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Psycholinguistics

I . DefinitionII. Four RulesIII.

Growth of Grammar to Meet the Four Rules

IV.UOP (Universal Operation Principles)

V. Comprehension// Production

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I . Definition Psycholinguistics: the study of the mental processes of

listening, speaking, and acquisition of language by children (Nash 10)

Purpose: To figure out what people have to know about language in

order to use it; how that knowledge is used to process lang. Issues:

How do you form an utterance in your mind and utter it? How do you take in lang. you hear & figure out what it is? How do babies learn language? How do you learn a L2?

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II. Four Rules (1) The 4 rules that language must follow. Various competing pressures on lang. (from

inside and outside the learner), like on you as a student—different people (including yourself) ask you to do different things—you have to work out a compromise.

These pressures shape the form of your life constantly, so that the form of your life continually changes.

The competing pressures on lang. keep it in a state of DYNAMIC EQUILIBRUM (“a constantly changing balance”). (Nash 13)

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II. Four Rules (2)1. Be clear: one form one meaning (one-to-one mapping) e.g., Russian (one form more than one meaning), not one-to-one mapping

2. Be processible: Grammatical markers (e.g., relative pronouns) help, esp. under pressures of time, memory, & communication.

e.g., The editor who the authors who the newspaper hired liked laughed.

3. Be quick and easy: time pressure in speaking (the use of

contractions and run-ons, & reduction of grammatical markers). e.g., Contraction (I’d, I’m, can’t, won’t…)

4. Be expressive: Semantic expressiveness & rhetorical expressiveness

* Conclusion: Four rules are competing with each other. (Nash 14)

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Be Clear (1) Psychologically, the mind is expecting one-to-

one mapping (of meaning onto form; how meaning is encoded).

Meaning NOT

Form X Y Z Z

(Russian)

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Be Clear (2)

Examples (Russian) used as ending as object

dom “house” masculine inanimate subject Ø ? ulica “street” feminine subject -a ? čuvstvo “sensation” neuter, subject -o ?

What’s the ending if the word is used as object? dom ulicu čuvstvo

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Be Clear (3)Sentence examples:

“Tanya killed Marsha.” (Both are feminine nouns).

Tanja ubila Mašu. Mašu ubila Tanja. Tanja Mašu ubila. Mašu Tanja ubila. Ubila Mašu Tanja. Ubila Tanja Mašu.

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Be Clear (4)

Note: how word endings allow very free WORD ORDER (contrast to English: passive voice)

Now, how do you say “Marsha killed Tanya”?

Tanju ubila Maša. Ubila Tanju Maša.

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Be Clear (5)

Russian, quite confusing, no?

N masculine (in)animate subject masculine animate object

Ø -a

N masculine inanimate object feminine subject

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Be Clear (6)

Which ending has only one combination of meanings?

-u Russian children, learning their native lang.,

in an attempt at clarity (looking for one-to-one mapping, of meaning onto form), at one stage end all objects in –u.

Children’s learning is one factor contributing to change in languages.

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Be Processible (1)

Which of the following sentences is easier for you to understand? The student the teacher hit cried. The student whom the teacher hit cried. The man the dog bit died. The man that the dog bit died.

The editor the authors the newspaper hired liked laughed.

The editor who the authors [who the newspaper hired] liked laughed.

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Be Processible (2) What makes the difference?

grammatical markers Grammatical markers (e.g., relative pronoun) help t

he mind process the sentences. Also memory factor: short term memory +- 7 units Children seems to pay attention to the ends of wor

ds, so if ling. markers appear at the ends of words, they’ll be easier for children to learn.

Be processible means: lang. must have forms which take advantage of the ways in which the human brain works, forms which allow people to comprehend more easily.

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Be Quick and Easy [d itj t]? [whacha gonnaa du tomr ]? Time pressure & principle of least effort (messages must

be communicated before other things get in the way) time: the class ends other messages: another speaker takes over the conv. boredom; memory factor

Forms: reduction of grammatical markers contractions (don’t, can’t, won’t, isn’t …) run-ons (wanna, gonna)

Competing with Be Clear & Be Processible

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Be Expressive (1)

Ways to express the image: (at least 8)

CAT

MAT

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Be Expressive (2) Semantic expressiveness

basic meaning thought language

Rhetorical expressiveness (present info. In a variety of ways; one of the main reasons for complexity of lang.) to communicate well and effectively (comm. needs)

various forms for different purposes: emphasis focus points of view organization of information

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Be Expressive (3)

Grammar develops to fulfill more communicative needs (rhetorical expressiveness) than the expression of basic meanings (semantic expressiveness). So, a great # of lang. forms are needed will compete with the rules to be clear, processible, quick and easy.

More complicated forms will be required: to hint, tell jokes, be as vague or as clear as you want, avoid responsibility, be ambiguous, be poetic, etc.

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Conclusion on Four Rules (1)

Lang. cannot follow all 4 rules completely at all because they conflict with each other. E.g., to be perfectly clear, messages would take too long; if we’re fully expressive, we may not be clear (e.g., lit.); the quickest and easiest message may not be clear or very expressive (e.g., a grunt reply).

SO—dynamic equilibrium—changing always to maintain balance.

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Conclusion on Four Rules (2)

Language must be able to communicate meaningful things (semantically expressive), must have many ways to present the same info. (rhetorically expressive), must be fast and fairly easily produced and comprehended (quick & easy; processible), and must be clear in meaning and form (clear).

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III. Growth of Grammar to Meet the Four Rules (1)

Pidgin (Yule 233-235) a simplified contact language; a variety of a lang.which

developed for some practical purpose & limited function mix languages, marginal language, incomplete lang. developed for practical purposes no native speakers limited vocabulary and a reduced grammatical structure creative adaptations of natural languages, with a

structure/rules of their own mostly based on European langs. (reflecting the history

of colonialism)

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III. Growth of Grammar to Meet the Four Rules (2)

Creole (Yule 233-235) a pidgin that developed into a native lang. through

its use by children (= 1st lang. of the children of pidgin speakers)

has native speakers and not restricted in its uses more complex sentence structures and vocabulary

(to cope with the everyday demands made on a mother tongue by its speakers)

classified according to the lang. from which most of their vocabulary comes Eng.-based: Jamaican Creole, Hawaiian Creole French-based: Haitian Creole

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III. Growth of Language to Meet the Four Rules (3)

History of Hawaiian pidgin: British & American took over Hawaii and

discovered that pineapples & sugarcanes could make money

In need of lots of hardworking labors So, imported foreign labors from China, Japan,

the Philippines, Korea, in addition to local Hawaiians

Creation of Hawaiian pidgin for purpose of communication on the job

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III. Growth of Language to Meet the Four Rules (4)

Pidgin Creole (more elaborated), under the pressure of Be Expressive For people to be able to say more, say things

better & more effectively Because of limited function, pidgins usually

don’t last very long (sometimes for only a few years), & rarely for more than a century. (They die when the original reason for communication disappears).

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Hawaiian Pidgin Hawaiian Creole

Standard English

“I am eating”

Hawaiian Pidgin Me kaukau Me eat I kaukau I eat

Hawaiian Creole

(+ progressive) I stay kaukau I stay eat

Note: “kau kau” =Hawaiianization of Chinese pidgin Eng. “chow chow” (“to eat”, probably in Cantonese)

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Tok Pisin (1)

Another pressure: Be Processible Tok Pisin (with relative clauses)

In 1920’s Margaret Mead worked in Papua New Guinea—reported no relative clause structures in Tok Pisin

Other investigators reported it in 1976: so it developed in about 50 years.

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Tok Pisin (2) Particle IA inserted at beginning & end of

relative clause easy for listeners to process

Examples: (IA = RC marker)(1) Na pik IA ol ikilim bipo IA bai ikamap olsem

draipela ston. “And this (the) pig which they had killed before would turn into a huge stone.”

(2) Meri IA em i yangpela meri, draipela meri IA em harim istap. “The girl, who was a young, big girl, was listening.”

(3) Em wanpela America IA iputim naim long en. “It was an American who gave her her name.”

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Tok Pisin (3)

Conclusion: This grammatical marker IA has develope

d as Tok Psin followed the Four Rules. IA has allowed Tok Psin to become more

expressive, while at the same time remaining processible.

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IV. Universal Operating Principles (UOP) Universal learning strategies children

automatically used; based on the way the human mind works and closely related to the four rules.

They’re a child’s initial expectations about how language works. The child brings certain operating principles (methods of attack) to bear on the task of learning lang., regardless of the lang. he’s exposed to.

These operating principles are based on general perceptual and information-processing principles.

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Universal Operating Principle A UOP A: Pay attention to the ends of words. Suffixes: (inflections in Eng. are all suffixes)

plural, possessive, present/past tense, present/past participle, comparative, superlative

Postposition markers of location placed after the noun of location Markers of location:

concept of relation of location/spatial relations—where things are in relation to each other

examples: in, on, at Children can understand the concept of “in, on” long

before they can speak. In all langs. they express these ideas very early, with no ling. marking. E.g., “pot stove”

Children learn the adult form (proper grammar) earlier when the marker of location is placed after the noun of location, rather than before it.

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UOP A (2) English preposition Hungarian postposition

spoon in the pot hajó “boat” spoon outside the pot hajóban “in the boat” spoon next to the pot hajóbol “moving out from inside the boat” hajótol “moving away from next to the boat”

Postposition is easier to learn than preposition.

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UOP A (3)

Turkish postpositions (faked): pot stove on spoon pot in

Chinese: 球在盒子裡 在 might complicate the learning. So, it’s hard to

say whether it’s also easy for Chinese children to learn (since markers of location is after the noun of location) as it is for Hungarian & Turkish kids.

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UOP A (4) Markers of location placed after the noun are

easier for children to learn—somehow easier to perceive—for reasons of attention & memory (i.e,children notice markers in some places more than in others).

So, children seem to be paying attention to the ends of words.

Note: it doesn’t mean the whole language (e.g., Hungarian) is easier to learn than Eng.

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Universal Operating Principle B

UOP B: There are elements of language (i.e., grammatical markers) which show the relations between other elements of language.

This follows from UOP A: children are expecting to find grammatical elements to indicate relations between words (they’re looking for them at the ends of words)—the postpositions and prepositions we saw in Hungarian, Turkish, & Eng. indicate where things are in relation to each other.

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UOP B (2)Grammatical markers:

Relative pronouns: The girl who danced with me was lovely.

The book that is on the table is yours.

Pronouns: Rachel gave me her book.

When the man fell down, he hurt his leg. Be: The man is handsome. S-V agreement: The woman comes here every day.

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Universal Operating Principle C UOP C: Avoid exceptions. Children prefer consistent and regular systems.

They often develop a system more regular than the adult system.

5 stages: (Nash 16) No marking Appropriate marking in limited cases Overgeneralization of marking Redundant marking Full adult marking system (i.e., correct marking)

Eng. Verbs (past tense) Measure words in Chinese

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UOP C (2) Similar processes seem to be at work in lang.

In general (Nash 16). Regularization of English verb past tense f

orms Regularization of plurals of borrowed noun

s Bandit: banditi bandits Syllabus: syllabi syllabuses Pizza: pizze pizzas Data: datum (sing.), data (pl.) data (uncountabl

e)

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Universal Operating Principle D

UOP D: Underlying semantic relations should be marked overtly and clearly. (= Be clear.)

“Basic elements of meaning should be marked openly and clearly” (Nash 16).

If a grammatical marker corresponds to one and only one meaning, it will be easier for children to learn.

A grammatical system is easier to learn if each element of meaning corresponds to a separate surface element (slobin 109).

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UOP D (2) Contrast Turkish with earlier Russian examples: Turkish: (Nash 17)

“object” “of” “plural -i -in -er Russian: “masculine” + “animate” + “object” -a

“feminine” + “subject” -a

Turkish marks elements of meaning separately, while Russian marks them in combinations, which are not clear to children and thus hard for them to learn.

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Universal Operating Principle E UOP E: The use of grammatical markers should

make semantic sense. Counter examples:

Irregular plurals in English: mice, geese, feet, teeth mouses, gooses, foots/feets, tooths

Irregular past tenses: went, saw, ran goed, seed, runned

No semantic (meaning) basis for these irregularities—no differences in meaning that should require them to be formed differently.

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UOP E (2) Examples:

Process verbs (progressive aspect) vs. state verbs (states/conditions)

The progressive cannot indicate an involuntary state, but only a process (e.g., running, melting, reading, eating, growing), so it is usually only used with process verbs; state verbs show states or conditions (e.g., know, like, believe, want, own).

Difference in meaning between “process” and “state” verbs is grasped by children & they don’t overgeneralize the progressive. They don’t say: *“She’s knowing how to read.” *“I’m liking cookies.” *“He’s wanting milk.”

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UOP E (3) Children can make sense out of the difference b

etween these two types of verbs, and so don’t have much trouble learning to use the progressive.

But, they do have a lot of trouble with irregular plurals and verbs, which has no semantic basis for their irregularity—they must be memorized.

Though irregular verbs don’t make semantic sense, they’re easily processible (because: frequently used & come in small sets/patterns).

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UOP Summary

Language forms, and the ways in which children learn language, are very closely related to the ways our minds work (i.e., the structure of the mind and the mental processes involved in thinking, learning, speaking, and comprehending).

The UOP are psychological. The four pressures are both psychological and communicative.

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Summary of 4 Rules and UOP Pressures on language:

Psychological pressures—language must conform to the ways in which the MIND works.

Communicative pressures—language must meet all the needs of communication 1. informativeness 2. clarity 3. efficiency 4. effectiveness 5. reasonably quick (on-going time)

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Comprehension (1)

How do you get from the acoustic signal (physical sound) to an interpretation of the message?

Is listening really passive? Filter demonstration Shadowing demonstration Further examples:

Telephone doesn’t transmit all sounds (e.g., f, s, m, n) In class: selective listening

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Comprehension (2) Constituents: “sentence parts”

e.g.: The old man went to the store. subject predicate

Meaning units = propositions (basic ideas) Coding units = phonology, morphology, syntax,

vocabulary, intonation Propositions: refer to states or events;

indicate facts or attitudes; say sth. about states or events; qualify parts of other propositions. (Nash 19-20) e.g., Louise was born in 1965. You must never

arrive late again. (Nash 20)

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Comprehension (3) Rough Model #1: (Nash 19)

1. Take in sounds, put in short-term memory, organize according to sound system.

2. Immediate organize into sentence parts (constituents) and determine content and function of teach part.

3. Use constituents analysis to construct propositions.

4. Keep propositions in memory, discard sound image.

5. Figure out speaker’s intent (identify situations) and respond appropriately.

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Comprehension (4) Syntactic strategies: used in identifying constituents

(i.e., knowledge of syntax) Semantic strategies: knowledge of the

world/situation & our reasoning powers can bypass a lot of syntax—working on what you expect, what makes sense The policeman held up his hand and stopped the car. Superman held up his hand and stopped the car. Tea example (Nash 20) Dentist (Nash 20) Soup (Nash 21)

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Comprehension (5)

We use both syntactic and semantic strategies: 1. We take in raw speech and retain a

phonological representation of it in short-term memory.

2. We immediately attempt to organize the phonological representation into constituents, identifying their content and function.

3. Construct underlying propositions. 4. Retain 3 in long-term memory & discard 1 + 2.

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Comprehension (6) Rough Model #2: Comprehension

phonetic input Identify

phonology situation;

lexicon remember

morphology typical

syntax situation.

semantics

pragmatics

Production

phonetic output

phonology

lexicon

morphology

syntax

semantics

pragmatics

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Comprehension (7)

Rewording of Model #1 (& match to Model #2):

1. Bring in phonetic stream and segment it into phonological representation.

2. Immediate organize into constituents.

3. Use constituent analysis to construct propositions.

4. Figure out speaker’s intent (and respond appropriately).

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Differences between Production & Comprehension

Tools and procedures: Comprehension:

Hearing (ears & brains) and mind to recognize, organize, analyze and infer

Production: Brain & speech organs (e.g., tongue, lips, jaw,

vocal chords) To transfer intention into sound involves motor

activation

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Production (1) Rough model #3: (planning & execution) (pragmatic) discourse plans:

What type of discourse? Purposes and goals

(pragmatic, semantic, syntactic) sentence plans: What is the function/subject? What is the relationship among the parts of the

sentence? Decide to express meaning directly or indirectly.

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Production (2)

(morpho-syntactic, lexicon) constituent plans: Select words, phrases, idioms for each constituent Order them Do morphology

(phonology, phonetics) articulatory program: In memory buffer: phonetic segments, stresses, int

onation A plan for what your muscles will do

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Production (3) (phonetics) execution (articulation):

Execute the articulatory program Sequence and timing Tell muscles what to do and when Send these orders and speech results

Note: like the rough model of comprehension, these steps are all very rapid and overlapping whole process for one sentence not finished, already begun for the next sentence