Talk:Natural language

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Contents 1 Native speakers of constructed languages 2 Modes of languages 3 A merger is required! 4 Acquisition of spoken vs. written language

[edit] Native speakers of constructed languages

Constructed languages can still have "native" speakers, if children learn it at a young age from parents who have learned the language.

Why is this factoid about here but not in constructed languages? --Ed Poor

I don't think this is actually true, unless the constructed language obeys universal grammar, which I don't know of any that do. Unless there is a citation for this? -- Beland 19:20, 9 September 2006 (UTC)

I'm not sure if got this right, but you seem to be saying that 1) constructed languages cannot have native speakers if they do not obey "universal grammar", and 2) you don't know any constructed languages that obey it. But it is a well-known fact that there are native speakers of Esperanto, whereas universal grammar is a disputed theoretical concept that does not have any commonly accepted definition. --AAikio 06:12, 10 September 2006 (UTC)

The requirement that natural languages be "naturally evolved" isn't particularly clear and a better criterion would be that a child has acquired it as a native (first?) language and "language" refers to the communicative system learned by the child (which may be strictly different than the "correct" form of, for example, an artificial language spoken to the child by his parents). Universal grammar (which as a concept is not particularly controversial; however its extent and content surely is a matter of intense empirical investigation/debate) doesn't really have much to do with it, although it is a useful theory for explaining why children "tweak" constructed languages that are taught to them by non-native speakers (see for examples of this, Modern Hebrew, Czech).

[edit] Modes of languages

I'm not sure if it should be added, so I'll let someone else do so if they think it's worth noting. In the opening sentence, it is mentioned that languages can be spoken or signed. I'm wondering if that should be eliminated or expanded in a list. There are many more language modes, which would not fit into a concise sentence. They should either be listed or left out. The modes I can come up with are: spoken written signed tactile Certainly the different modes of a language are related, and not all languages have exist in each mode. Actually, 4 modes could be incorporated into a sentence. I'll try.

[edit] A merger is required!

I think that the article 'Human Language' should be merged into this one (Natural Language). —Preceding unsigned comment added by 59.183.176.210 (talk) 03:37, 15 February 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Acquisition of spoken vs. written language

The claim:

Furthermore, natural language acquisition during childhood is largely spontaneous, while literacy must usually be intentionally acquired.^{[citation needed]}

When adding a citation, 91.148.159.4 wrote in the edit summary:

→Written languages: whoever requested a citation for *this*?

For the record, I requested it. I was sounding out words in the newspaper before age 3, and during ages 4 to 6, every phrase that went through my mental tape loop would show up in printed or written text on my mental sketchpad before I understood it. I wonder whether I "acquired" reading English in the same way that people "acquire" listening and speaking English, or whether it was just a Tetris effect from teaching myself to read. But then I'm diagnosed gifted. --Damian Yerrick (talk | stalk) 01:50, 14 April 2008 (UTC)