{"id":97979,"date":"2023-04-04T13:30:00","date_gmt":"2023-04-04T17:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?p=97979"},"modified":"2023-04-07T11:16:34","modified_gmt":"2023-04-07T15:16:34","slug":"how-does-language-work","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-does-language-work\/","title":{"rendered":"How Does Language Work? Steven Pinker Explains"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

How does language work? What are the smallest meaningful language units? How does the brain interpret speech?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In The Language Instinct<\/em>, <\/em>Steven Pinker aims to inspire readers to appreciate the unique qualities of human language. He explains how language works by describing the infinite combinatorial system, the mechanics of speech, and the brain processes involved in making sense of speech.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Keep reading to learn how language works.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

How Language Works<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

How does language work? To answer that, we\u2019ll begin by describing the elements of human language that make it both complex and precise. Pinker writes that, to understand the basics of human language, we must first understand its infinite combinatorial system\u2014the characteristic that lets us transform a finite number of sounds into infinite sentences<\/strong> based on a set of grammar rules called syntax. We\u2019ll also explain the physical mechanics of speaking and the neurological processing that enables people to interpret speech.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Infinite Combinatorial System<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Pinker writes that the infinite combinatorial system in human language is an underappreciated design element: It\u2019s ingenious because it enables endless creative expressions based on a relatively small set of basic units. (Shortform note: Zellig Harris was the first linguistic researcher to describe the \u201cdiscrete combinatorial system\u201d<\/a> in language, although Pinker was the first to use this exact phrasing. Discrete combinatorial systems also occur in other areas, such as music, which uses a set of notes and rhythmic notation to create complex musical compositions.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The elements of this system include phonemes, morphemes, words, and phrases\u2014all of which are universal in human languages.<\/strong> Phonemes are the smallest unit of speech. They\u2019re the individual sounds<\/em> in a language that create differences in meaning, like the \u201cd\u201d sound in the word \u201cdog.\u201d Vowels can represent multiple phonemes, like the \u201ca\u201d sound in \u201ccat\u201d versus the word \u201cfather.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pinker explains that we combine phonemes into morphemes, which are the smallest meaningful language units\u2014for example, root words such as \u201chope\u201d or prefixes and suffixes like \u201cun-\u201d or \u201c-less.\u201d By combining morphemes, we can create many different types of words, like \u201chopelessness,\u201d \u201choped,\u201d and \u201chopefully.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then, we can combine words into phrases, and phrases into highly complex sentences. To tie words and phrases together logically, languages use syntax. Syntax includes the structural rules of language, which determine things like the order of the subject, verb, and object in a sentence. Using the combinatorial system and syntax, we can precisely indicate the what, where, when, why, and how of an event. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Diverse Methods of Combining Linguistic Elements<\/strong>

The infinite combinatorial property manifests in diverse ways in different languages. One of the main structural differences among languages is morphology<\/a>: the process of combining morphemes to create larger words.

For example, Spanish has a fusion-type morphology because two different words like \u201cyo hablo\u201d can be combined into one word: \u201chablo.\u201d On the other hand, polysynthetic languages like Mohawk combine many morphemes\u2014that signify pronouns, prepositions, direct objects, and verbs\u2014to create an entire sentence in one word. For example, the word \u201csah\u0173wanhot\u0173kwahse\u0294\u201d means \u201cshe opened the door for him again.\u201d In these types of languages, it\u2019s difficult to identify phrases, and the distinction between a sentence and word is obscured.<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Mechanics of Language<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Pinker writes that, for humans to actually speak, six different body parts have to physically coordinate<\/strong>: the larynx, soft palate, tongue body, tongue tip, tongue root, and lips. Each phoneme represents a specific configuration of these body parts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Adding to this complexity, we often drop phonemes and blend them together for convenience when we speak\u2014a process called coarticulation. There\u2019s also no distinct gap between each word when we speak. So, as someone interprets speech, their brain is constantly parsing the audio input, separating it into discrete words, and processing the meaning of words based on memory and context.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Information Processing in the Brain<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Pinker explains that, to process speech, humans not only sort out the individual words but also parse the words into noun phrases, verb phrases, and prepositional phrases. We logically link the phrases, use our short-term memory to keep track of multiple phrases, and interpret the most likely meaning of each word as we go along.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Combining Word-By-Word Interpretation and Cultural Nuance<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Understanding sentences is partly a modular process because we group words into phrases, but we also interpret the most likely meaning of each word as we go along<\/strong>. Sometimes, if we initially interpret the wrong meaning of a word, we have to backtrack and try interpreting the sentence again with a different plausible word meaning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pinker points out that, in addition to quickly choosing a word meaning based on the context, people rely on subtext, humor, sarcasm, and metaphor to understand what other people are really saying<\/strong>. This is partly due to our desire to adhere to social norms<\/a>, like being polite.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pinker asserts that the combination of these skills\u2014grouping types of phrases, identifying a word’s meaning based on the context, and incorporating cultural nuance\u2014are what make the human approach to interpreting language highly sophisticated and difficult to replicate.  Pinker claims that without these uniquely human advantages, AI will never come close to interpreting language with the same accuracy as humans.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

How does language work? What are the smallest meaningful language units? How does the brain interpret speech? In The Language Instinct, Steven Pinker aims to inspire readers to appreciate the unique qualities of human language. He explains how language works by describing the infinite combinatorial system, the mechanics of speech, and the brain processes involved in making sense of speech. Keep reading to learn how language works.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":47707,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[34,160],"tags":[968],"class_list":["post-97979","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-communication","category-science","tag-the-language-instinct","","tg-column-two"],"yoast_head":"\nHow Does Language Work? 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