| Chapter 9: Language Estimate for the evolution of language: 30,000 to 3 million years. Based on position of larynx: high in human babies and chimps; low in human adults May be important to develop concept of self Language is based on arbitrary connections between the sounds, word structure, and word meaning. Have to remember what connections mean Productivity: language is novel; not based on reproductive sentences Animals don't seem to show grammar/syntax Problem of measuring language: Competence: internalized knowledge. Performance: actual behavior influence by psychological factors Psycholinguistics studies language as it is used and learned. Rely on visual cues to process phonemes. |
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