Week1-2Human Language Versus Other 'Languages'

来源：互联网发布：js遍历数组里的对象编辑：程序博客网时间：2024/05/21 19:21

Question

Does every human being have a language?

We use language

to communicate ideas
to think
to show who we are

Language?

computer programming language
language of flowers
language of music

Important

Native speaker
One can speak about everything
Recognized by a group as their language

Question

Is speech a characteristic of human language?
What about deaf people?
What about sign language?

Similarities of sign language

System
Just like spoken languages
Variation
Functionality
Native speakers

People without languages

Are there people without language?

Wolf children: children growing up without parents or language
There is physical and psychological abuse
Aphasia: the partial loss of language abilities as a result of brain damage

Evolution of language

Continuity-based theories
Discontinuity-based theories

Summary

Strong link between being human and using languages. Almost every human being uses language, even deaf people. Those few people who don’t have languages live in very exceptional circumstances.

Being human = using language

0 0