Linguistic Universals

Two major scientific disciplines study language and how it is used.

Linguistics : focuses on the structure of language.

Psycholinguistics : Focuses on how people use language to communicate.

Defining Language :

Dictionary Definition of Language : the expression or communication of thoughts and feelings by means of sounds, or combinations of sounds, to which meaning is attributed.

Psychological Definition of Language :

A shared symbolic system for communication.

Hockett’s Linguistic Universals

Hockett (1960, 1961) was interested in what commonalties existed across all spoken human languages.

Hockett did not focus on written language, as that is a recent (evolutionary) phenomenon and not found in all cultures.

Hockett’s list included 13 universal features he felt were present in all spoken language systems on earth.

4 of his original 13 are still thought to be essential in defining language, many other factors he named are now recognized as "design features" of language, rather than basic essentials.

Two additional universal characteristics not mentioned by Hockett are also of great importance.

The Major 6 Linguistic Universals

1. Semanticity : Linguistic utterences, whether simple phrases or complete sentences, convey meaning, convey meaning by means of the symbols we use to form the utterances.

All language conveys some meaning.

There are also nonspeech sounds, called paralinguistics, which can also convey meaning : Coughing, for example.

2. Arbitrariness : There is no inherent connection between sounds (or words) and there meanings or physical referents.

If we called a chair a "combido" or a "gitwo"

We could still convey the same meaning.

Because language is arbitrary, learning the connections between the symbols we use to convey meaning is essential for language comprehension and production.

One small class of words which seems to somewhat transgress this idea of arbitrariness is words which sound like their meaning, i.e. onomatopoeia : hum, buzz, zoom.

However, the written symbols which represent these words are still arbitrary.

3. Flexibility of Symbols : Because language is arbitrary, we can change the assignation of linguistic symbols. As long as we translate our new linguistic symbol to the group of people we want to communicate with, meaning will be preserved.

By way of contrast, in Iconic Symbol Systems , there is a one-to-one mapping from symbol to meaning that can not be changed.

4. Naming : we can assign linguistic labels to physical objects, feelings, emotions, and abstract terminology. Language constantly evolves as we discover new concepts and invent new things.

"I rebooted my SCSI (‘scuzzy’) Drive"

This is a sentence which would have been unintelligible in 1970, but is perfectly understandable today.

Human language is dynamic and evolving.

This idea is central to the language universal of :

5. Productivity : We can use language to say things no one has ever said before, or state previous idea in a new form.

The fact that we can generate novel thoughts and ideas shows the great utility of language. Language evolves to fit the needs of the culture within a specific era (milieu, zeitgeist).

6. Displacement : One of the key linguistic universals, language allows us to live with a past, present, and future.

We can discuss things that took place days, weeks, years, eons ago and can also discuss the future.

Displacement is a key feature for evaluating whether animal communication systems represent a use of language.

Do Animals (other than humans) use Language ?

Animals certainly have ways of communicating with one another.

People often talk to their pets and believe that their pets understand what they are saying.

Lets examine two animal communication systems :

Chimpanzees and the Flight of the Honey Bee

Chimpanzees : Communicate vocally, just like humans ! Chimps have different sonds they use to warn their tribe of possible danger:

Rraup : indicates an eagle (or eagles) is near by.

Chutter : Warns of nearby snakes.

Chirping Sound : Warns of leopards

Certainly somewhat arbitrary symbols.

Semanticity certainly exists.

Chimps do not have sounds for every object in the environment, violating the naming universal.

Chimps can not say : "I saw a big eagle yesterday" or "I hope I don’t see any snakes tomorrow", so there seems to be no evidence of displacement in the chimpanzee communication system.

Chimps can not change the symbol system, violating the Flexibility of Symbols universal

Honey Bee Communication

When a honey bee finds a good source of pollen, they must come back to the hive and tell the other bees where the honey is.

They do this with the ‘pollen dance’ , a flight within the hive the communicates how far away the pollen source is and in what direction the pollen source lies.

Meaning is certainly transmitted, so they do have semanticity within their system.

However, this is an iconic system: Distance is represented by the length of the flight within the hive, and direction by the direction of flight within the hive. Not arbitrary and no flexibility in the symbols use to transmit the information.

Also, this is a genetically endowed communication system, and does not need to be learned. No displacement, either.

Do animals have the capacity to learn language ?

There have been many attempts to teach language to primates.

Since they do not have the proper vocal tract for reproducing human speech sounds, they are usually taught ASL (american sign language)

Washoe, a female chimpanzee, learned over 500 different "signs".

However, Washoe’s ‘brother’ showed musch less interest and aptitude at learning the same signs.

Koko : a great ape whom is said to possess and use ASL as a true language; Koko showed productivity by naming her pet cat,

Will supposedly initiate conversations.

Many researchers believe that the use of human symbols by chimps and great apes appears as a function of the reward system used to teach the language.

Since food is commonly used as a reinforcement, many researchers claim

Their language use is really a conditioned response, and the only reason they use language is the hope of the eventual food reward.

The ability to study the language use of an Ape such as Koko is greatly restricted by her handlers, so definitive double blind studies are difficult to do.

The curious case of Clever Hans

In the 1850’s in Germany there was a horse who could add and subtract, his name was Clever Hans.

People would come from all around to test the horse and all were amazed by his mathematical ability.

The horse would indicate the answer to verbally delivered questions by stomping his front hoof on the ground.

Otto Pfungst, a college professor, came to see the horse, to figure out what was really going on.

He determined that what the horse was responding to was not the question, but rather the body language of the people asking the question.

As the horse would get closer to right answer, people would lean forward in anticipation of the answer.

Then , when the horse reaches the correct number of hoof stomps, the people would lean backward.

The horse was very good at reading the body language and wold then stop counting.

The horse was usually rewarded with food for right answers, reinforcing the connection between the body movements and eventual reward .

Clever Hans was a very perceptive horse, but understood neither human speech nor human mathematics.

Conversations with Koko : The video

As you watch this video, jot down your observations of Koko’s language usage as it pertains to the following linguistic universals .

Semanticity (is meaning transmitted and received) :

Flexibility of Symbols (does Koko have more than one symbol for any object. Can Koko shift what she calls something ?) :

Naming (does Koko have a symbol for everything in her environment ?)

Productivity (Does Koko come up with new symbols ? Does Koko start conversations ? Does Koko add to the conversation or just respond to questions ? ) :

Displacement (is Koko an existentialist ?) :

Extra Credit Assignment

After you have watched the video "Conversations with Koko"

(available to watch in Carnegie 305 Conference room) and read the section in Chapter 8 on linguistic universals and animal communication systems) you can write an essay on the topic

"Does Koko use language?"

You are free to take either position within your essay, as long as you provide supporting evidence. You can cite additional reference material as well.

Essay should be a minimum of two pages, typed and double spaced.

The amount of extra credit given will be dependent upon the quality of your essay, and can range from 1% to 7%.

The extra credit essay will be due on April 26^th , the day of the 2^nd exam.

This extra credit assignment is optional.