Language

=**__Language__**=

- Although we do not need language to convey everything, we do need language in order to convey some things (i.e. express how we're feeling). - Language is also needed in order to further our knowledge in specific areas (i.e. science- language is needed to expand one's knowledge of this). - Developing language was advantageous when it was first evolving because it allowed the human race to expand what they knew and better their lives (i.e. first human beings communicating about what food may have been safe to eat and what food may not have been).
 * 1. The need for language; why developing language was advantageous

2. What language is; the requirements of true language**

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- There are some forms of language that are learned and other forms which are inherent (i.e. animals are born knowing some ways of communication, humans must learn how to speak in a certain language). - Language is always used to express how or what people/animals are feeling or to convey a certain idea.
 * - There are not many requirements of true language; language can be written or spoken.

3. The sources of ambiguity in language -Weasel words can be a source of ambiguity in language because they are words such as "probably" and people can insert them into speech, which makes what they are saying sound more non-committal and can often mislead people. - Another source of ambiguity in language is grammar because it can often affect the way people interpret something (i.e. the order of words can be changed to change the meaning). - Another source of ambiguity in language is sarcasm because it can mean one thing when written, but when someone says that same thing it can mean the opposite or something far from the truth.

4. What does "meaning" mean? The importance of social context.**

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- There can also be underlying meanings of certain words (i.e. implications/ words that imply certain things yet truly mean something else). - There can also be words that have certain meanings to some people and different meanings to other people (i.e. the word "relax" can mean to take a break from work and watch TV, but for others it could mean something along the lines of simply taking a breath).
 * - The definition of "meaning" is "the thing one intends to convey especially by language" which is what it means on the literal level.

5. What is a definition? Basic requirements.**

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- Definitions can also mean different things for different people or people can have different definitions for different things (i.e. someone from England could have a different definition of a word than someone form America). - There can also be multiple definitions for words such as "blue" (i.e. it can mean the color blue or it can mean sad).
 * - The literal definition of "definition" is "a statement of the meaning of a word or word group or a sign or symbol."

6. Words, the abstraction ladder and why we must abstract - We must abstract so that things that have something in common all share a common name or abbreviation. - The abstraction ladder starts out broad, for example "cow", and finishes up at the top with "wealth," and it shows how one thing can be abstracted so that it can bring about another significance. - Another important point is that people can take words such as "work" and find that they have a very broad meaning and stand at a higher level of abstraction since "work" can mean anything from cleaning the house to selling real estate.

7. How to define through examples, operational definitions, and references to other levels of the abstraction ladder - The abstraction ladder starts out with something narrow such as an animal, like Bessie, a cow. - As the ladder moves higher, the categories get more broad such as "cow," "livestock," "farm assets," "assets" and then "wealth." - This makes sense because "Bessie" fits into the category of "cow" and "cow fits into the category of "livestock" and so forth, but the level of abstraction is higher as the original word shifts and is put into a broader category. **

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- One element of stories we tell or could tell is bias because each person has their own opinions about certain topics or issues and this could effect the way a story is told. - Another elements is underlying connotation of certain words or phrases in stories because someone could say something and be implying something else. This is also an example of ambiguity of language because the listener to the story may not understand what the hidden meaning is, which changes the overall meaning of the story. - Sarcasm is also an example of an elements of stories we tell or could tell because in a written story someone could write something and the reader would take it literally, but if that same story was spoken aloud then the storyteller could say something a certain way or emphasize it in order to imply that it means something else.
 * 8. What is in the stories we tell, and what stories we can tell; words as carriers of social or cultural bias

9. Does language determine how we think? - Language does not determine how we think, but it controls to what extent we can express our thoughts. - For example, someone could be thinking something in their mind, such as they are hungry, and language is not needed to know that, but language is needed to express that thought. - Although language does not determine directly how we think, it can put words in our minds to things that we feel (i.e. we can feel sad, but in order to think about why or go into more depth about it on our minds we do need language).

10. Using words to influence others; political control of language - Language can be used to influence others in many ways such as a strong speech given (i.e. a strong speech given by a president that could change the way people think about about them or even make them reconsider their position when voting). - Language is also used to manipulate the way people view certain ideas about war such as "warspeak" words like "no longer a factor" means "dead." Another example is that "ethnic cleansing" means "genocide." - These examples of "warspeak" may change opinions about war because the phrase "ethnic cleansing" sounds somewhat positive when it truly means a mass killing. **