BCS 111 Chapter Notes - Chapter 10: Phrase Structure Rules, Phoneme, Phonetics

• School: University of Rochester
• Department: Brain and Cognitive Sciences
• Course: BCS 111
• Professor: Yang

Document Summary

A natural language has two necessary characteristics: it is regular (governed by a system of rules called a grammar) and it is productive (infinite combinations of things can be expressed in it) Human language is also arbitrary, meaning it lacks a necessary resemblance between a word or sentence and what it refers to. Human language is discrete: the system can be subdivided into recognizable parts, like sentences into words or words into sounds. For instance, bees do not have language because although they communicate through certain dances, the physical motion of the dance conveys information about the nectar source (so it"s not arbitrary). The dances are also restricted to communicating about food sources, so they are not productive. All human languages are communication systems, but not all communication systems can be classified as natural languages. Phonology: the study of the way phonemes can be combined in any given language.