The hierarchical nature of language
consider the following passage:
how do we understand a given sentence in that passage
Discourse (context) level
sentence level
word level
morpheme level
phoneme level
sentence level:
-syntax (word order)
-semantic (meaning)
-pragmatics (how used)
languate as a social phenomenon;
-example Grice and the rules of communication
-the cooperative principle
-speaker intends to inform a listener
-listener infers what the speaker intends
to do this some rules (maxims) are necessary
-
Say no more than is necessary
-
be truthful
-
Be relevant
-
Strive for clarity of expression
consider the following exchange (mother and daughter, on phone)
M: did you have good time last night
D: great! We didn't get back until quite late
M: we?
D: ahh, yeah, Jim stayed over here it was so late
M: where did he sleep
D: we have a couch in the living room
language as a biological phenomenon:
-example: aphasia
-example: species specific?
what makes language unique (relative to other communication devices)
Hockeft and design features:
include:
generativeness (creativity)
not tied to the here-and-now
-semanticity
-arbitrariness
prevarication
-message can be false or logically meaningless
-note; suggests THEORY OF MIND
Psych
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