsky strongly defended the idea of the innateness of language

Noam Chomsky, 1928-

Syntax (sentence structure) is hierarchical

Syntax

Chomsky’s Phrase structure grammar (derived from semi-Thue

systemen) Generative grammar

A complete grammar must generate all possible sentences and no non-grammatical sentences

Starting point: syntax (niet meaning!)

Axel Thue (1863-1922)

Syntax

Syntax: sentence structure A set of rules for constructing

language utterances Relationship between words in a sentence Word order Phrase order

Syntax

Chomsky’s Phrase structure grammar S: sentence D: determiner (lidwoord) V: verb (werkwoord) N: noun (zelfstandig naamwoord) P: proposition (voorzetsel) VP: verb phrase NP: noun phrase PP: propositional phrase

Syntax Phrase structure rulesDe docent pakte het boek uit de kast(The teacher took the book from the shelves)

s

NP VP

V NP PPD N

ND

NP

P

de docentpakte

het boek

uit

de kast

ND

Syntax

Lexical insertion rules: Which words go where?

De docent geeft het boek aan de student

De docent slaapt het boek aan de student

Syntax

Phrase structure rules

LexiconLexical

insertion rules

Syntax

Phrase structure rules

LexiconLexical

insertion rules

Transformational component

Surface structure

Deep structureSemantic

component

Semantic representatio

n

Syntax

Surface structure {De docent pakte het boek uit de kast}

Deep structure {(docent pakt boek uit kast)}

Het boek werd door de docent uit de kast gepakt Pakte de docent het boek uit de kast?

The essence of grammar is recursion

Simple grammar

G = {N,V,S,P}

S aSaS bSbS c

E.g., c, aca, bcb, aacaa, aabacabaa

S aSa aaSaa aabSbaa aabaSabaa aabacabaa

The man lit his awful cigar

The man that you thought was old lit his awful cigar

The man that you thought that your mother had seen lit his awful cigar

et cetera

It allows an infinite number of sentences to be generated by just a few rules

Where does language come from?

Certain aspects of the development of language and thought appear to be universal in that they

(i) preceed any learning by the individual (ii) are found in all individuals in the same way

These universalia are often of a deep and abstract nature

It is not known at present how they are respresented in the brain, or how they emerge from brain organization

More general: universal constraints in thought development

Spelke shows that from a very early age, infants know about the continuity and solidity of objects

These constraints lie at the core of the developmental learning system

It is not clear how these are represented in the brain or how they emerge

Semantics

Near-misses in meaning

Bangkok dry-cleaning: “Drop your pants here for best results”

Oslo bar: “Ladies are requested not to have children in the bar”

Paris hotel: “Please, leave your values at the desk”

Copenhagen airline office: “We take your bags and send them in all directions”

Van concept naar spraak

Very complicated transformation take place during speaking

A conceptual representation is a network of neurons that fire with a complex associative correlational pattern

This conceptual-semantic pattern is transformed into a hierarchical syntactic pattern

This pattern is transformed into a serial speech pattern

Meaning in Chomsky’s model

Colorless green ideas sleep furiouslyDe kachel geeft de beslissing een droom

Both sentences are grammatically correct but meaningless

or are they?

Willem Levelt’s model of speech production and perception

Semantics

Meaning Step 1: meaning of individual words Step 2: meaning of a sentence

Semantiek

Meaning of individual words Must be retrieved from memory Mental Lexicon: a mental dictionary ->

long-term memory Morphemes: smalles unit that still

carries a meaning Onjuist {on}-{juist} disproportionate {dis}{proportion}{ate}

Language in the brain

                                                                   

Language in the brain

Wernicke’s aphasia: By Karl Wernicke in 1873 fluent speech confused speech understanding impaired

Wernicke’s afasie

Examiner: What kind of work have you done?

Patient: We, the kids, all of us, and I, we were working for a long time in the ... you know ... it's the kind of space, I mean place rear to the spedawn ...

Examiner: Excuse me, but I wanted to know what work you have been doing.

Patient: If you had said that, we had said that, poomer, near the fortunate, porpunate, tamppoo, all around the fourth of martz. Oh, I get all confused.

Language in the brain Wernicke’s aphasia: Damage to the

brain in the parietal/temporal region in the left hemisphere

Language in the brain

Broca’s aphasia: By Paul Broca in 1861 intelligence normal understanding normal production severely impaired

Broca’s afasie

"Yes ... Monday ... Dad, and Dad ... hospital, and ... Wednesday, Wednesday, nine o'clock and ... Thursday, ten o'clock ... doctors, two, two ... doctors and ... teeth, yah. And a doctor ... girl, and gums, and I."

  "Me ... build-ing ... chairs, no, no cab-in-ets.

One, saw ... then, cutting wood ... working ..."

Language in the brain

Broca’s aphasia: Damage to left hemisphere, where the

frontal, parietal, and temporal lobes meet

Language in the brain

Wernicke’s area -> semantics

Broca’s area -> syntax