ITRODUCTION TO LINGUISTICS

STUDENT
Laura Carolina Benavides Orduz
Grupo No. 518017_4

Tutor
Viviana Andrea Ospina Giraldo

UNIVERSIDAD NACIONAL ABIERTA Y A DISTANCIA –

UNAD
Zipaquirá, Cundinamarca.
Febrero 11, 2020
2.1. When people wants to define Language, it is common that they easily confuse it with
other concepts such as grammar, written language or thought; in the video, Professor
Pinker talks about it, please, explain in your words, how or why Language is not exactly
those other things.

Answer: Language is a miracle because it allows us to exchange an unlimited number of ideas

using an infinite set of mental tools which are the lexicon of words we memorize and a mental
grammar that allows us to combine. ( Min, 47:48)

2.2. In a very concise form and according to the video, say what language is.

Answer:
language is the center of human life and is in turn a set of mental tools that allow its creation
and understanding. ( Min 2:35 y 47:58)

2.3. According to the video, please explain what concept is developed with the famous
Noan Chomsky’s phrase “Colorless green ideas sleep furiously”.

ANSWER:
It is meaningless, and any English speaker can instantly recognize that it conforms to English
syntax patterns in addition to generating the iudea that one should look for or investigate how
the ability to produce and understand new ideas works since this phrase although it makes no
sense has good writing. ( Min 18:00)

2.4. What is the basic explanation for the fact that a person speaks a foreign language
with a specific accent?
ANSWER: The foreigner or person who speaks a foreign language to the native transfers the
phonology of their first language and applies it to their second language by calling it that
accent, this happens when the phonology rules are used deliberately ( MIN 34:04)
2.5. Despite computational linguistics have had great advances, what have been some
typical linguistic difficulties to computers process human language?

Answer: Each vowel or consonant comes out very differently, depending on what comes before
and what goes next, this phenomenon is called co-articulation and the computer must have a
programming that is too accurate to co-articulate in a "natural" way.Min (40:19)

3. Create three more questions and give their respective answers also based on the video.
- How many languages are on the planet?
Answer: There are 6,000 languages which are all complex and used on earth.(min 2:55)
- In the rule of non-infinitives what examples gives
Answer: Captain Kirk: To boldy go where no man has gone before / To go boldy where no man
has gone before (min 5:31)
Mick jagger: I can't get no satisfaction / I can't get any satisfaction (min 6:20)
- What kind of grammar do linguists distinguish?
ANSWER: Descriptive grammar (the rules that characterize the way people speak) Prescriptive
grammar (How people should speak if they are writing carefull written prose. (min 4:58)

BIBLIOGRAPHY:

[Big Think]. (2012, October 6). Steven Pinker: Linguistics as a Window to Understanding the
Brain [Video File].