Introduction to Psychology in Yale 6: Language

Language

One of the most uniquely human abilities is the capacity for creating and understanding language. This lecture introduces students to the major topics within the study of language: phonology, morphology, syntax and recursion. This lecture also describes theories of language acquisition, arguments for the specialization of language, and the commonalities observed in different languages across cultures.

00:00 The scientific notion of language and structure.

15:53 phonology: a system of sounds.

24:07 Morphology: a system of words.

27:21 Syntax: communicating complicated ideas.

35:21 Question and answeer on language structure.

39:10 Noam Chomsky and language acquisition.

47:07 The time course of language acquisition.

The end!