I don’t have any questions about the texts but I do find some claims problematic. For instance, I find that the claim stating that naturalism has merit in circumstances when onomatopoeia is used is questionable. Conventionalism as described by Aristotle and Wittgenstein describe the meaning of a word as its use. I think that the fact that a word might sound similar to its reference does not mean that such a connection is inherent. Instead, onomatopoeic words are given their meaning through their use; especially as different languages have different onomatopoeic words. An example includes how meow isニャー (nyaa) in Japanese.
I do not believe language is a biological phenomenon. We are born with the potential to learn languages, but the actualization of this phenomenon depends on already existing languages and teachers to give language to others. To give a hypothetical an individual that grows up in an isolated environment may have the potential to learn or create their own language. However, without anyone to teach or talk to them there can be no actualization of the potential to learn/create language.
There are three parts of the brain that are most important for the production and comprehension of speech. First, is Broca’s area which includes the lower back part of the frontal lobe is important for the comprehension of languages. Meanwhile Wernicke’s area, that is the upper back of the temporal lobe, is important for comprehending speech. Additionally, Heshel’s gyri of the upper part of the temporal lobe is involved in auditory receptions. Therefore, in order to process meaning Heshel’s gyri receives auditory information, Wernicke’s area assists in comprehending what I have heard, and Broca’s area allows me to speak about what was said to me.
However to consptualize meaning I refer to my understanding of semantics. First, I look at the sense of words as well as their reference. Next, I look at whether words are monosemic or polysemic. Monosemic are understood without much effort as there is only one meaning. For polysemic words it is more complicated as I need to use collocation, inclusion, synonyms, and antonyms in order to fully comprehend a word. To conclude, I do not feel as though there are any special insights from the reading that motivate me or help to advance my ability in learning a foreign language. However, I will continue to learn using the previously mentioned techniques that I know work for me.
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Thanks for posting, Han. In the interest of keeping the assignments organized, I'm going to re-label this submission as SDLC 105 Ning Discussion Post #1. Please be sure to follow the nomenclature listed in the syllabus to help keep the two sets of assignments clear.