Introduction to Language & Linguistics
Definitions of language
• Language is any means, vocal or other, of expressing or communicating feeling or thought … a system of conventionalised signs, especially words or gestures having fixed meaning.(Webster’s New International Dictionary of the English language 1934:1270)
• Language is a systematic means of communicating ideas or feelings by the used of conventionalised signs, sounds, gestures or marks having understood meanings. (Webster’s Third International Dictionary of the English Language 1961:1270)
• Language is a system of arbitrary vocal symbols used for human communication (Wardhaugh 1972:3)
• Language is a system of arbitrary, vocal symbols which permit all people in a given culture, or other people who have learned the system of that culture, to communicate or to interact (Finocchiaro 1964: 8).
• Language is a system of communication by sound, operating through the organs of speech and hearing, among members of a given community, and using vocal symbols possessing arbitrary conventional meanings (Pei 1966: 141)
• Language considered as an abstract system or a social institution, being the common possession of a speech community
• Source:Collins English Dictionary (1979) William Collins Sons & Co. London & Glasgow
• A language /læŋgwɪdʒ/ is a system of communication which consist of a set of sounds and written symbols which are used by the people of a particular country or region for talking or writing in.
• A particular set of words or symbols that a computer will accept and which can therefore be used in writing computer programs or giving instruction to the computer e.g Fortran and Basic. Source: Collins Cobuild English Language Dictionary, (1994) HarperCollins Publishers. London.
What is linguistics?
- Langue – linguistics
- langue [C13: from Old French- langage; ultimately from Latin lingua tongue
- Parole [C19 from French: language.] meaning linguistics. Language manifested in the individual speech acts of particular speakers.
- Linguistics can be defined as the systematic or scientific inquiry into human language – into its structure and uses and the relationship between them, and into the development and acquisition of language.
- The scope of linguistics includes language structure and language use.
- Language is viewed as more than communication. It is a social action and has work to perform. It is a system that speakers, writers, and signers exploit purposefully.
- Language is used to do things.
Example
• Language symbolizes cultural reality.
• Language is a system of signs that is seen as having itself a cultural value. Speakers identify themselves and others through their use of language: view language as symbol of identity. The prohibition of its use is often perceived by its speakers as a rejection of their social group and their culture.
Why does language provides such a fascinating object of study?
• Perhaps because of its unique role in capturing the breadth of human thought and endeavour. We look around us, and are awed by the variety of several thousand languages and dialects, expressing a multiplicity of world views, literatures, and ways of life.
• We look back at the thoughts of our predecessors and we find we can see only as far as language let us see.
• We look forward and in time, and we find we can plan only through language. We look outward in space, and send symbols of communication along with our spacecraft, to explain who we are, in case there is anyone there who wants to know.
• The importance we attach to language as means of understanding ourselves and our society, and resolving some of the problems and tensions that arise from human interactions. No sector of society is unaffected, and all can benefit from the study of the linguistic factors that constitute a barrier, as well as means of communication. Source: Crystal, David. The Cambridge Encyclopaedia of Language
FUNCTIONS OF LANGUAGE
• A) Interactional functions .Humans use language to interact with each other, socially and emotionally; how they indicate friendliness, co-operation or hostility, or annoyance, pain or pleasure.
Emotional expression
• Emotive or expressive function of language can be used whether or not we are alone.
• Expressive - insult, compliment, expressing anger, happiness, sadness, disappointment.
- angry or frustrated state; swear words and obscenities
• Expressing appreciation to poetry, literature, paintings e.g.involuntary verbal reaction to a breathtaking scenery, and the emotional outpourings of certain kinds of poetry.
Social interaction
• Language is used to maintain a comfortable relationship between people. Its function is to provide a means of avoiding situation which both parties might otherwise find embarrassing.
• ‘Good morning; and ‘Pleased to meet you’
• ‘Lovely day ; How are you?
• No factual content is involved: maintain rapport between people
• The anthropologist Bronislow Malinoswki refer to it as ‘phatic communion’ that arises out of the basic need to signal friendship -social function.
• Directive - language of social control - persuasion- advertising - sermons, preaching, order
• a) Sit up straight b) Pass the milk please
• c) Aren’t you feeling hot? …meaning take off the coat.
• d) You make a good door … meaning get out of the way
• Informative – most people think this is language primary function
• E.g.It is six o’clock
• She’s almost five years old
• My favourite colour is red.
B. Transactional functions
• Humans use their language to communicate knowledge, skills and information.
• It must have developed for the transfer of knowledge from one generation to another. The transfer remains fairly restricted in time and space as long as it can only be realised in speech.
The control of reality
• All forms of supernatural belief involve the use of language as a means of controlling the forces which the believers feel affect their lives.
• The various prayers and formulae which are directed at God, gods, devils, spirits, objects and other physical forces which are always in highly distinctive forms of language.
Recording the facts.
• When language is used for the purpose of recording facts, it displays a much greater degree of organisation, impersonality, and explicitness.
• This function of language is represented by all kinds of record keeping such as historical records, geographical surveys, business accounts, scientific reports, parliamentary acts and public data bank.
The instrument of thought
• People often feel the need to speak their thoughts aloud. It helps their concentration. The common use of language as an instrument of thought is found when people perform mathematical calculations in their head.
• Sometimes people move their lips but no sound comes out of them – sub-vocal form.
The expression of identity
• Many social situations display language which unites rather than informs. Our use of language can tell our listener or reader a great deal about ourselves. A major function of language is the expression of personal identity.
Note
• Multifunctional utterances are normal and frequent
• E.g. Your son is a bully (informative, expressive, directive)
• I’ll see you at ten in my office (informative, directive)
Conclusion
• Why do we use language?
• “To communicate our ideas” is the common answer and the most widely recognised function. We use language to exchange facts and opinion”.
• Is the answer above adequate?
Suggested references
• Fromkin, V., Rodman,R. Hyam, N (2003). An Introduction to Language. 7th. Ed. Sydney. Holt, Rine and Winston.
• Finegan, E., N (2008). Language: Its Structure and Use. San Diego. Harcourt Brace Jovanovich
• Aitchison, J. (1976) The Articulate Mammal. Hutchinson
• Yule, George. (1996) The Study of Language. Second Edition. Cambridge, CUP
• Crystal, David.(1987) The Cambridge Encyclopaedia of Language
No comments:
Post a Comment