Victoria Fromkin
Encyclopedia
Victoria Fromkin was an American linguist
who taught at UCLA. She studied slips of the tongue, mishearing, and other speech errors and applied this to phonology
, the study of how the sounds of a language are organized in the mind.
as Victoria Alexandra Landish on May 16, 1923. She earned a bachelor's degree in economics from the University of California at Berkeley in 1944. She later met Jack Fromkin and they were married in 1948. They went on to have a son, Mark, who died in a car accident at the age of 16.
Fromkin decided to head back to school to study linguistics while in her late 30s. She enrolled at UCLA as a master's student. She received her master's in 1963 and then went on to earn her Ph.D in 1965.
That same year, Fromkin joined the faculty of the linguistics department at UCLA. Her line of research mainly dealt with speech errors and slips of the tongue. She collected more than 12,000 examples of slips of the tongue.
From 1971 to 1975, Fromkin was part of a team of linguistic researchers studying the speech of the "feral child
" known as Genie
. Genie had spent the first 13 years of her life in severe isolation, and Fromkin and her associates hoped that her case would illuminate the process of language acquisition
after the critical period. However, the study ended after rancorous disputes over Genie's care, and the loss of funding from the National Institute of Mental Health
. Fromkin published several papers about Genie's linguistic development.
In 1974, Fromkin was commissioned by the producers of the children's television series Land of the Lost
to create a language for a species of primitive cavemen/primates called the Pakuni. Fromkin developed a 300-word vocabulary and syntax for the series, and "translated" scripts into her created Pakuni language for the series' first two seasons.
She became the first woman in the University of California system to be Vice Chancellor of Graduate Programs. She held this position from 1980 to 1989. She also earned the title of President of the Linguistic Society of America
. Fromkin was also chairwoman of the board of governors of the Academy of Aphasia. Fromkin was awarded the UCLA Harvey L. Eby Award.
Fromkin died at the age of 76 on January 19, 2000 from colon cancer.
Fromkin recorded nine different types of speech errors. The following are examples of each:
Fromkin theorized that slips of the tongue can occur at many levels including syntactic, phrasal, lexical or semantic, morphological, phonological. She also believed that slips of the tongue could occur as many different process procedures. The different forms were:
Fromkin's research helps support the argument that language processing is not modular. The argument for modularity claims that language is localized, domain-specific, mandatory, fast, and encapsulated. Her research on slips of the tongue have demonstrated that when people make slips of the tongue it usually happens on the same level, indicating that each level has a distinct place in the persons brain. Phonemes switch with phonemes, stems with stems, and morphemes switch with other morphemes.
Many different scholars have contributed research to the field of modularity. Some support the view that language processing is modular, while others support the view that language processing is not modular. The research of Fromkin helped support the hypothesis that language is modular. However, many scholars have argued that even though speech errors do occur people are still able to understand one another. This indicates that language is not modular.
Linguistics
Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. Linguistics can be broadly broken into three categories or subfields of study: language form, language meaning, and language in context....
who taught at UCLA. She studied slips of the tongue, mishearing, and other speech errors and applied this to phonology
Phonology
Phonology is, broadly speaking, the subdiscipline of linguistics concerned with the sounds of language. That is, it is the systematic use of sound to encode meaning in any spoken human language, or the field of linguistics studying this use...
, the study of how the sounds of a language are organized in the mind.
Biography
Fromkin was born in Passaic, New JerseyPassaic, New Jersey
Passaic is a city in Passaic County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city had a total population of 69,781, maintaining its status as the 15th largest municipality in New Jersey with an increase of 1,920 residents from the 2000 Census population of 67,861...
as Victoria Alexandra Landish on May 16, 1923. She earned a bachelor's degree in economics from the University of California at Berkeley in 1944. She later met Jack Fromkin and they were married in 1948. They went on to have a son, Mark, who died in a car accident at the age of 16.
Fromkin decided to head back to school to study linguistics while in her late 30s. She enrolled at UCLA as a master's student. She received her master's in 1963 and then went on to earn her Ph.D in 1965.
That same year, Fromkin joined the faculty of the linguistics department at UCLA. Her line of research mainly dealt with speech errors and slips of the tongue. She collected more than 12,000 examples of slips of the tongue.
From 1971 to 1975, Fromkin was part of a team of linguistic researchers studying the speech of the "feral child
Feral child
A feral child is a human child who has lived isolated from human contact from a very young age, and has no experience of human care, loving or social behavior, and, crucially, of human language...
" known as Genie
Genie (feral child)
Genie is the pseudonym for a feral child who spent nearly all of the first thirteen years of her life locked inside a bedroom strapped to a potty chair. She was a victim of one of the most severe cases of social isolation ever documented...
. Genie had spent the first 13 years of her life in severe isolation, and Fromkin and her associates hoped that her case would illuminate the process of language acquisition
Language acquisition
Language acquisition is the process by which humans acquire the capacity to perceive, produce and use words to understand and communicate. This capacity involves the picking up of diverse capacities including syntax, phonetics, and an extensive vocabulary. This language might be vocal as with...
after the critical period. However, the study ended after rancorous disputes over Genie's care, and the loss of funding from the National Institute of Mental Health
National Institute of Mental Health
The National Institute of Mental Health is one of 27 institutes and centers that make up the National Institutes of Health...
. Fromkin published several papers about Genie's linguistic development.
In 1974, Fromkin was commissioned by the producers of the children's television series Land of the Lost
Land of the Lost (1974 TV series)
Land of the Lost is a children's television series co-created and produced by Sid and Marty Krofft. During its original run, it was broadcast on the NBC television network....
to create a language for a species of primitive cavemen/primates called the Pakuni. Fromkin developed a 300-word vocabulary and syntax for the series, and "translated" scripts into her created Pakuni language for the series' first two seasons.
She became the first woman in the University of California system to be Vice Chancellor of Graduate Programs. She held this position from 1980 to 1989. She also earned the title of President of the Linguistic Society of America
Linguistic Society of America
The Linguistic Society of America is a professional society for linguists. It was founded in 1924 to advance linguistics, the scientific study of human language. The LSA has over 5,000 individual members and welcomes linguists of all kinds. It works to advance the discipline and to communicate...
. Fromkin was also chairwoman of the board of governors of the Academy of Aphasia. Fromkin was awarded the UCLA Harvey L. Eby Award.
Fromkin died at the age of 76 on January 19, 2000 from colon cancer.
Research
Fromkin contributed to the area of linguistics known as speech errors. She created "Fromkin's Speech Error Database", for which data collection is ongoing.Fromkin recorded nine different types of speech errors. The following are examples of each:
- Lexical:
- Target Utterance: A fifty-pound bag of dog food
- Error Utterance: A fifty-pound dog of bag food.
- Morphological:
- Target Utterance: A cameraman who wants to make a report about the horserace.
- Error Utterance: A cameraman who WANT to er make a reportage about the horserace who WANTS to make a reportage about the horse race.
- Morphosyntactic:
- Target Utterance: We began to collect a lot of data to determine what they may mean.
- Error Utterance: We began to collect a lot of data to determine what they may MEANT.
- Phonological:
- Target Utterance: A bread bun
- Error Utterance: A BRUN
- Phonological/lexical:
- Target Utterance: 280 days as compared to
- Error Utterance: 280 days as composed to
- Phonologic/Morphologic:
- Target Utterance: DISTINGUISHED TEACHING award
- Error Utterance: DISTEACHING TINGWER award
- Phrasal:
- Target Utterance: and then they start painting/need t'start painting
- Error Utterance: …and then they START NEED T'…need t'start painting.
- Syntactic:
- Target Utterance: a university that celebrated its 50th anniversary a couple of years ago
- Error Utterance: a university that IS celebratING its 50th anniversary a couple of years ago
- Tip-of-the-Tongue:
- Target Utterance: Cherokee
- Error Utterance: it starts with a "j"
Fromkin theorized that slips of the tongue can occur at many levels including syntactic, phrasal, lexical or semantic, morphological, phonological. She also believed that slips of the tongue could occur as many different process procedures. The different forms were:
- Addition: Someone wants to say, "bomb scare" but instead says, "bomb square."
- Deletion: Someone wants to say, "I hope you use the same brush every day" but instead says, "I hope you use the rush every day."
- Exchange: Wanting to say, "can you sign on the line" but instead says, "cas you nign on the line?"
- Substitution: Someone wants to say, "a vote for the guarneri quartet came in" but instead says, "a vote for the guarneri quartAte cAme in."
Fromkin's research helps support the argument that language processing is not modular. The argument for modularity claims that language is localized, domain-specific, mandatory, fast, and encapsulated. Her research on slips of the tongue have demonstrated that when people make slips of the tongue it usually happens on the same level, indicating that each level has a distinct place in the persons brain. Phonemes switch with phonemes, stems with stems, and morphemes switch with other morphemes.
Critiques
Critics of Fromkin have discussed the possibility of experimenter bias during the collection of the thousands of speech errors. The speech errors were collected by observation which could lead to experimenter bias or human error.Many different scholars have contributed research to the field of modularity. Some support the view that language processing is modular, while others support the view that language processing is not modular. The research of Fromkin helped support the hypothesis that language is modular. However, many scholars have argued that even though speech errors do occur people are still able to understand one another. This indicates that language is not modular.