This document discusses language and the mind from several perspectives. It covers Universal Grammar and its relevance, the relationship between language and the mind including psycholinguistics, neurolinguistics, and cognitive science. It also discusses theories of the mind-body problem including dualism, materialism, idealism, and monism. Finally, it discusses Chomsky's theory of mentalism and innateness as well as the relationship between language and the structure and lateralization of the brain.

1. Chapter 8
Language & Mind
Group 8 BS (Hons) English
 Hafsa Wahid (13) Lecturer : Ma’am Shaista
 Rana Haidar (47)
 Nida Zameer (21)
 Hamza Tahir (38)
 Sonila Younas (30)

3.  Universal Grammar & Its Relevance

4. ‘‘ Universal Grammar ’’
 In 13th & 18th century, a system of universal grammar was
developed in which the connection between logic and grammar
was made clear with some kind of philosophical justification.
 But for various reasons, universal grammar, in the traditional
sense went out of favour in the course of 19th century.
 It revived in the last twenty years, as a part of ‘Generativism’
by Chomsky and his followers.
 Chomsky’s version of universal grammar suggests that:
 ‘’Some rules of grammar are hard-wired into the brain, and
manifest without being taught.’’

5.  It is language that is being investigated, rather than some other
faculty or mode of operation of the human mind, a whole new
subdiscipline has developed in recent years called
Psycholinguistics.

6.  Psycholinguistics is the study of language & mind: the mental
structures & process which are involved in the acquisition,
comprehension & production of language.
 Neurolinguistics is the study of physical structure of brain & how
language is represented & processed in the brain.
 Cognitive sciences is the interdisciplinary scientific study of mind
& its processes. It examines what cognition is, what it does and
how it works. It focuses on how information is represented,
processed, and transformed within nervous systems.
 Sociolinguistics studies relation between language & society: how
social factors influence the structure & use of language.

7. ‘‘ Mind-Body Problem ’’
 The existence of mind & its relation to the body which it inhabits,
or with which it is in some way associated, constitute a long-
standing & controversial philosophical problem.
 To formulate & solve the Mind-Body problems, the following may
be mentioned here:-
 Dualism
 Materialism
 Idealism
 Monism

8. Dualism: It is associated notably with Plato & Descartes. It
holds that ‘‘not only that mind exists, but that it differs from
matter in being non-physical.’’
Materialism: Holds that ‘‘nothing exists but matter.’’ One version
of materialism is behaviourism, according to which there is no
such entity as the mind.
Idealism: As materialism denies the existence of mind, so
idealism denies the existence of matter & holds that everything
that exists is mental. An alternative term for idealism is
mentalism.
Monism: In contrast with dualism, it proclaims that reality is one. Both
materialism & idealism can, therefore, be regarded as different versions of
monism. However, monism has the view that neither the physical nor the
mental is the ultimate reality: they are both different aspects of something
more neutral & more fundamental.

9.  Mentalism, Rationalism & Innateness
 Chomsky & his followers have claimed that language provide
evidence for mentalism: i.e. for a belief in the existence of
mind.
 They say that the acquisition & use of language can’t be
explained without making an appeal to principles of any purely
physiological account of human beings.
 They refuse those psychologists, notably the behaviourists, who
insist that everything that is traditionally described as mental is
the product of simple physical processes.
 Chomskyan mentalism has both negative & positive aspect.
 Its negative aspect is its anti-physicalism or anti-materialism
and anti-behaviourism.

10.  Reductionism: It’s a doctrine that some sciences are more basic
than others, in the sense that the theoretical concepts of a less
basic science are to be defined, ultimately, in terms of the
theoretical concepts of a more basic science.
 Chomsky’s positive aspect constitutes original & controversial
part of his mentalism.
 Chomsky sides with the rationalists, who emphasize the role of
reason. He takes the view that the principles whereby the mind
acquires knowledge are innate.
 That mind is not a blank slate upon which experience leaves its
imprint, rather it’s a block of marble, which can be hewn into
several shapes but whose structure imposes constraints upon the
sculptor’s creativity.

11.  Chomsky says: Language serves for the expression of thought that
human beings are innately endowed with the capacity of form
some concepts rather than others and that concept formation is a
precondition of one’s acquisition of the meaning of words.
 Chomsky’s positive contribution to the philosophy of mint & to the
psychology of language-acquisition, rests upon his recognition of
the importance of structure-dependency as an apparently universal
property of human languages.
 Structure-dependency: To say that a rule is structure-dependent
is to imply that the set or sequence of objects to which it applies
has an internal structure and that the rule makes essential
reference to this structure as a condition of applicability or
determinant of its manner of application.

12.  Besides Chomsky’s mentalism another theory was also
influential by Swiss psychologist, Piaget. Known as theory of
Cognitive Development.
 According to Piaget, there are four stages in development of
child’s mental processes.
 Sensori-motor stage
 Pre-operational stage
 Concrete operational stage
 Formal operational stage

13.  In these stages, crucial for language-acquisition, in Piaget’s
view, is the transition from the sensori-motor stage, which
lasts from birth to about two years old. During this stage child
experiments with concrete objects in his environment.
 Next is pre-operational stage, which lasts from two to seven
years. During this stage child comes to manipulate words &
phrases on the basis of his prior understanding of the way in
which concrete objects can be compared, moved around &
transformed.
 Attractive in Piaget’s work is its attempt to account for
language-acquisition in terms of more general principles of
mental development.

14.  ‘‘ Language & The Brain ’’
 Structure Of Brain:-
 The brain plays the most significant role in the operations that we
normally described as mental. The human brain is very complex the
way it performs its various functions.
 The brain – most particularly the cerebrum – is divided into two
halves, or hemispheres, linked by the corpus callosum. The outer
layer of both hemispheres consists of grey matter – the cortex –
containing neurons & nerve cells; & these are interconnected by
means of an equally numerous set of fibres in the white matter
that lies below the cortex.
 The right hemisphere controls the left side of the body, whereas
the left hemisphere controls the right side.

15.  There is a special relationship between language & that left
hemisphere, so generally speaking language is controlled by left
hemisphere.
 The process whereby one hemisphere of the brain is specialized for
the performance of certain functions is known as lateralization.
 The process of lateralization is maturational, in the sense that it is
genetically preprogrammed, but takes time to develop.
 Lateralization seems to be specific in human beings. It is generally
thought to begin when the child is about 2 years old & to be
complete at some time between the age of five & the onset of
puberty.

16.  Lateralization in general is commonly held to be an evolutionary
precondition of man’s development of superior intelligence.
 It is widely held view that lateralization is a precondition of the
acquisition of language.
 It becomes difficult to acquire language after the age at which
lateralization is complete, it is referred to as critical age for
language acquisition in the sense that language will not be acquired
at all, or at least not with full mastery of its resources after this age.
 Language acquisition faculty is independent of other intellectual
abilities.
 Different aspects of language processing appear to be more
characteristic of the left hemisphere than others.

17.  Language behaviour involves the integration of several
neurophysiologically distinct processes.
 All these things are certainly consistent with Chomskyan hypothesis
that Language-faculty is a uniquely human but genetically
transmitted capacity which is distinct from, but operates in
collaboration with, other mental faculties.