2.2.2 Human Language
According to linguistic anthropologist Charles F. Hockett (1960s), there are several characteristics regarding human language and they are named the design features of language. (Wkikpedia: Hockett’s design features, n.d., para. 1) (Is this direct quotation or indirection?)
• Displacement
This is the concern of time and place. Human can talk about things happened in the past, right now or even in the future, whereas animals can only communicate to events happening at that moment. In addition, human can talk about things that are not around. (Charles F. Hockett, 1959) For example, human can talk about opium smoking when opium smoking is banned and does not exist anymore. This explicit the fact that human can imagine their dreams and goals and human communication is not limited by time and place.
• Arbitrariness
Human language is arbitrary. There is no clear explanation of why this word is used to describe or mean different objects. The
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Hockett’s design feature of language and indeed, human language is a lot more complicated than animal communication.
2.2.3 Comparison
Although human language is a lot different from animal communication, there are some features of human language that can also be found in animal communication.
First of all, productivity is not unique to human language. It recurs to bee dancing. Frisch (1950) noted that different types of bees have their own way of dancing, and it varies among different bee species. In other words, bee themselves could also invent new types of dance for a different purpose.
Second, arbitrariness is not unique only to human language as well. The pitches and song birds used are not proved to be set and limited. The bird calls could be improvised by the birds themselves. It could be an arbitrary animal communication for birds and also the vocal system of some mammals and birds (Hockett,
The goal of a duck call is to sound like a realistic live duck. Construction As a tool, a duck call is like a traditional whistle made to emulate the sound of a duck. Early duck calls were simple woodwind instruments with a barrel, a sounding board and a reed. Hunters would use the air from their diaphragms into the call while saying "but", "quit", or "oak" to make the single quack.
The earliest forms of language were spoken around 250,000 years ago. Over the years, language has become more diverse. There have been more than 100,000 different languages spoken or written in our history. As you might expect, language is an essential part of our existence.
“My skin color was an asset for any move I was educated to want to make”(Mcintosh 1). A quote from Peggy McIntosh’s essay shows how the way we are treated in our societies has a direct impact on the way we perform in that society. The essay caused me to think deeply about myself and how I truly am privileged to be white; although we may not notice it there are millions of privileges linked to our skin colour. Upon finishing the reading I was questioning not only white privilege but also things like racism and what I myself could do to help people of other ethnicity’s not feel underprivileged. To begin, Peggy McIntosh mentions in her essay the fact that men have privilege over women causing women disadvantages in the same way whites have power
Researchers for a long time have been fascinated with studying non-human primates and their communication abilities. With researchers studying this, it has increased the knowledge we have of the human language and the human brain. Among the ways primates typically communicate, the use of sign language between non-human primates and humans has come as a way to study/ form a connection between non-human and human communication. In this essay, I will be exploring the use of sign language by non-human primates and comparing why certain species of primates can learn and excel by using sign language while others do not. By studying this topic we can gain valuable knowledge about what distinguishes our cognitive/ communication abilities from our closest
The Chicago World’s Fair of 1893 was a masterpiece of the 19th century. It represented the grand facade of glamour and American achievement. The World’s Fair was a spectacular event, bursting with bright lights and daring sights that left visitors speechless, but The World’s Fair wasn’t the only phenomenon happening in Chicago during this time. Innocent people were being brutally murdered alongside this brilliant piece of American good fortune. Architect Daniel Burnham and psychotic serial killer H. H. Holmes are the two main characters of this story and embody the light and the dark.
Once, I heard birds singing and stopped to listen. I used to think they sang because they were happy, but then I learned on a nature show that they’re really just showing off. They’re trying to lure in some other bird so they can mate with it or let the other birds know not to get too close to their turf. I wish I never watched that show, because now all I think about is what those pretty sounds mean and how they’re not pretty at
Innate Language and Non-Human Primates Language is a form of communication and can be portrayed in many different ways not just vocalization, this is shown by those that use sign language rather than vocalization; these humans still have complex language but they lack the necessary organs or capabilities to produce all of the sounds needed for vocal language; similarly, some non-human primates use different interactions as language not just production and combinations of sounds. Non-human primates do not have the ability to vocalize the way humans do because they lack vocal cords, control of the necessary vocalization, and other speech organs, but that does not mean that they cannot effectively communicate through language with other non-human
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As I was growing up I never looked at myself as a complete Mexican. My parents raised me Americanized. However, my Freshman year of high school I had experienced linguistic profiling in a different form. Patricia Rice, author of “Linguistic Profiling”, states, “Many Americans can guess a caller’s ethnic background from their first hello on the telephone” (187). In other words, Rice believes people begin judgement by the sound of a voice.
The House on Mango Street Message Not many of us can say that we have lived up to the expectations given to us and internally benefited from it. In the book The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros, Esperanza struggles with growing up with many expectations placed on her. She lives in a Latino neighborhood in Chicago with many neighbors who teach her important lessons. Overall, the story has a message that you should not rely on expectations and the author shows it by using the characterization of Esperanza and through figurative language.
The craft in Speak focuses on the perspective of the story and the words that the author chooses to utilize. From Melinda’s perspective, the reader is capable of seeing her “side of the story”, which adds a much needed depth to her character. Because of this insight, the reader can make connections to the text that help develop emotions amongst the various characters. A prime example of perspective in the story occurred when Melinda described herself as having two people in her head; One who is carefree and the other who is paranoid. “If I kick both of them out of my head, who would be left?”.
On the 27th of October in 1964, Ronald Reagan gave a speech called “A Time for Choosing” on behalf of Barry Goldwater. His speech was so popular that it is also known as “The Speech”. Afterwards, Ronald Reagan ,also known as The Great Communicator, was thought of by many people as a great political speaker. This speech was given to endorse the Goldwater campaign, even though Goldwater lost the election. The Speech launched Reagan’s political career into action and he later went on to be the Californian governor and President of the United States.
We can not communicate with animals as Derrida talks about his little cat in his seminal essay The Animal That Therefore I Am and says there is no common language or a language we can understand animals. It is not like they say “mirr” to say no or “purr” to say yes. We differentiate animals and categorise them: dogs, cats, snakes, lions and many other. However we kind of categorise humans as well by their races, African, Asian and European, by their gender; male or female, by their preference of opposite sex; straight or gay and many other. So what is boundary we created between “animals and humans?
Mark Twain short story "What Stumped the Blue Jays" presents how the Twain believes "animals talk to each other" (Twain 1). Believing that the blue jays were the "best talkers," found them arguing over a problem they couldn't solve. Some people will try to see what is happening while others are trying different problems to solve it. To solve a problem, you can work together and figure it out. "
INTRODUCTION Ever since the early days of humanity and recorded history, we know that humans have watched the sky and analyzed and recorded the movement of the various celestial bodies within it. Many of these early civilizations saw the movements within the sky as a celestial dance and were reproducing them in their own way as various dances. Song and dance is a traditional way for populations to teach and pass down important information to younger generations.