Językoznawstwo – kolokwium 23.03.2013

Psycholinguistics – the branch of linguistics concerned with linguistic performance, language acquisition, speech production and comprehension.

Functions of brain:

• To acquire and store mental grammar

• To use this grammar in speech production and comprehension

Linguistic level	Physiologic level	Acoustic level	Physiologic level	Acoustic level

A spoken utterance starts as a message in the brain/mind of a speaker. It is put into linguistic level form and interpreted as articulation commands, emerging as an acoustic signal. The signal is processed by the ear of the listener and sent to the brain/mind where it is interpreted.

The Speech Chain

Steps of comprehension:

1. Acoustic vs phonetic

Acoustic speech signals:

• fundamental frequency,

• intensity (loudness) ,

• quality (difference in speech sound).

1. Spectograms / voiceprints:

The patterns produced after the decomposition of speech signal into its frequency components.

1. Parsing:

Making the string into syntactic structures.

Meaning depends on: a)word order b)constituents structure c)semantics

1. Comprehension models:

top-down bottom-up

semantics acoustic signal

syntax syntax

acoustic signal semantics

1. Experimental techniques:

To uncover units, stages and processes involved in linguistic performance.

RT – Reaction Time

Lexical access:

• Lexical decision tast

• Naming tast

• Priming technique

• Shadowing (repetition)

Computational linguistics:

1. Speechsynthesis:

Programmes to imitate human voice.

Speech understanding:

Interpretation of recognised words.

1. SPEECH RECOGNITION

• Parsers:

Computer programmes that use a grammar to determine the syntactic structure of an input string.

• Top – Down

• Bottom – Up

• Look – Ahead

• Morphological rules

VERB

SVO

Subject Object

1. Semantic representation via logical representation semantic networks:

• Identification of thematic roles in a sentence, e.g. theme, agent, location etc.

• Application of mathematical logic

LOVE(ZACHARY,SUSHI)

S: NP VP

FINAL NODE

transition network for parsers

Transition network represent the syntactic form of a sentence

Semantic network (makes semantic role explicit)

John loves sushi. LOVE(JOHN, SUSHI)

Birds fly. FLY(BIRDS)

Semantic roles:

• Agent – major performer of an action in a sentence

• Theme – NP that undergo the change

• Instrument – NP by means of which an action is performed.

• Experiencer – NP that follow the verb sense.

• Location – NP representing location, where the action take place.

• Source – NP from which an action ordinates

• Goal – NP which an action is directive

• Causative – a natural force that brings about the change

• Possessor – NP representing possession

Mary saw a mosquito on the wall.

She borrowed a magazine from George and she hit the bug with the magazine.

She handed the magazine back to George.

The student understands the question.

UNDERSTAND ( THE STUDENT, THE QUESTION)

Penguins do not fly.

NOT( FLY [PENGUINS])

The wind is in the willows.

IN ( THE WIND, THE WILLOWS)

Kathy loves her cat.

LOVE ( KATHY, [POSSESSIVE (KATHY, CAT)])

LANGUAGE IN SOCIETY

1. Standard language (is use by all users)

2. Accent

3. Dialect (spoken in a given area)

-isogloss (line that show where the dialect is spoken)

-dialect boundary

-dialect continuum (one dialect changes in the other one)

4. Monolingualism, bilingualism, multilingualism.

(Canada) (Switzerland)

English German

French French

Italian

PIDGINS

A pidgin is a simple but rule-governed language developed for communication among speakers of mutually unintelligible languages; a variety of a language which developed for some practical purpose, e.g. trading.

Tok Pisin – Malenesian Pidgin

• Absence of any complex grammatical and morphological structures, simple vocabulary;

• Rare suffixes.

‘tu buk’ (two books)

‘di gyal pleis’ (this girl’s place)

‘buk bilong ju’ (book belongs to you)

‘Baimbai hed bilongyu i-aarait gain’ (Bye bye head belong to you) means: stop headache!

CREOLES

It is a descendant form a pidgin, it is adopted by a community as its native language and learned by children as their first language (first language of a social community).

A French-based creole – Haiti

An English-based creole – Jamaica, Sierra Leone.

POST-CREOLE CONTINUUM:

‘decreolization’ when people have greater contact with a standard variety of language.

* Basilect – the most basic variety (closer to a local creole) ‘ a fi mi buk dat’.

* Mesolect – preserving some creole features : ‘iz mi buk’.

* Acrolect – the variety closer to an external modal: ‘it’s my book’.

SOCIOLINGUISTICS:

• Social aspect of language

• The way the language is used within a community (norms, rules, expectations toward the use of language)

• Makes reference to anthropology, sociology and social psychology

IDIOLECT:

The personal dialect of each individual.

JARGON vs SLANG:

Jargon – a variety of language that is used among a group of professions (teacher’s jargon, doctor’s jargon)

Slang – less formal, more cultural, colloquial

CHICANO ENGLISH (ChE):

Language of emigrants from Mexico who said that they’re no longer Mexican but also not Americans.

EBONICS (A-AnE):

Language of Afroamericans ( Community in United States)

Denotative vs connotative:

Denotative – means sth (e.g. an apple – what it is, basic definition)

Connotative – relates to sth (e.g. an apple – we can eat it, it is healthy etc.)

Euphemismus vs Taboo:

Euphemismus:

Replaces taboo words, they become more natural;

Taboo:

Vulgar (often) we don’t speak about it.

LINGUA FRANCA :

The idea, multilingualism, people decide to speak one of them.

HIPSTER Z TOBĄ!