The study of Language by George Yule

1. THE STUDY OF
LANGUAGE
GEORGE YULE
ISFD N°41 LANGUAGE AND WRITTEN
EXPRESSION
Teacher: Stella Maris SAUBIDET OYHAMBURU

2. CONTENT
 The Origins of Language
 Animals and Human Language

3. THE ORIGINS OF LANGUAGE
Some type of spoken language
must have developed between
100,000 and 50,000 years ago

4. The Divine
Source
Very young children
living without access to
human language in their
early years grow up with
no language at all.
The Natural
Sound Source
“BOW-WOW THEORY”
of language
ONOMATOPEIA

5. The Social
Interaction
Source
“YO-HE-HO” theory.
To mantain social
organizations some
form of
communication is
required.
The Physical
Adaptation
Source
There are certain
physical features,
which appear to be
relevant for speech.
Teeth, lips, mouth,
larinx and pharynx.

7. The Tool-
making Source
All languages, including
sign language, require
the organizing and
combining of sounds or
signs in specific
arrangements.
The Genetic
Source
Only humans possess
a special “language
gene.”
INNATENESS
HYPOTHESIS

8. ANIMALS AND HUMAN LANGUAGE
Comunication
INFORMATIVE
SIGNALS
• Unintentionally
COMMUNICATIVE
SIGNALS
• Produced on
purpose

9. Properties of Human Language
Displacement Arbitrarines
Productivity
Duality
Cultural
transmition

10. Talking to Animals
Animals produce a particular behavior
in response to a particular sound-stimulus or
noise, but does not actually “understand” what
the words in the noise mean

11. Washoe Sarah and Lana
Chimpanzees and language
The controversy
• Kanzi

12. Using Language
We still do not seem to have a
non-controversial definition of what
counts as “using language.”

13. BIBLIOGRAPHY
Yule, G. (2010). The study of
Language. Unit 1 and 2. U.K.:
CUP.