Few Concerns of the Course

“LANGUAGE”A Detailed Study of Complexity of

Language

What is language?

Definitions formulated by some Linguists

• Bloch and Trager (1942): “A language is a system of arbitrary vocal symbols by means of which a social gorup co-operates”.

• Noam Chomsky(1957): “Language is a set of finite number sentences, each finite in lingth and constructed out of a finite set of elements”

• Michael Halliday (2003): “A language is a system of meaning- a semiotic system”– Reconsider the following quatations• “speech breaks silence to say something; however,

silence can say more than speech”.• “Word is spoken to that who does not understand”.

• Muharrem Ergin(1990): “Language is a natural means to enable communication among people, a living entity that it has its own peculiar laws, by means of which alone can it develop, a system of contracts whose foundation was laid in times unknown, and a social institution interwoven with sounds”.

Sapir (1921)

• Sapir (1921) gave a more plausible definition about human language by stating that:

Language is a purely human and non-instinctive method of communicating ideas, emotions, and desires by means of a system of voluntarily produced symbols.

David Crystal (1989)

David Crystal (1989):

The discussion may be summarized by referring to language as human vocal noise (or graphic representation of this noise in writing) used systematically and conventionally by a community for purposes of communication.

• R.H Hobbins (1990):

Language is a form of communication by means of a system of symbols principally transmitted by vocal sounds.

Webster' s New World Dictionary (Pp. 759) [ 1 ]

• (a) human speech;• (b)the ability to communicate by this means;• (c) a system of vocal sounds and

combinations of such sounds to which meaning is attributed, used for the expression or communication of thoughts and feelings;

• (d) the written representation of such a system;

Webster' s New World Dictionary (Pp. 759) [2]

• (a) 'any means of expressing or communicating, as gestures, signs, or animal sounds;

• (b) a special set of symbols; letters, numerals, rules etc. used for the transmission of information, as in a computer; ...

A Generally Accepted Definition

• Language is a system of arbitrary vocal symbols used for human communication.

Understanding the Definition

• QS:• 1. Why a system?• 2. Why arbitrary?• 3. Why vocal?• 4. Why symbols?• 5. Why human?• 6. Why communication?

We are Uniquely Language-Users

Other Animals Communicate• Cats arch their back to scare the neighbor cat• Bees tell each other when they have found

food• Chimpanzees can be taught to use primitive

sign language to communicate desires.

We are Uniquely Language-Users

We Use Language• We can separate our vocalization

from a given situation (cats only arch their back in the appropriate situation).

• We can lie (animals only report)• We can speculate (animals are bad at

counterfactuals)

Functions of Language

• Question:• What do you think are the functions

of language?

Elements of Communication: Jakobson’s Model (1960)

• Context• Referential

• Addresser Message Addressee• Emotive Poetic Conative

• Contact• Phatic

• Code• Metalingual

Metafunctions of Language: Halliday’s Model

• 1. Ideational: Constructs a model of experience and constructs logical relations ( through transitive system)

• (Linguistic Constructionism)• 2. Interpersonal: enacts social

relationships (through mood and modality)• 3. Contextual: creates relevance to context

(through coherence and cohesion)• Systemic Functional Linguistics

M. A. K. Halliday

• (1925-), founder of systemic functional linguistics,1947-1949 studied at Beijing University, 1949-1950 studied at Ling Nan University, 1955 got doctor’s degree at Cambridge University with The Language of the Chinese “Secret History of the Mongols”

Summary of the Functions of Language

• 1. Informative : Language serves an informative function when it is used to tell what the speaker believes, to give information about facts, or to reason things out.

• By use of Declarative Sentences

Summary of the Functions of Language

• 2. Interrogative: When language is used to get information from others, it serves an interrogative function

• Through Questions that expect answers.

Summary of the Functions of Language

• 3. Interpersonal: Language serves an interpersonal function when it is used to establish and maintain their status in a society.

• Five sub-categories of interpersonal function: performative, directive, emotive, expressive, and phatic.

Summary of the Functions of Language

• Performative: the use of language to “do things”, to perform actions.

• Through quite formal and even ritualized language.

Summary of the Functions of Language

• Directive: When language is used to get the hearer do something, it serves a directive function.

• Most Imperative sentences.

Summary of the Functions of Language

• Emotive: the use of language to create certain feelings in the hearer.

• Through Jokes, Advertising, Propaganda, etc.

Summary of the Functions of Language

• Expressive: the use of language to reveal something about the feelings and attitudes of the speaker.

• Through Exclamations, etc.

Summary of the Functions of Language

• Phatic: the use of language to establish an atmosphere or maintaining social contact.

• E.g. Greetings, Farewells, and Comments on the weather, etc.

Summary of the Functions of Language

• Recreational: the use of language for the sheer joy of using it.

• E.g. baby’s babbling, poetry, etc.

Summary of the Functions of Language

• Metalingual: the use of language to talk about language itself.

• This makes language infinitely self-reflexive: We human beings can talk about talk and think about thinking, and thus only humans can ask what it means to communicate, to think, to be human.

Parts of Language/Grammar

Grammar• Phonology – Rule pertaining to the sound

system• Morphology – Rules governing word

structure. • Syntax – Rules governing the structure of

sentences• Semantics – Rules concerning meaning.

Phonological Rules

Language consists of a fairly small set of sounds (phonemes). There are about 40 in English. Most have no meaning in themselves; rather we string them together to form meaningful bits and pieces.

Rules - E.g., an English word can end, but not begin, with an -ng sound

Morphology

Language is Made up of Morphemes. Many are words (Lexicon is the dictionary of).

“Papers” has 2 morphemes (paper & s)

3 million words in English (about 200,000 words in common use today).

Syntactic Rules

Rules that enable us to combine morphemes into sentences (bridge between sound and meaning).

When children put words together they are following syntactic rules about how morphemes are put together.

Semantic

Arbitrariness of the Sign - Sounds of words bear no relationship to meaning (except for onomatopoeia).

In Philosophy we often distinguish between denotation and connotation.

Semantics Follows Syntax

“The people talked over the noise”

Two Syntaxtical Interpretations 1. [The people] [talked [over]the noise]]] - Over is a

preposition 2. [The people [talked over][the noise] – Over is a

particle

Semantics Follows Syntax

A single sentence can correspond to two propositions, each of which has a distinctive syntactic (and logical) structure, hence, a different cognitive representation.

• Evidence that meaning is assigned to syntactic structure, rather than to words and sentences.

Grammar

How do we know that one sentence is grammatical and the other is not?

– Amy likes Stan– Think likes I Stan that Amy

Cannot be that we have learned each instance individually. Sentences are infinite; brain is not.

Interesting Facts About Language• The number of sentences is infinite. • We are able to distinguish grammatical

from ungrammatical sentences.• We are able to recognize truncated

sentences (“Stop it”) that are missing nouns.

• We are able to recognize ambiguous sentences (“Andrew saw the girl with binoculars”)

• We can create sentences that paraphrase each other.

Features of Language• The important features that all human languages have in

common (not solely English). • Design features of language by American linguists

Charles Hockett:– 1.Use of sound signals– 2.Arbitrarines– 3.The need for learning– 4.Dualtiy of patterns– 5.Displacement– 6.Creativity (productivity)– 7.Patterning– 8.Structure dependence

Minor features of Language• Language reveals patterns of how mind works.• Language is a means for mental and social development.• Language is a property of the individual as well as of the

society.• Language is a predictor of social identity.• Language is a predictor of social identity• Language is used for cultural preservation and

transmission• Language can be used by some to exert their power over

others.

Continues..• The direction of changes in language is not predictable.• Language is not monolithic but varied. It exhibits variatiosn

(e.g.Dialects)• Self-talk can be regarded as a form of language• We talk in our minds: inner speech. Using language for

thinking• We cannot help but to process and understand what we hear• Language, unless recorded, flies away the moment we speak

it.• All the language have the same potential for development.• Language facilitates abstract thought (i.e. Thinking)• Language is adaptable & flexible to accommodate new

communicative needs.

3Ds of Language

• Dimensions of language as used in oral communication

• 1. FORM: sound, word, sentence(accurate?)• 2. MEANING: what does it mean?• 3. USE: where, when with who to use it?

(appropriate?)

Knowledge of a language• “I know English?”– identifying individual sounds correctly.– Knowing the combinations of sounds. For

example: beg is permitted but bge is not permitted.

– Knowing the formation and division of words. Clear-ly.

– Combination of words at sentence level.– Decoding all above system: understanding the

meanings of words, phrases, sentences.– Using language in communicative context.

• Label each of the above explanations with one of the terms: syntax, morphology, pragmatics, semantics, phonetics and phonology

Continues..

• Knowing a language means having moderate level of speaking and listenings skills. And also expressing ideas in written mode.

• You are illeterate if you cannot convert your speech into writing.

Use of Language in Everyday Life

• Normal conversation uses 4,000 or 5,000 words an hour.

• A radio talk, where there are fewer pauses uses as many as 8,000-9,000 words per hour.

• A person reading at a normal speed covers 14,000 or 15,000 words per hour.

• Per day, the total could be as high as 100,000.

• Therefore, the use of language is an integral part of human being.

• Children all over the world start putting words together at approximately the same age, and follow remarkably similar paths in their speech development.

• All languages are similar in their basic structure, whether they are in Africa, Austria, Turkey…

Summary

• Analysis of definitions of language• Functions of Language• Parts of Language• Features of Language• Knowledge of Language• Use of Language in Everyday life• A brief overview of the course