Zooming In

October 24, 2005

Chapter 5 Meanings of Language

After reading this chapter, aptly titled, "Meanings of Language", I continue to learn that language has more and more and more meanings as I read on... more than I ever thought about, or would have ever thought even existed. I think it is very interesting, and complex, that there are so many different groups to classify certain words, and types of words, and phrases too, that are all different, yet can all overlap. Each category has its main point however, and understnding each one and their similarities and differences serves to provide further insight into language. We all use language all the time, subconciously, and as we learn more about it, we are made more aware of how amazing a thing it really is.

Posted by lcisthur at 12:51 AM | Comments (2)

September 26, 2005

Brain and Language... Question 3!

I must be ignorant; I always thought the Japanese language seemed rather difficult, but I had no idea that there were two completely different languages... let alone two different languages that used two completely different parts of your brain! I can't imagine trying to communicate with someone if I know one language, and they know the other. How frustrating must that get?!?

Okay, so the question for discussion:

As Kana is the phonetic language of the two, with spelling, and sounds, it is more like "language" as we think of and know it. The left side of the brain is predisposed for langauage from birth, and is better for processing verbal sounds and grammar concepts. There is plenty evidence of this from many tests and studies, including event-related-brain potential tests. Oh, and not to mention the demonstration of our brain having structured seperate facilities by Phineas Gage, the man who had a 4 foot iron rod through his head and still functioned, including language-wise, just fine!

Kanji, the symbolic Japanese language in which pictures represent words, would be processed by the right side of the brain instead. The right side has be found to be better in non-verbal, more visual processing, which includes pattern matching and recognizing faces.

Considering all this, if brain damage was to happen to someone on the left side, the Kana language would by far be more affected than the Kanji. If there was right side brain damage, the symbolic Kanji language would be much more affected.

Eeeesh!

Posted by lcisthur at 02:14 AM | Comments (0)

September 18, 2005

What is Language?

1. What is and what is not language? Why make a distinction?

Language is a complex system of communication. Linguistic knowledge is the ability to communicate any idea and the ability to understand the meaning of words, phrases, and sentences in a language.
Language is not the imitation of sounds or a response to external stimuli.
A distinction of what language is and is not is necessary because it emphasizes the difference between human language and animal instinct.

2. You might say I learned a new word today, but not "I learned a new sentence today." Why?

One is more likely to say “I learned a new word today” because it is much easier to register learning a new word than an entire sentence. (Especially because there are an infinite amount of sentences to be created and only so many words.)

Posted by lcisowens at 11:04 PM | Comments (0)

Language

What is and what is not language. Why make a distinction?

Language refers to the ability to express oneself in response to both internal and external stimuli and creatively, and is the means by which one can be understood by others who share the same language. As such we learn to recognize, understand and reproduce at will the building blocks that make meaning or that we associate with things and concepts, namely words/signs. We possess the ability to know how our language is constructed, how we string words/signs together to understand and communicate ideas and thoughts, always making new phrases and sentences depending on what we want to express.

Language is not a particular number of expressions or learnt responses that can be elicited only by stimuli either external or internal. While animals clearly communicate and display an often-unexpected ability to learn and comprehend, they do not posses language. They cannot, that we know of, take previously learnt expressions and combine them or develop them to express new ideas. They cannot learn the grammar or structure by which language is built and through which ever-changing thoughts and ideas are conveyed. There is therefore a distinction between this communication and the concept of language.

You might say that you learned a new word today, but not “I learned a new sentence today.” Why?

It is far more probable that someone would say they have learnt a new word. If indeed someone learns a whole sentence, perhaps to imitate a humorous movie character or a role model, they would still have memorized it by learning the combination of the words with which they associate certain meanings.

We associate meaning with words and thereby with sentences. We learn the rules or grammar of our language only once, after which we understand how to combine words into phrases and sentences and can do so without consciously thinking about it.

The beauty of language is that each individual chooses to combine different building blocks – words – to create sentences that express exactly what that person wishes to describe at that time. The ability to combine words into any number of sentences of any length gives us infinite possibilities especially because we are continually adding new words to our language and modifying existing ones.

~ Nanette Savides

Posted by lcissavides at 05:40 PM | Comments (1)

The Human Essence

What is and isn’t language and why make a distinction?

Language is understanding phonology, meaning (semantics), lexicon, body language (even sign language), expressions, and syntax in a way that the congregation of people who speak a certain language can understand. Language is tracking and understanding sub-consciously the changes over time. It is the ability to manipulate words to create sentences that flow and can create meaning and study by other language-users. It is the ability to use context to react to a phrase or sentence in order to get something done. Complexity develops communication but is not necessarily a requirement, as we see with toddlers. We must be able to understand our thoughts. The key to language is realizing that we think, to know that we can develop language and manipulate it. That is what separates us from the animals.

Making a distinction between what is and what is not language is important because we can learn other languages and adapt to cultures if we understand that something is a language. If something is not a language, there is little reason for the common man to bother learning it if it cannot be used to gain and prosper.

Why Not Say “I Learned a New Sentence?”

We cannot say “I learned a new sentence today” because it is rare to reuse another person’s sentence. We hear and create meaning from “new sentences” but almost every sentence we hear is arranged in a way that we have never heard before. It is our understanding of our language that allows us to say that we learned a new word because with that new word we can create unique sentences that others will understand. Words are the building blocks of language; therefore learning a new word makes language more complex and we can create more meaning for the ones that hear us. It is of more value to learn (and know we learned) a new word.

-jessica Yeich

Posted by lcisyeich at 03:40 PM | Comments (1)

language

1. What is Language?

Language is an established method used to express one’s mind. Through language, people are able to understand each other’s imagination. Human beings must learn language, the system of communication, to improve within the society. It consists of thousands of words, sets of grammars written in the books and dictionaries, and unwritten grammars that people mechanically produce. It is not enough to learn grammars and words to understand and speak the language. Why do some people travel over the border to learn language? After learning the meanings of words and grammars, the hardest part of learning language develops, to receive and to produce correct responses to the speaker. As a result, either pleasant or uncomfortable contact rises, but we all try to develop friendly society while making efforts to fully communicate with one another.

1. Why learn a word not a sentence?

Why do I say I learned a new word today but not a sentence? Let’s assume that I learned a new word today, which spells out T-A-B-L-E. I never heard this word before. The table is a flat surface made out of various materials to place object(s) on it. Why the previous sentence is not new to me, but the word table is new to my imagination and a little storage in my brain? I seem to recognize most of the words, except the table. So, I learned a new word today, not a new sentence. By the way, I did learn the word table, when I was six in daycare.

Zaya

Posted by lcisbold at 03:33 PM | Comments (0)

Questions

What and what is not language. Why make a distinction?

Language is an organized set of sounds (or signs as in ASL) that convey emotions and thoughts directly from the brain and when produced can be understood by another human (or animal). Language has to be universalized within a group of people so as to be understood by everyone within that group. What is not language is emitting sounds or words not known or understood by the speaker, such as the book references talking parrots. Animals may have a set of sounds they use for communicating basic emotions and ideas of anger, fear, territory and food but it is very limited and they do not create new sounds for more complex emotions.

You might say that you learned a new word today, but not “I learned a new sentence today.” Why? /Equally probable?

I think this question could really go either way. I know that if I am learning a new language, I tend to learn in both phrases or sentences and words. One of the very first pieces of French I learned was “Je m’appelle Freya” and was then told in English this meant “I am called Freya.” From there I could deduce ‘je’ is I and ‘m’appelle’ translates to ‘am called.’ I did not first learn the meanings of each separate word. A fair amount of my French lessons were taught in this fashion. Learn phrase/sentence; learn meaning of sentence; learn meaning of words. However, on the same note I was also taught the meaning of individual nouns, verbs, and adjectives in addition to whole sentences. Learning a foreign language is a mixture of learning new words and learning new sentences. Though I believe this to be true for foreign languages, I don’t believe it to be true for learning in my primary language, English. I already have a very extensive knowledge of English and therefore learning a new sentence is improbable. Generally when we learn a new word in our native language it is a noun, verb, adjective, or adverb. We do not learn pronouns or prepositions because there is a very small amount of them and they have been installed in our brains for a very long time. Accordingly, a sentence must have either a pronoun or noun and prepositions for it to make sense to us. For example; if I read the sentence “He is a cuckold.” in English I would indefinitely understand the words ‘he’, ‘is’, and ‘a’ because they are simple words I have known all my life though I might not know the meaning of ‘cuckold’ because it is a rather obsolete and unused word used in everyday conversation. Therefore I would not have learned a new sentence but a new word, “cuckold.”

Posted by lcisfreya at 03:18 PM | Comments (4)

What is language?

Language could be said to be the most important things that we have as human beings. Language allows us basic communication with each other as well as "more cultural" activities such as reading and writing. Without language, who knows what the world would be like? It would most certainly be a place of misunderstanding and unnecessary violence..if we still existed at all. All animals have ways of communicating with each other, and although ours seems to be more complex, it still serves the same basic function: to be able to communicate with each other. Language is also grammar and sentences and rules, but I think the most important thing about it is that it gives us some way to understand each other and be able to relate to one another.

You are much more likely to learn a new word than you are to learn an entire new sentence. A word is simply that, just one word, but a sentence consists of multiple words. People don't usually learn new sentences, they learn new words that enable them to create their own new sentences. I think people are learning new words everywhere they go, because language is all around you, on tv, the newspaper, the radio...it is so easy to see a new word that you don't know and learn what it means, but when are you ever going to see an entire sentence of words you don't know?

Posted by lcismardin at 03:15 PM | Comments (1)

Language

1.)Language is an amazing thing. It is the construct of the human race and for animals as well. Language is knowing sounds, meaning, words, symbols, hand motions, or expressions and putting them all together to create sentences and meaning that one group of people or animals can fully understand. Language is a shared thing between a group that creates who they are. Without language we wouldn't know how to communicate, and without communication, there would be no world today. The wolf in question number seven does definietly have a language similar to a human's. We use words, or for some expressions or hand motions, and the wolves use positions of their bodies. If other wolves can understand them and they are communicating with eachother, then yes, they are using language. However, in question number eight, I don't believe that these words being used as cues is teaching a dog a language. I would say it's teaching a dog the English language, which he will eventually become familiar with, and respond to the words. However, they are only words and meanings that he is learning and language is made up of more than words and meanings.

Language is not just mumble jumble. It is a big deal to people and animals everywhere. It isn't just words put together because they sound nice, or gestures followed by one another because they look good, it is the way of life for people and animals.

2.)I don't think the statements "I learned a new word today" and "I learned a new sentence today" are equally probable. A person can learn a new word in a day because they continually hear words they don't know whether it is on television, the radio, by a person they walked by in the street. But to leanr a new sentence I don't think makes sense. You put words together every day to make sentences and most of the sentences you make, you probably didn't hear before. Every sentence is unique and is created differently. IF you write and essay on a topic, you don't go to a sentence dictionary to look for sentences that are relevant to your topic. You just write, you creat new sentences, and these sentences are probably new sentences. But you didn't learn them, you made them.

Posted by lcisnelson at 12:24 PM | Comments (1)

September 17, 2005

What is Language?

Language is classified as a form of communication that occurs among different cultures throughout the human race, and different species among animals. Language is composed of the knowledge of linguistics, the knowledge of sounds, and also the knowledge of words. All of these components are crucial to the understanding of language and its innerworkings. Without the capacity to produce these qualities, language would be difficult to comprehend. Languages are very creative and unique in their structure, but they are also very complex. The complexity of language is absorbed by young children who are later able to understand its rules.

The complexity of language, however, cannot be understood by animals. Even though there are some animals like parrots that are able to repeat human words in different languages, or dogs who are able to respond to commands in different languages, that does not mean that they are able to comprehend the grammatical rules of human language. They are able to absorb words and produce responses as a result, but humans should not consider that to mean that animals can understand human language.

Learning New Words vs. Learning New Sentences

The sentences "I learned a new word today" and "I learned a new sentence today" are not equally probable. This is because it is more difficult to learn a new sentence than a new word. You can learn a new word everyday, because they are constantly being made up and different people use different words to express emotion, or to describe something.

There are certain environments where certain words should be used. For example, when I am with my friends and I am in a more relaxed environment, I may use words such as "like" when I am explaining something or "whoa" when something seems strange or is completely out of proportion.

When I first came to Boston, I had never heard of the word "wicked" or thought that anyone use the word "sketchy". Even though I know what these words are meant to describe. I don't use them myself and consider them to be foreign, just as if someone was learning the slang of a foreign language. This has to do with regional location, but on a broader range new words can be learned constantly through the media.

Learning a new sentence is more difficult than words, because I do not spend time memorizing numerous sentences in books that I read or in conversations with other people. The only opportunity that I have had to memorize sentences has been when I have wanted to memorize quotes that were significant from a book. Also I find myself recalling phrases from people who have told me empowering things and its just stayed with me forever.

-Yasmin

Posted by lcisperez at 07:13 PM | Comments (3)

What is Language?

What is and what is not language? Why make a distinction?

My definition of language is a means of communication that both parties involved understand and can reciprocate in some way. In the case of the wolf in question number seven, I would say that this is an example of language because all of the wolfs would be able to understand and convey their emotions through the position of the tail. However, in question number eight, this is not language because the dog cannot talk back to the human and have the human understand. There is a distinction in what is language and what is not language because language is a very complicated thing.

You might say that you learned a new word today, but not I learned a new sentence today. Why?

These two statements are not equally probable. It is more likely to learn a new word than a new sentence because there are so many possibilities of sentences. Learning a new sentence will not apply as much as learning a new word would in specific situations. For example, if you learn a new word, then you can apply it in numerous situations, but learning a new sentence will not apply in as many situations. Therefore it is more logical to learn new words instead of new sentences and that is why it is more probable to learn new words.

-Jessica F.

Posted by lcisfaria at 04:17 PM | Comments (2)

September 15, 2005

Language

What is language?

Language is a shared extensive collection of words with meaning made up of individual sounds, used as a way to communicate. To understand one's language, one must be able to read, write, and speak it, as well as be able to apply the grammar. Each word has a meaning behind it that the sounds represent, and being able to interpret these meanings are also part of language. What makes the distinction? Humans use language to express their feelings and thoughts. Naturally, humans want to share and connect with each other, and are intelligent enough to do so. This is why I believe we have such a complex communication system in relation to the other creatures of the earth.

Learning a Sentence vs. a Word?

Saying that you learned a new sentence today just doesn't make sense. It is much more likely that someone would say that he learned a new word. Sentences are created with a collection of chosen words using knowledge and creativity. You must know words to learn, write, or make a sentence. If you wrote a new sentence, it must be based on words that you already knew. I think "create" a new sentence makes more sense that "learn".

Posted by lcishagan at 11:00 PM | Comments (0)

September 13, 2005

Language

What is and what is not language? Why make a distinction?

(7-9) To simplify, a language is comprised of words, meaning a certain vocabulary, and grammar. It can include hand motions, gestures, noises, and specific pronunciations. A language is used to communicate with another being that has knowledge of the same language in order to express emotions, views, beliefs, etc. A language is not words, signs, symbols, noises, etc. tied together without meaning; these parts of language have to possess a certain value or purpose. A language is not just based upon an external or internal stimulus that forces one to converse, but it is an unconscious act. When one has a thought, language is automatically available in any sort of form. Languages, though, may change over time, but general rules for expression of thoughts are maintained and followed. It is important to make a distinction between what is and is not language because we have to establish some basis on what we, as humans listen to and believe. For example, if a human said that a car told him or her to steal jewelry when it screeched its wheels, any normal sensible person would quickly realize that cars do not have their own language and therefore, cannot converse with a human being.

You might say that you learned a new word today, but not “I learned a new sentence today.” Why?

(5) Technically, we all learn a new sentence everyday, and we all construct a new sentence everyday whether in writing, in reading, or in speaking. This is an interesting fact that I have never pondered. I believe that we don’t say that “I learned a new sentence today” because we take our own ability to create sentences for granted. We never stop to analyze what we have said. Contrary to the fact that we never say we have learned a new sentence, I feel as though I have. I possess a small quote book in which I write many different sayings and quotes that are especially valuable and priceless to me. A wide variety of these quotes are just sentences that have inspired me or made me sit and think about the way I life my life. So, in a sense, this question does not relate to me. To conclude, I believe that it is easier to remember a new word that one has found, than a new sentence. Also, the number of words in our language has a limit while the number of sentences that can be made from these words are limitless.

Posted by lcisgancarz at 08:31 PM | Comments (0)

Questions from Fromkin

1. Knowing a language is not just knowing the sounds of that language, or knowing how to combine those sounds to form words, or knowing how to combine those words to form thoughts and sentences, but it is a combination of all three. Language is an infinite form of expression that allows humans to be as creative as we want to be. The most important concept to take from the reading in Chapter One is that in language there are no limits. Language allows us to expess ourselves using both old and new sentences, as well as allows us to understand sentences that we have never heard before in our lives. When it comes to language, only so much can be taught. The rest is learnt subconsciously so that it often times feels like we can talk and communicate to others without really thinking.

Question # 7 in the Fromkin book proposes that if a wolf were able to express one thousand different emotions through the positions of his ears (instead of the mere 11 that they are actually able to express), would this be considered a language. Since there is a limit to how many expressions the wolf can make, this would not be a language. This would merely be a system of individual memorizations, but it would not allow for any creativity on the wolf's part, and therefore it would not qualify as a language. It is important to distinguish a scenario like this from actual language because it is literally what separates humans from all other animals. Our ability to understand and use a language, rather than just communicate through a series of memorized expressions, sets us apart and therefore needs to be distinguished.

2.

It is possible to learn a new word in one day because each person has a specific lexicon that does not include certain words. A word is just a sound or composition of sounds that represents a certain concept or meaning. So one could memorize a word and then attach that word to a meaning, and could say at the end of the day that they learned a new word. However, knowing a language does not mean that one can memorize a sentence. Most of the sentences a person comes across are new to them, but they are able to understand these sentences and create new sentences of their own becuase of the creative aspect of language. If the brain had to memorize every single different sentence a person hears, then that person would run out of memory and eventually start forgetting things. Forming sentences is where the creativity of language comes in, so the number of sentences that can be formed is practically infinite. You hear new sentences everyday, but you do not learn new sentences.

Posted by lcissullivan at 06:10 PM | Comments (1)

September 12, 2005

What is language?

1. First off, chapter one was very interesting and definitely broadened my idea of what language truly is. Language is the source of life and power. Language is the ability to communicate (speak) and be understood by others that know the language. This means that we have the capacity to produce sounds that signify certain meanings and to understand or interpret the sounds produced by others. Part of this interpretation of sounds has to do with the sound system and being able to differentiate the sounds that are produced in our own language. This is an unconscious knowledge and is evident in the way Americans pronounce some foreign words with English sounds (instead of French, for example). There are also some things that do not qualify as language. For example, most animals do not have language skills but have some sort of "signaling" communication system which is basically a limited and fixed response to both internal and external stimuli. Since there is usually only one meaning in the gestural languages of animals, it is not language.

2. It is more probable to say that a new word was learned because we are constantly learning new words and implementing them into our vocabulary. Also, according to the text, we have all the tools we need to create sentences although we may not always hear or use them. Knowing a language means being able to produce and understand new sentences that have never been heard before. The linguistic capabilities of the brain is expansive, and the knowledge enables us to combine words from our vocabulary to form phrases and vice versa.

Posted by lcissearls at 10:34 PM | Comments (0)

September 10, 2005

What Is Language?

This entire chapter seemed to be hinting at the question "What Is Language?" and I definetely think it is a difficult thing to define. Certainly, I could give a textbook answer, but I think language is so much more complex than that. I really enjoyed the questions at the end of this chapter because they made me think about what I had just read in a fun, creative way. I definetely think that for something to be language, the individual producing it has to be capable of producing unique, new language. Language that is just regurgitated and spit out is certainly not language, it is simply that--regurgitation. However, I am not as adamant as our text book in distinguishing the difference between language and "not language". I understand the texts' reasons for doing so, yet I do not agree with them. I think that language is whatever you make of it. If an animal is able to communicate with a series of "tale-wags", then all the more power to it. In the same way, I think that language must be defined seperately for each species. The differences between animals and humans are so complex that I do not think we can compare language.
As far as the next discussion question, I do not think the two statements are equally probable. I think the statement "I learned a new word today" makes much more sense because the individual saying it is acknowledging that they acquired a new word that was not in their vocabulary previously. The statement "I learned a new sentence" makes less sense because the individual already had the components for that sentence in their head, they had just not combined them in this unique way yet.

Posted by lciscotis at 09:45 PM | Comments (0)

September 09, 2005

Chapter 1: What is Language? (?!?!?)

QUESTION 1) Language... what is it? I don't believe there is any one correct answer. In fact, I'm certain of that, and think that was a large point of this chapter! Language is something that is amazingly unique to man, which makes it one of the most important factors to distinguish us from the animal kingdom. Language seems like a universal connection between all people of the world; people of the past, people all over the planet right now, and of people to come. It is simply biological that every human, no matter where they are, no matter what language they speak, no matter if they can hear or not - is able to learn any language. There are so many languages all over the world, that all change over time, yet there is not one that is superior or inferior to another. All languages can express the same thing, but in their own words, with their own rules of grammar. Language, as far as animals are concerned, is a totally different story, and perhaps not a case of language at all. Even if an animal could express hundreds of emotions and responses by physical gestures or pre-determined sounds, it is not language. There is no creativity and no variation. In human language, we do not have any limits when it comes to being able to express ourselves; we can use as many different words as we want, just in one sentence alone. Many people use language that is considered ungrammatical, everyday and without thought. Some argue that this is "incorrect" language, and push the proper form suppported by grammatical rules. ("Prescriptive grammar") Others may argue that the "ungrammatical" language is just a demonstration of humans using what they know about their language, and is not in any way wrong. Language is constantly, and always has been, changing, and there are always different dialects -but one is not superior over another. Therefore, as this one side would argue, this is "descriptive grammar", and should not be deemed wrong by another person.

QUESTION 2) Although hard to say, I think it is more probable that I learned a "new word" today instead of a "new sentence". Vocabulary can never be one hundred percent complete, and has to be learned, whereas a person can make many different sentences, never heard before, in their heads, without having to learn them.

Posted by lcisthur at 01:07 AM | Comments (0)

September 07, 2005

Let's see if this works for me...

Hey everybody, hope we all can manage this high-tech computer blogging!

An extended entry...

Posted by lcisthur at 12:17 PM | Comments (0)

testing hmwk 1

To post entries in more than one category (e.g. under the assignment category like "What is Language" and also under your own name), you must a) write the entry b) assign a primary category (drop down box top right) c) w/ post status as "draft", save your post d) go back to the top of the entry page and notice that there's a link under primary category now that says "Assign multiple categories". e)click on that link and assign your secondary category, e.g. I did mine as Nanette. f) Now, just have to publish and save.

Posted by lcisnanette at 10:20 AM | Comments (0)