Chapters 1 & 2 Study Questions

Chapter 1
1.It is difficult to agree with Psammetichus that Phrygian must have been the original human language because it speculated the language the newborn spoke could of contributed to other outside voices like goats.

2.The basic idea behind the bow-wow theory is that language originated from onomatopoeic noises.

3.Interjections such as Ouch are considered to be unlikely sources of human speech sounds because production of speech is produced on exhaled breath, while saying ouch is produced on intakes of breath.

4.The pharynx is located above the vocal folds and it’s function is to act as an resonator for increased range and clarity of the sounds produced by the larynx.

5.I believe young deaf children who become fluent in sign language would be cited to support innateness hypothesis because it shows that humans have an innate capacity to develop language.

6.The tool-making source

Chapter 2
1.Reflexivity is considered to be a special property of human language because it allows us to reflect on our own language and improve.

2.To support the idea that language is culturally transmitted, researchers used evidence of the studies of birds when they begin to produce songs. They concluded that id birds are kept isolated from hearing birds their speech will be abnormal versus a bird hearing songs other birds called.

3.The difference between a communication system with productivity and fixed reference is communication system of productivity is language that can be produced to describe new experiences. A fixed reference is communication that cannot be manipulated to describe new stimuli.

4.To show Washoe wasn’t just repeating signs made by humans the Gardner's argued that the experiments was conducted in the absence of a human.

5.Sarah has arbitrary properties.

6.The key element that encouraged Kanzi’s learning a new language was being exposed and observing a kind of language at a young age and not taught.