5.2 Language development: the meaning of language terms and early speech.

The student of language development needs to understand a number of terms in common use by linguists. The most basic verbal element is the lexical or word content referring to the number and variety of words in a language. Phonemes are the smallest unit of sound, and morphemes are the most elementary meanings in a language. The grammar of a language is also called the syntax, and refers to the specific rules that determine how words are combined or structured. Verbal language is also about the sounds we make in speech, and phonology refers to how words should sound in a given language. Pragmatics is about the social context and how language is dependent on and understood within a given situation. Finally, semantics refer to the meaning or substance of words.

The smallest units of speech are phonemes as indicated above. Cultures produce varying emphasizes on phonemes that can cause both amusing language differences and also difficulties in pronunciation. For example l and r are not distinct in the Japanese language as it is in English. Japanese speakers cannot distinguish between la and ra, a distinction easily made by U.S. respondents (Miawaki, Strange, Verbrugge, Liberman, Jenkins, & Fujimura, 1975). Infants are able to make phonetic distinctions before they can articulate speech. Once developed the boundaries of phonetic expression are set causing problems when later learning a second language (Goto, 1971). Infants begin to babble at about 6 months, and start forming words after one year. The lexical accumulation is followed by the learning of grammatical rules, and later learning helps the child to take the nonverbal context into account such as the pragmatic rules of taking turns in speech.

5.3 Cultural language difference and linguistic relativity.

Although humans have a universal hardwired ability to acquire language, variances caused by culture are noteworthy. It is by interaction with members of one’s culture that language is gradually shaped by reinforcing certain sounds while ignoring or discouraging other expressions. These basic sounds gradually take on meaning and eventually produce words and vocabulary. Humans have the innate ability to produce an almost infinite set of meanings from relatively few elementary sounds, a characteristic that differentiates humans from other primates (Fitch & Hauser, 2004). Culture also determines the structure or grammar of language, and also the pragmatic rules for speech in the social context. What we know about a person’s culture is largely communicated in language, and the very essence of culture and fundamental values are expressed through culturally determined speech.

Languages differ in word content and in the cultural context of communication. How we define relationships between ourselves and others is determined by cultural determined referents. In English we typically simplify relationships through the use of “you” for other people, whereas “I” is the word referring to ourselves. However, in other cultures this self-other referent is more complex. In Japanese what we call others depend on our mutual relationship, and in particular the relative status equity or inequity between the speakers. In Japanese if a person is of higher status the individual would refer to that individual by the role or position. Parents would say “father or mother is telling you...” or the professor would say referring to him or /herself “Professor wants you to do this…”.The pragmatics of Japanese society require politeness, gender awareness, and varying degrees of familiarity. Familiarity is also part of European languages other than English, with two terms to indicate “you”, one familiar and the other polite. In any event Japanese have a highly differentiated language lexical structure regarding the self-other and how the language is used depend on the social context and the existing status differential.

The cultural context is expressed in the variations of terms used to define the familiar and outgroup relationships. These words are differentiated more intimately in Japanese ingroup relationships compared to respondents in the U.S. (Gudykunst & Nishida, 1986). In one study the rules governing language use were investigated in 71 countries that used 39 languages. The principal finding supported different cultural conceptualizations of the self and others. This finding suggests that the very meaning of the self is cultural and language determined. Cultures also differ in the amount of self-disclosure (Chen, 1995). U.S. respondents were more self-disclosing in a variety of areas than the Japanese. The communication style carries important meanings about culture. Some languages tend to employ very direct styles whereas other cultures imbed meaning in the social context. In some cultures the way language is expressed carry equal or greater communicative importance compared to the content. As we can see communication between cultures is not always straight forward, especially between languages that are direct versus those that are elaborated in the social context and therefore indirect.