Language Features - PDF

Language Language is a social as well as an individual phenomenon It is culturally acquired All languages change across time and space   Language is a purely human and...

Language Language is a social as well as an individual phenomenon It is culturally acquired All languages change across time and space   Language is a purely human and non- Edward Sapir (1921) instinctive method of Language: An Introduction communicating ideas, to the Study of emotions and desires Speech by means of voluntarily produced symbols   From now on I will Noam Chomsky consider a language to (1957) be a set of sentences, Syntactic Structure s each finite in length and constructed out of a finite set of elements  Language is a system of arbitrary vocal symbols, by means of which Bernard Bloch and human beings as George L. Trager (1962) Encyclopaedia Britannic members of a social a group and participants in a culture, interact and communicate.  “language is a system of arbitrary symbols which permits all Definition people in a given culture to communicate or to interact”   1. Arbitrariness. Features It is generally the case that of there is no 'natural' language connection between a linguistic form and its meaning.   2. Symbolic  Languages use symbols which are arbitrarily chosen and conventionally accepted Features of and used. language  The intelligibility of language depends on a correct interpretation of these symbols. Examples Examples  3. Productivity. (openness) This is the ability to produce and Features of language understand any number of messages that have never been expressed before and that may express novel ideas.   4. Cultural Transmission. (social)  The process whereby language is passed on Features of from one generation to language the next.  Although it is a culturally transmitted feature, humans are born with an innate capacity to learn a language  5. Discreteness. This is the property of Features of language having complex messages that are built up out of smaller parts  At cat catterpillar   6. Displacement.  This refers to the ability to communicate about things that are not Features of present in space or time. language  Human language allows the users of language to talk about things and events not present in the immediate environment.  7 Duality. Language organized at two levels This property is called duality , o double articulation. 1. A Mode of Communication (vocal-auditory, visual, Features of tactile or even chemical)  language 2. Semanticity. The signals in any communication system have meaning.   8.Pragmatic function.  All systems of communication serve Features of some useful purpose, language from helping the species to stay alive to influencing others' behavior.   9 Interchangeability. Features of  The ability of individuals language to both send and receive messages. Features of 10. Human language   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v= Pidgins and qqJI7SdS9Gg Creoles https://youtu.be/ji6vURnWfrk Variation in language