# Language is Incredible ### Dr. Will Styler --- ### Using language is the most incredible and complex thing you will ever do - ... and yet you do it every day, all day --- ### People don't generally see this - We use language *so often* that it feels 'boring', 'normal' and 'easy' - We stop seeing the complexity - We stop seeing how truly bizarre it is - We stop understanding why people spend lifetimes studying it --- ### So, rather than trying to tell you why language is incredible... - I'm going to show you, by showing you that your language is very, very weird - That there is more complexity than most people *ever* notice - ... and yet it still works so well that it feels 'boring' - **That** is incredible --- ### Our plan - Speech is incredible - Grammar is incredible - Meaning is incredible - Language is incredible --- ## Speech is Incredible --- ### Your writing system is lying to you - We fought through, though rough boughs coughed. - Knight - This thistle - Unionized - Beet, bit, bet, bat, bird, but, bought, board, book, boot, boy, buy, bay, boat --- ### So, let's put the writing system aside! --- ## "Linguistics is the best major ever!" --- ### Your ability to understand speech is even more incredible --- ### Let's listen to some sounds <audio controls> <source src="phonmedia/lingmajor_f3.mp3" type="audio/mp3"> </audio> <audio controls> <source src="phonmedia/lingmajor_f2.mp3" type="audio/mp3"> </audio> <audio controls> <source src="phonmedia/lingmajor_f1.mp3" type="audio/mp3"> </audio> --- ### Let's listen to some sounds <audio controls> <source src="phonmedia/lingmajor_f3.mp3" type="audio/mp3"> </audio> <audio controls> <source src="phonmedia/lingmajor_f2.mp3" type="audio/mp3"> </audio> <audio controls> <source src="phonmedia/lingmajor_f1.mp3" type="audio/mp3"> </audio> <br> ### Now let's play all three at once! <audio controls> <source src="phonmedia/lingmajor_sine.mp3" type="audio/mp3"> </audio> --- ### Let's listen to some sounds <audio controls> <source src="phonmedia/lingmajor_f3.mp3" type="audio/mp3"> </audio> <audio controls> <source src="phonmedia/lingmajor_f2.mp3" type="audio/mp3"> </audio> <audio controls> <source src="phonmedia/lingmajor_f1.mp3" type="audio/mp3"> </audio> <br> ### Now let's play all three at once! <audio controls> <source src="phonmedia/lingmajor_sine.mp3" type="audio/mp3"> </audio> <br> ### Does this help? <audio controls> <source src="phonmedia/lingmajor_orig.mp3" type="audio/mp3"> </audio> --- ### Speech is incredible - It's nothing like our writing system makes us think it is - It's fluid, continuous, and complex - We are able to perceive speech despite incredible distortion - ### The fact that we can create and understand speech ever, at all, is incredible --- ## Grammar is incredible --- ### What do we mean by grammar? - Linguists have a different definition of grammar than most --- ### 'Grammar' to most people - They're is a nice park over their. - 'That's the wrong form of 'there'!!! - There ain't much good about our writing system in English irregardless of how you look at it. - 'Ain't isn't a real word, and OMG IRREGARDLESS IS BAD!!!' - **These are what we call 'prescriptive grammar' rules, and they're social constructs, and linguists don't care much about them** --- ### Linguists care about how people *actually use language* - What rules do speakers of this dialect *tend to follow* when speaking? - What makes language use *hard to understand* or *ambiguous*? - How do speakers of different dialects *vary* in terms of the rules they follow? - **These rules describe how people *actually communicate*, and what makes communication *break down*** --- ### Sample Sentences - I'm happy to present to you today. - Jessica succulent porch obsession on growing the has an. - All your base are belong to us. - Saw the car red - This would be perfectly fine in Spanish! --- ### We don't always 'know the rules' of our grammar - ... but we follow them, even when they're strange --- ### English past tense forms are weird! - sing -> sang - ring -> rang - bring -> brought - sting -> stung - ding -> dinged --- ### Are these words 'OK' or 'well formed' English words? - Quieter - Unquickliestinger - Slowest - Ari won the 2021 track meet, but Juan had a faster time when he won in 2022. - **I guess Juan was fastester.** --- ### We can understand a word without it feeling 'right' - 'fastester' is better than 'unquickliest' - ... but it's much worse than 'unlockable' - So, 'grammatical' isn't just 'yes' or 'no' --- ### We have similar intuitions about sentences - Will and Jessica went out for Krispy Kreme. - Please to be no eatings I are not tasty or nutritious. - I talked to more people than I recognized them. - I saw the cute black three cats. --- ### Let's build another sentence gradually and see how it goes --- ### The --- ### The boat --- ### The boat floated --- ### The boat floated down --- ### The boat floated down the --- ### The boat floated down the river --- ### The boat floated down the river sank. --- ### This is a 'Garden path' sentence - Your brain commits to one potential 'reading' of the sentence - Then, when you get that last word, your brain crashes - You have back up and analyze it differently to be able to understand it - The right pitch, timing, and intonation can make it feel OK - "The boat, floated down the river, sank!" --- ### Grammar is incredible - It's so much more than silly 'grammar rules' from pedants - We have strong knowledge of what forms should be used when - We understand that although we have lots of options, we can't always use all of them - Some of our judgments about language forms are strong and 'black and white' - ... but lots of forms can fall into 'gray areas' - ### We have strong and gradient instincts about how language works, even when we're not aware of it --- ### Yet, when meaning gets weird, those can break down - Which brings us to our next topic... --- ## Meaning is incredible --- ### You understand what words mean, right? - # "Truck" --- ### Let's ask a very common question in 2023 - # Are you a robot? --- ### Click on all slides containing a Truck --- <img class="r-stretch" src="img/truck_base.jpg" alt="$txt"> --- <img class="r-stretch" src="img/truck_penguin.jpg" alt="$txt"> --- <img class="r-stretch" src="img/truck_semi.jpg" alt="$txt"> --- <img class="r-stretch" src="img/truck_pickup.jpg" alt="$txt"> --- <img class="r-stretch" src="img/truck_schoolbus.jpg" alt="$txt"> --- <img class="r-stretch" src="img/truck_suv.jpg" alt="$txt"> --- <img class="r-stretch" src="img/truck_hamster.jpg" alt="$txt"> --- <img class="r-stretch" src="img/truck_realtoy.jpg" alt="$txt"> --- <img class="r-stretch" src="img/truck_skateboard.jpg" alt="$txt"> --- <img class="r-stretch" src="img/truck_firetruck.jpg" alt="$txt"> --- <img class="r-stretch" src="img/truck_elcamino.jpg" alt="$txt"> --- ### Words have a 'core meaning' - We call this a 'semantic prototype' - Yet, many things which aren't quite that still feel like 'truck' - Word meanings are *gradient*, rather than 'all or nothing' - ... or maybe you're all just robots --- ### How about a sentence you can understand but don't know the meaning of? --- <img class="r-stretch" src="img/meet_me_here.jpg" alt="$txt"> --- ### We also think about *why* people say things - "Will, who is definitely not Batman, gave a lecture." - "Dalen sure has been hanging out with Helen a lot lately." - "I ate some of your donuts" - "Your watch is gone? I wonder if Ryan's back in town." - **We understand what's implied without even thinking about it!** --- ### Meaning is incredible - Even single words' meanings can be tricky to pin down - Sentence meaning is easy to understand - Except when it isn't - Our knowledge about the world is crucial for understanding - ... and getting some meaning requires us to make assumptions about the world - ### We understand language's meaning with incredible nuance, using our knowledge of the world! --- ## All Language is Incredible --- ### *Everybody's* language is amazing to linguists - There's no such thing as 'good' or 'bad' language - Although social situations can dictate 'proper' language use, that's social! - Nobody speaks 'incorrectly', just differently - Speakers of different dialects don't have 'bad grammar', they just use a different grammar - **We believe that all language is valid and fundamentally worthy of study** --- ### ... and the rest of the world's languages are amazing too! - Different sounds! - Different word structures! - Different ways to build sentences! - Different ways to talk about reality, time, space, and events! - **Every language is just as capable of describing reality as any other language, but every language does it differently!** --- ### All human languages can teach us *something* - Every language community can teach us something about how Language works - No language is 'boring' or 'basic' or 'primitive' - ... and we as linguists can collaborate with communities to help folks to document, teach, and preserve their linguistic heritage --- ### So, all language is incredible - Whether formal or informal, prestigious or unrecognized - Whether new or old, from Dickens or Discord - Whether acknowledged as language or not - Signed or Spoken - Here or anywhere else - ### Language is Language, no matter the form, and it's all worth celebrating! --- ### One last question... --- ### How is this lecture like an extension cord? - It has a plug at the end! --- ### You should declare a Linguistics Major or Minor! - You'll learn how we can make sense of this madness - ... and find even more madness! - LIGN 101 is a great place to start (offered every quarter and over the summer) - More info at <https://savethevowels.org/lingmajor> - Or grab a flier for this afternoon's info session! - OK, OK, back to the actual point --- ### Using language is the most incredible and complex thing you will ever do - Speech is shockingly complex, and we don't care - We're barely aware of our grammar, yet we use it constantly to make fine-grained decisions - We understand nuanced meanings, informed by our understanding of the world - Everybody languages, in different, worthwhile, and valid ways, all of which can teach us about Humanity - Language is worth studying, and a life in language is a life well spent - ... because ... --- # Language is Incredible --- <huge>Thank you!</huge>