Psychology 7.2

Psychology 7.2

1. Language

   • {A system of communication composed of symbols (words, hand signs, and so on) that are arranged according to a set or rules (grammar) to form meaningful expressions}
   • Grammar
     • {The set of rules governing how symbols in a given language are used to form meaningful expressions}
     • Phonemes
       • {The basic units of sound in a language} *English has about 40 phonemes to sound out 500,000 or so words found in a modern unabridged english dictonary.  
       • Morphemes
         • {The smallest units of meaning in language} *words such as car, ball, and time are morphemes *linguistic units that convey meaning such as prefixes and suffixes. ("un" "ed")
         • Syntax
           • {The rules of grammar that determine how words are ordered within sentences or phrases} *"Buy milk I" "I buy milk"
           • Semantics
             • {The set of rules governing the meaning of words}
   • Language Aquisition Device
     • {Chomsky's concept of an innate, pre-wired mechanism in the brain that allows children to acquire language naturally} *Concept by Noam Chomsky (1965) *Hypothesis of how language centers in the brain work
   • Liguistic Relativity Hypothesis
     • {The propsition that the language we use determines how we think and how we perceive the world} *AKA Whorfian Hypothesis after Benjamin Whorf (1956).

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