Reidy, Virginia

Language and Language Development

UCSD
Professor Stephanie LaQua, M.Ed.
7 March 2016
Assignment 3A

McWhorter's The Power of Babel Discussion and Analysis

Short Essay and Evaluation Prompts: Questions 7-12
7. How do Pidgin English and tone relate to the development of
language? Is there a difference when people use the language without
having the need to acquire it? Explain. (Chapters 4 and 5, p. 206)
A pidgin language refers to when a rudimentary language is formed
when people needed to use a language on a regular basis without
having the need or motivation to acquire it fully (p. 134 McWhorter),
such as in the 1800s when the Norwegians and Russians were in a
trade relationship. They formed a very sparse shared language in order
to communicate, but didnt see the need in learning the other
language fully. Pidgin English varieties formed in a similar manner, but
some were not of a mutual nature as in the case of Native Americans.
For many, the English they acquired was as needed - enough for
basic communication and brief interactions. My favorite example from
McWhorters book is that of the Native American woman dissing a
white suitor. She said, You silly. You weak. You baby-hands. No catch
horse. No kill buffalo. No good but for sit still read book (McWhorter
136). She certainly got her message across. I think people who dont
need to acquire a language, but use it for basic purposes, just do the
minimum to get by with it.
Regarding the use of tone in a language to differentiate word
meanings, McWhorter explains, tones emerge in a language as an
accident of sound erosion rather than out of any communicative
imperative (195). Tonal differences are used when sound erosion
makes words undistinguishable unless it is used, especially when the
language makes heavy use of simple monosyllables (McWhorter
197). However, when a rudimentary pidgin is formed because adults
need to learn and use a language quickly or passing, utilitarian
purposes (McWhorter 206), subtleties such as tone are cast aside.
The simplistic purpose for the creation of the pidgin ensures that none

of the potential language complexities from the original languages

makes it into the pidgin.
8. In Chapter 5, the author argues that world languages are densely
overgrown and contain utterly unnecessary decorations, and fluff. How
would communication be without evidentiary markers?
Evidential markers are used in certain languages, such as the Tuyuca
language to help give a language a more nuanced, expressive
capability. These markers give precise indicators regarding the source
of the circumstances and provide more information. Different suffixes
in the Tuyuca (Amazon) language help indicate a more precise
explanation. Instead of just He is chopping trees, there are various
suffixes that describe under what circumstances the speaker knows
this (hears him chopping, sees him chopping, supposes he is
chopping). McWhorter says the markers, renders a language more
expressive and precise (180). However, he feels that these types of
markers are not really needed, but rather an accessory to full human
communication (McWhorter 181). He refers linguistic overgrowth as
language having developed baubles (McWhorter 215). I think that
the baubles are what make a language beautiful and artistic, especially
in the form of written expression, such as poetry, prose and lyrics, but I
understand his point about their extraneous nature.
9. Intonation influences the meaning and register of a word. Could you
give an example of how precise Chinese syllable stress is key in
communicating? (p. 194)
McWhorter explains that in Chinese, as in many Asian languages, the
same syllable can have a great many different meanings depending
merely on what tone it is uttered (194). He explains how many
meanings there can be for the single syllable yau, depending on one
of six tones used: (McWhorter 194).
Syllable: yau
TONE
MEANING
high and level tone
Worry (or rest, depending on other words)
high and rising tone
paint
middle and level tone
thin
low and falling tone
oil and swim
low and rising tone
have and friend
low and level tone
Again and right (as in hand)
McWhorter notes how these nuances pose a great challenge to
learners unaccustomed to linking meaning to subtle tonal gradations
(194).

10. McWhorter argues in Ch. 5 that tone is not a necessary feature of

the human language. It is a cognitively parsable but ultimately
accidental permutation of a languages original material that can result
only from a language, which began without it. (p. 197) Why is this
linguistic argument important? Explain.
McWhorter makes an argument that tone is a secondary feature of
language that resulted from sound erosion and has no original
communicative value. The original language existed and functioned
without tone-infused words, and these words only exist now because of
accidental permutation of the original language. McWhorters
argument is important in that it implies languages can work without
the added fluff and sludge that often muddy their
expressiveness. He says that developmental overkill (McWhorter
205) contributes to why learning other languages as adults is such a
challenge. On the other hand, though, now that tone has become
integral to understanding many languages, it seems to me that it must
be considered an essential component of those languages.
11. Discuss the authors point of view on Sign Language (p. 214).
McWhorter considers sign language to be of equal stature to spoken
languages. He uses the example of deaf children coming together for
the first time to demonstrate how a language might start anew. These
particular children, from Nicaragua, had no established sign language
and little contact with other deaf people. They came together in a new
school for the deaf with only the language systems they had used in
their individual homes, which were very specific to each child.
McWhorter explains, they quickly conventionalized a systematic sign
language of their own capable of expressing all human thoughts
(214). This touching and beautiful example supports the idea that sign
language can develop like real (spoken) languages do. McWhorter
says that sign languages contain the same elements as spoken
languages, such as grammar, complexity and nuance. However, since
sign languages are more recently developed, they more closely
resemble the newer creoles in structure. He calls them manual
creoles (McWhorter 214).
12. Spoken language is an ever-changing system, the very nature of
which is always in a process of transformation into a new language.
Can we justify the double negative as grammatically acceptable in the
English language today? Who is Falstaff?
***Posted on the discussion forum***
Falstaff is an iconic and historically immensely popular Shakespeare
character. He appeared in three of Shakespeares plays, Henry IV,
Henry V and the Merry Wives of Windsor. McWhorter uses one of

Falstaffs lines from a famous speech in Henry IV to illustrate the

strength of employing a double-negative. Theres never none of these
demure boys come to any proof Falstaff says, referring to why
abstinence from drinking alcohol isnt good! McWhorter is
demonstrating how the use of the double negative was used by
Shakespeare to give greater emphasis to the phrase. Falstaff was really
sure that drinking was important to the body and morals of a man! The
contradiction is that Falstaff was not a moral character. Or should I say,
not no way was he a conscientious man! McWhorter is making a point
about the contradictory and arbitrary nature of language by using a
character full of contradictions himself to demonstrate his point. He
explains that the rules of use against the double negative are an
example of rules that "have been imposed on the language from
without, rather than arising naturally within them" (McWhorter 226).
He thinks that the rule against double negatives is "the most utterly
silly of these rules" since it's use is prevalent in languages throughout
the rest of the world, such as in the Spanish phrase, "Nunca he visto
nada" (Never have I seen nothing).