Structure of Language

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Structure of Language 

Language is a system of communicating with others that uses signals that are combined according to the rules of grammar and that convey meaning 

Grammar - a set of rules that specifies how units of language can be combined in order to produce meaningful messages

Human language has the following properties: 
Uses symbols (sounds, writing, etc.) that convey meaning 
Generativity - symbols can be combined in infinite ways to convey novel meanings 
Displacement - we can refer to things that are not present
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Basic Characteristics 
Phonemes - the smallest units of sound that are recognizable as speech
Example - "ba" or "ta"
Phonological rules - language rules that indicate how phonemes can be combined. Differ from language to language

Morphemes - the smallest meaningful units of language, made up of phonemes
Example - "bat" or "tab"
Content morphemes - things and events
Function morphemes - grammatical functions 
Morphological rules - language rules that indicate how morphemes can be combined to form words. Differ from language to language 

Syntactic rules - language rules that indicate how words can be combined to form sentences and phrases 



Wize Tip
Having trouble keeping phonemes and morphemes straight? Phonemes starts with an f sound - so they come first

Practice: The Structure of Language
Which of the following is not a property of human language? 

Practice: The Structure of Language
In English, adding an s to the end of a word generally makes it plural. This is an example of a: 

Wize University Psychology Textbook > Language & Thought

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Structure of Language

Basic Characteristics

Practice: The Structure of Language

Practice: The Structure of Language