Syntax

Question 1

How we interpret a sentence, other than words. Provide an example of this

Answer 1

Dog chase cats. Cats chase dogs. (Both are understandable yet differ in meaning)
Chase dogs cats (does not really make sense)

Question 2

Rules that govern how we combine words into phrases and phrases into sentences

Answer 2

Syntax

Question 3

Describe phrase structure

Answer 3

Sentence=noun phrase+ verb phrase

Question 4

Describe noun phrase structure

Answer 4

(Article)+ (adjective)+ noun

Question 5

Describe verb phrases

Answer 5

Verb+ (propositional phrase)

Question 6

Deascribe prepositional phrase

Answer 6

Preposition+ noun phrase

Question 7

Describe transformational grammar with “the man who was running is bald”

Answer 7

You can turn it into a question by moving is- is the man who was man running bald (grammatical)
ungrammatical: “was the man who running is bald”- can’t move the was because it was part of an embedded clause

Question 8

What is the points of evidence that syntax is psychologically real?

Answer 8

Children with minimal knowledge of grammar can make adult-like grammaticality judgements
Damage to the left hemisphere can impair syntactic processing independent of semantic processing
Sentences that are syntactically complex take longer to read independent of their length
If you give a syntactic anomaly mid sentence, the brain registers it before the sentence’s meaning can be contemplated

Question 9

Do we mostly produce grammatical sentences? At what age ranges?

Answer 9

Yes we do, unless there are certain impairments, even as young children

Question 10

Are children able to tell if sentences are grammatically off? Provide an example of a study.

Answer 10

Asks 2 year old children do the sentences sound silly:
Clothes iron
Song me a sing
Ball me throw
Cup find
Were suggested to correct the sentences, and were able to- iron clothes, sing me a song, fill the cup, etc

Question 11

Provide an example of 7 year olds being able to understand grammar

Answer 11

Are able to tell “Golf plays the sister” is not gramatically correct when “The sister plays golf” is, Understand is and are. Children were generally found to agree with adult grammar judgements especially by 7, over chance by 5

Question 12

Language area in the left inferior frontal gyrus

Answer 12

Broca’s area

Question 13

Language area in the left superior temporal gyrus

Answer 13

Wernicke’s area

Question 14

Language areas in the brain are only on which sides of the brain?

Answer 14

Only on the left side of the brain, not mirrored

Question 15

language disorder

Answer 15

Aphasia

Question 16

Patients with Broca’s areas would have impairments in…

Answer 16

Lose the ability to combine noun and verbs in sentences, ungrammatical yet still meaningful for conveying meaning

Question 17

Broca’s area is more critical for?

Answer 17

Syntax, broken sentences

Question 18

Patients with Wernicke’s aphasia have impairments in?

Answer 18

meanings and semantics, can make grammatical yet is non-meaningful

Question 19

Wernicke’s aphasia leads to?

Answer 19

Spared syntax but are unable to find the words they are trying to retrieve.

Question 20

Describe processing speed with “Sherlock saw the man using binoculars”

Answer 20

Technically can be used in two ways. “the man using binoculars” can either be attached to “saw” (minimal attachment) while the second one, Sherlock saw the man using binoculars, using is used to describe the man (nonminimal attachment) because it uses different levels

Question 21

Describe “the spy saw the cop with binoculars/revolver but the cop didn’t see him”

Answer 21

Binocular takes longer to read because binocular sentence could be interpreted with different ways- cop or spy both have binoculars. Revolver sentence is simpler because you can’t see someone with a revolver

Question 22

How was EEGs used to measure whether syntax was neurologically detectable

Answer 22

Recorded ERPs (EEG data) as participants read grammatical or ungrammatical sentences like “the doctor hoped the patient was lying”/ “the doctor forced the patient was lying”. It was found that spike in activity occurs 600 ms following the first sign of a syntactic error- positive spike of activity

Question 23

Describe the monster-name study

Answer 23

most adults label the monster a rat-eater instead of rats-eater after being primed with paper-eater and glue-eater. 3 year olds do the same. Done because of rules for applying affixes. Compound (-eater) takes precedent over plurals, so the #s is dropped out

Question 24

How do we know language level rules?

Answer 24

“Language instinct”- humans are born with Language Acquisition device to learn basic rules- you speak the language that is modeled for in your community. Differences between languages are superficial but shared syntactic notion that are shared

Question 25

How do languages differ?

Answer 25

Differ in phonemes, morphemes, words and phrases, also differ in some syntactic rules (object follow verbs or precede verbs) but at least 45 syntactic rules are universal

Question 26

Do children deprived of linguistic input show evidence of a language instinct

Answer 26

Children who are deaf and parents who teach them spoken language invent their own signing conventions in order to communicate. It was found that children made distinct signs, so did parents, but children came up with their own signs that their parents did not use discretely. If shared, home signs can become a language

Question 27

Describe the basis of Nicaraguan sign language

Answer 27

Deaf Nicaraguans were isolated from one another until 1977. School attempted to teach children spoken Spanish. Children instead pooled together their home signs into their own sign language

Question 28

What was the question of Senghas et al?

Answer 28

Is Nicaraguan Sign Language a “true” language? Do syntactic rules emerge?

Question 29

What are the alternatives of Senghas et al?

Answer 29

Yes, NHL embodies discreteness and combinatorial patterning (how discrete signs are combined) No, NHL is just a widespread gesture system with no underlying structure

Question 30

What is the logic of Senghas et al?

Answer 30

If NSL is a true language, then NSL signers should express the manner and path of a motion event with different signs

Question 31

What was the method of Senghas et al?

Answer 31

30 NSL, 10 per generation and 10 non-deaf Spanish speakers. Participants were shown Bug’s bunny cartoons and asked to describe what they saw.

Question 32

What are the results of Senghas et al

Answer 32

Spanish speaker articulate manner and path simultaneously while NSL signer articulate manner and path sequentially, particularly in Cohort 2 and Cohort 3

Question 33

What are the inferences of Senghas et al?

Answer 33

Within just 30 years, NSL acquired the discrete, combinatorial properties true of other languages NSL has greater expressive power than a gesture system in that it allows for hierarchical constructions Humans do not merely transmit language, they create it