LANGUAGE

Language

By Gisela Balcázar

​"The systematic, conventional use of sounds, signs, or written symbols in a human society for communication and self-expression." (David Crystal)

​ What is language?

A system of arbitrary vocal symbols used for human communication, with various authors emphasizing different aspects like structure, meaning, and function.

Noam Chomsky: All humans have an innate capacity for language, language structure is governed by universal principles. 

Edward Sapir and Benjamin Whorf: Developed the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis, which suggests that language can influence our perception of reality. 

Michael Halliday: Language as a system of meaning, with language functions serving different communicative purposes. 

​ Language is part of a semiotic system

What Is Semiotics?

It is the study of signs and symbols and their use or interpretation. Semiotic systems are systems of communication and include not just human language (other forms are gestures, images, traffic signs, music, and body language).

This perspective aligns with the ideas of semiotics, the study of signs and symbols, as developed by Ferdinand de Saussure.

Arbitrary nature of linguistic signs: A sign does not have inherent meaning; instead, its meaning is shaped by context, convention, and usage.

​ The modes of language

Speech (primary)
Face to face conversations allow for clarification, see reactions, use intonation to emphasize words, express emotions, misunderstandings can be easily corrected.

Writing (secondary)
Preferred for contracts, legal systems, distance between writer and reader, writing has punctuation

Signing (for deaf people)

​The structural/formal side of language

Every language (spoken, written or signed) has structure. (Leech, 1983)

1) Rules govern the pronunciation of sounds, the way that words are put together, the manner in which phrases, clauses and sentences are structured, the ways meaning is created (grammar)
Rules of grammar operate at various levels: Phonetics, phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics.

​2) Principles stipulate how these structures should be used in context (pragmatics)

• Social context: Age, social class, education, occupation power hierarchy

• Linguistic context: studying language at the level of texts. They have beginning, middle, end and markers of cohesion that give coherence to the text.

​Properties of human language

We can use language to think and talk about language itself (Reflexivity)

Displacement

Humans can refer to past and future time. It allows language users to talk about things and events not present in the immediate environment.

Arbitrariness

There is no natural connection between a linguistic form and its meaning.

Productivity

The potential number of utterances in any human language is infinite.

Humans are continually creating new expressions and novel utterances by manipulating their linguistic resources to describe new objects and situations.

​Cultural transmission

We do not inherit language form parental genes. We acquire language in a culture with other speakers.

Humans are born with the ability to acquire language, but not to produce utterances in a specific language such as English.

Duality (double articulation)

Human language is organized at two levels.

At one level we can produce individual sounds, like o,p,t, with no meaning.

At another level we have meaning resulting from the combination of those sounds: pot, opt, top.