Language system?!

[Tim_Lou]

language system is a unique feature of humans,

and it is truely amazing. look around and see all the words that your reading, and all the stuffs that you are hearing.

 

lines and dots on the screen and papers can drive emotions just as pictures and musics can, while it can lead to aggression or anxiety.

 

but how do we actually make a association between words and emotions and feelings?

how do new born babies grasp the meaning of languages itself?

and how are people able to learn a new language when being sent to another country while not knowing a single word the locals speak?

 

also, how are we able to express complex ideas such as love and joy, anger and fear?

and whats the Philosophy idea behind languages?

[TINNY]

it's our mental capacity to use symbolic language i suppose.

 

i don't dare attribute it to anything metaphysical.

 

how'd you come up with this question TIm??

[TINNY]

language system is a unique feature of humans,

be careful of your assumptions... If it was me who stated that, a big old boor would come ranting after me asking for proof. i'd be dead in a minute grasping for facts. Figuratively anyway. ;) ;)

[lindagarrette]

You should read some elementary textbooks on linguistics and learning theory. Just look for information on the web. If you have a specific question, perhaps I can help. But you need some fundamental knowledge first.

[TINNY]

it would help if you could give a general idea, Linda.

[Tim_Lou]

be careful of your assumptions... If it was me who stated that, a big old boor would come ranting after me asking for proof. i'd be dead in a minute grasping for facts. Figuratively anyway. ;) ;)

 

language is definitely a unique feature of humans. Although we do teach other animals language, but thats not "natural".

even monkeys and such do not have language systems, all they have is a system of a limited amounts of syllables.

 

"Although animals communicate through cries, gestures and mating calls (Coon, 1992) that are understood by members of the same species, in the wild, even chimpanzees make only a few dozen distinct cries, limited to social interactions, but do not relate information about anything not immediately present (Savage-Rumbaugh, Rumbaugh and Boysen, 1980)."

citied from http://www.littletree.com.au/koko.htm

[Tim_Lou]

i understand that language is somthing involving with building habits by conditioned reflex, memory...or Instinct? maybe learning language by trial and error? but how do babies know when it is "error"?

 

and how are humans able to understand something that cant be defined by language clearly, such as love and anger?

[pgrmdave]

Would a human never exposed to language be able to understand the concept?

[Tim_Lou]

i think if a human is never exposed to language, he would develope hes own....

 

just like the languages new born babies have...the "gibberish", hehe.

[pgrmdave]

I suppose that there must have been some point at which humans developed language, with words and grammer and the like.

[Tormod]

and how are humans able to understand something that cant be defined by language clearly, such as love and anger?

These are emotions and as such are innate and not learned. We can learn to control them but not get rid of them.

[Tim_Lou]

no, what i mean is that when the first time someone hears the word "love", how does he/she know its the "love" that it means?

[pgrmdave]

I don't think that we do, but in time we learn what they mean. The first time we become angry and are able to notice, we know what anger is. The same goes with other things. The signs of these emotions are similar, so more experianced people are able to tell us what emotion we are feeling until we can understand ourselves.

[alexander]

Would a human never exposed to language be able to understand the concept?[/Quote]

Yes, yes they would, but maybe not in their mind, but more internaly.

There was a very interesting article posted by Uriel last feb.

anyways, i had to find it again, so here's a link to the full thing: http://www.luisprada.com/Protected/russian_dna_discoveries.htm

To this end they compared the rules of syntax (the way in which words are put together to form phrases and sentences), semantics (the study of meaning in language forms) and the basic rules of grammar. They found that the alkalines of our DNA follow a regular grammar and do have set rules just like our languages. Therefore, human languages did not appear coincidentally but are a reflection of our inherent DNA.

[/Quote]

If language takes its roots from our DNA, I have no doubt that a person that was never exposed to language will be able to understand the concept (internaly). I think that the effect that language will have on that person will be similar to the ones when someone encounters music for the first time, and i think there was a study done on that, but i'm not sure, i'll search.

[TINNY]

is this uniquely human?

[pgrmdave]

If language has its basis in DNA then would alien life have language? I don't think that language and DNA are connected, but perhaps they are linked by something else. DNA and language both showing similar form may have to do more with links to the form than to each other.

[Freethinker]

be careful of your assumptions... If it was me who stated that, a big old boor would come ranting after me asking for proof. i'd be dead in a minute grasping for facts. Figuratively anyway. :D :D

HEY! :-)

 

But you are right on! It was a bad assumption and I was deciding whether to attack it or not.