Language & Communication Lectures
Lecture 1: Introduction to language & communication
Communication
= the transferring of messages or exchanging of information or ideas
‘Communicare’: to share, to participate, make common
The Shannon-Weever Sender-Receiver model of communication
Channels of communication
Which channels are used to send and pick up signals from other people?
All five senses
1. Hearing (words, voice quality, etc.) including language
2. Sight (body posture, gesture, face expression, …)
3. Touch (e.g. firm handshake)
4. Smell (e.g. perfume, body odour)
5. Taste?
Language
What makes a communication form a language?
Two key properties of language (according to one set of criteria; see next week for others):
1. Language makes use of discrete symbols / signs (sounds, movement, words) which are
‘arbitrary’: sound-meaning pairings are wholly conventional.
2. A limited number of symbols can be endlessly recombined according to certain rules
(grammar) and thereby express an infinite number of ideas (‘infinite use of finite means’)
➔ Gestures is not language
➔ American and British sign language is different but also similar to each other
Functions of language
Is ‘exchanging information & ideas’ the only function of language?
Think also of the following things:
1. Emotional expression (e.g. screaming to other drivers in the car when they do sth stupid)
2. Social interaction (e.g. telling someone ‘bless you’ when they sneeze)
3. Making use of the sound of language (e.g. words that do not make sense)
4. Ritual and beliefs / control of reality (e.g. saying specific words while baptizing a child)
5. Keeping record (e.g. writing in a diary)
6. Instrument of thought / organising your thought (e.g. speaking to yourself when doing a task)
7. Expressing identity (e.g. supporting your soccer team when watching the game)
Who studies language and communication?
• Communication scientists: properties and efficiency of the signal (communication in general)
• Linguistics: properties of the signal (language)
• Psycholinguistics, developmental psychologists and social psychologists: language processing
by sender and receiver
• Speech-language therapists: impairments of language ability in senders and receivers
1
,The levels of language
Sentences to phonemes
Language domains
• Semantics (meaning)
• Grammar (syntax)
• Lexicon (vocabulary)
• Morphology (study of words, how they are formed, relationship to other words)
• Phonology (the sound system of a language)
The sound of language
• Hair cells (= sound receptors) in the inner ear get damaged with extended overstimulation.
They are not able to regrow.
• The frequency of speech is (roughly) where the human ear is most sensitive
• Loud music is often in the same frequency range can induce tinnitus and hearing loss that
impairs speech comprehension
• There is a rising number of young adults with noise-induced hearing loss
• Prevention: ear plugs, softer music
The basic building blocks: phonemes (language sounds)
Which body parts are involved in speech?
- How can we represent sound (speech) graphically?
2
, Where were you a year ago
The difference between vowels and consonants
Vowels = speech sounds produced with an open vocal tract
The letters A, E, I, O, and U are called vowels.
Consonants = speech sounds produced with partial or complete closure of vocal tract
The letters Z, B, T, G, and H are all consonants.
Vowels
- Loudness is higher
- Same pattern repeating (periodic pattern)
Consonants
- High frequency
- Chaotic pattern (no periodic pattern)
E OO AH
Vowels (the phonetic classification)
3
, • Circled vowels: rounded (in contrast to unrounded lips)
• English letters: ‘tense’ vowels (sheep)
• Greek letters: ‘lax’ vowels (ship)
• Four dimensions are used for classifying vowels:
o tongue heights, tongue backness, tongue tenseness, lip rounding
• Diphthongs: vowels that change one to the other (e.g. boat)
Consonants (the international phonetic alphabet)
• Alveolar: articulated with the tongue against or close to the superior alveolar ridge, which is
called that because it contains the alveoli (the sockets) of the upper teeth.
• Velar: articulated with the back part of the tongue (the dorsum) against the soft palate, the
back part of the roof to the mouth (known also as the volum).
• Place of articulation
• Manner of articulation
Written language
How old do you estimate is written language?
4
Lecture 1: Introduction to language & communication
Communication
= the transferring of messages or exchanging of information or ideas
‘Communicare’: to share, to participate, make common
The Shannon-Weever Sender-Receiver model of communication
Channels of communication
Which channels are used to send and pick up signals from other people?
All five senses
1. Hearing (words, voice quality, etc.) including language
2. Sight (body posture, gesture, face expression, …)
3. Touch (e.g. firm handshake)
4. Smell (e.g. perfume, body odour)
5. Taste?
Language
What makes a communication form a language?
Two key properties of language (according to one set of criteria; see next week for others):
1. Language makes use of discrete symbols / signs (sounds, movement, words) which are
‘arbitrary’: sound-meaning pairings are wholly conventional.
2. A limited number of symbols can be endlessly recombined according to certain rules
(grammar) and thereby express an infinite number of ideas (‘infinite use of finite means’)
➔ Gestures is not language
➔ American and British sign language is different but also similar to each other
Functions of language
Is ‘exchanging information & ideas’ the only function of language?
Think also of the following things:
1. Emotional expression (e.g. screaming to other drivers in the car when they do sth stupid)
2. Social interaction (e.g. telling someone ‘bless you’ when they sneeze)
3. Making use of the sound of language (e.g. words that do not make sense)
4. Ritual and beliefs / control of reality (e.g. saying specific words while baptizing a child)
5. Keeping record (e.g. writing in a diary)
6. Instrument of thought / organising your thought (e.g. speaking to yourself when doing a task)
7. Expressing identity (e.g. supporting your soccer team when watching the game)
Who studies language and communication?
• Communication scientists: properties and efficiency of the signal (communication in general)
• Linguistics: properties of the signal (language)
• Psycholinguistics, developmental psychologists and social psychologists: language processing
by sender and receiver
• Speech-language therapists: impairments of language ability in senders and receivers
1
,The levels of language
Sentences to phonemes
Language domains
• Semantics (meaning)
• Grammar (syntax)
• Lexicon (vocabulary)
• Morphology (study of words, how they are formed, relationship to other words)
• Phonology (the sound system of a language)
The sound of language
• Hair cells (= sound receptors) in the inner ear get damaged with extended overstimulation.
They are not able to regrow.
• The frequency of speech is (roughly) where the human ear is most sensitive
• Loud music is often in the same frequency range can induce tinnitus and hearing loss that
impairs speech comprehension
• There is a rising number of young adults with noise-induced hearing loss
• Prevention: ear plugs, softer music
The basic building blocks: phonemes (language sounds)
Which body parts are involved in speech?
- How can we represent sound (speech) graphically?
2
, Where were you a year ago
The difference between vowels and consonants
Vowels = speech sounds produced with an open vocal tract
The letters A, E, I, O, and U are called vowels.
Consonants = speech sounds produced with partial or complete closure of vocal tract
The letters Z, B, T, G, and H are all consonants.
Vowels
- Loudness is higher
- Same pattern repeating (periodic pattern)
Consonants
- High frequency
- Chaotic pattern (no periodic pattern)
E OO AH
Vowels (the phonetic classification)
3
, • Circled vowels: rounded (in contrast to unrounded lips)
• English letters: ‘tense’ vowels (sheep)
• Greek letters: ‘lax’ vowels (ship)
• Four dimensions are used for classifying vowels:
o tongue heights, tongue backness, tongue tenseness, lip rounding
• Diphthongs: vowels that change one to the other (e.g. boat)
Consonants (the international phonetic alphabet)
• Alveolar: articulated with the tongue against or close to the superior alveolar ridge, which is
called that because it contains the alveoli (the sockets) of the upper teeth.
• Velar: articulated with the back part of the tongue (the dorsum) against the soft palate, the
back part of the roof to the mouth (known also as the volum).
• Place of articulation
• Manner of articulation
Written language
How old do you estimate is written language?
4
