Nature of Language PDF

NATURE OF LANGUAGE Language as something learnt Language could be programmed and coded in our genes as human beings, but mastering the system of the language programming is far beyond being able to produce it. Language is something that is learned through exposure and practice....

NATURE OF LANGUAGE Language as something learnt Language could be programmed and coded in our genes as human beings, but mastering the system of the language programming is far beyond being able to produce it. Language is something that is learned through exposure and practice. Language acquisition is produced through active learning and repetitive interaction (Perry, 2020) Therefore, language learning is behavioral, imitative, and learned through effort. Language as related to the culture of society There is always a cyclical association among language, society and culture that is produced due to the interaction. Language is culturally defined. They are inseparable in a way that culture affects language, and languages affect the mental state of society. Language creates a vital foundation in the development of a society. Language as species-specific, uniformed and unique to humans Language is human. (Edward Sapir) The ability to use and respond to language is generally inherited by humans. The human brain is different from that of the animals. (Chomsky, 1975) Language functions in the left hemisphere of the brain, seated at the cortex, different from the rest of the animals. Language is human species-specific since only humans are gifted with language. Language as a system Language is a system of sounds and symbols. There phonological and grammatical systems. Linguistic units constitute language. distinguishing systematic categories of language: Sound system, structures and meaning System of symbols and non-verbal signals Language works through symbols Language as vocal Language is oral. Speech is primary and writing is secondary. Speech is the fundamental expression of language. Language is spoken first before written. The sum of the considerable amount of speech produced is way larger than that of the written works. Language as a skill subject Learning a language is acquiring skills. The macro skills – listening and viewing, speaking, reading and writing – are categorized in receptive and expressive language skills. Receptive skills and expressive skills are intertwined; receptive language skill is an essential foundation in developing expressive skills. The skills are honed through extensive reading, studying of the rules, listening for precision in the articulation of sounds and accuracy of intended meaning, practice and repetition. Language mastery is acquired by learning the skills through constant practice and exposure The language skill acquired is a stepping stone in gaining linguistic and communicative competence and performance. Language as a means of communication is a process of conveying and exchanging message from person to person using a medium. is the greatest form of intelligent interaction for the gifted individuals of the universe Communication and language are mutually linked since the beginning of time - people living in an organized community interact progressively is linguistic and speech communication purposively designed to put intended messages across either spoken or written. is a tool to express feelings and ideas is a social phenomenon, programmed with sets if conventional communicative marks allowing humans to communicate with precision is specifically a human activity that facilitates the transport of emotions and thoughts from one person to another serves as an intermediary between the individual and the community. Language as arbitrary Language is a structure of conventional symbols. Each symbol embodies a stretch of sounds with which a sense could be associated. There is no scientific principle that underlie the naming of symbols. The availability of words is guided by no purpose Socrates- a word assigned to an object as was not based on pure convention. It resulted from integral correctness, which related the features of the object to the sounds to label it. Lucretius- “anyone could be given any names and continuously use them” Wilhelm von Humboldt- “There is a acceptable basis in forming words that “language naturally selects for particular objects speech sounds Saussure (father of modern linguistics)- “Language is a convention, the nature and sign that are agreed upon do not matter because they are arbitrary, it follows no law but rather based on pure tradition (pratclif.com) CHARACTERISTICS OF LANGUAGE Conventional and Non-instinctive People communicate spontaneously and patterns of communication are not planned. The language systems, symbols, structures and meanings are always products of the peoples’ thoughts produced in harmony Productivity and Creativity Language is productive. It is creative. It keeps on sprouting that with one word emerges another Duality Language duality is what gives language expressive power since meaningless sounds are combined according to rules to form meaningful words (Luden, 2016) Displacement The property of displacement explains why humans are capable of recalling stories that happened or even creating stories that may not be realistically possible such as fiction Humanness Human language is mor intricate than animal communication Universality A linguistic universal is a systematic occurrence of the linguistic patterns across national languages Linguist defined two universal ▪ the absolute – where all elements apply to every human language ▪ the implicational – where only particular features apply to different languages LANGUAGE FUNCTIONS Interpersonal fulfills the human needs to exchange experiences since humans are social beings communicators use grammatical preferences that enable them to perform their interpersonal relations based on the assumptions that a human being does not only talk but it is constant conversation with others language is used to interact, establish and maintain a relationship, influence behavior, express a point of view or elicit others’ point of view Informative Languages are used not only for interaction but also as a packet of information Language does not confirm or reject propositions Language is used to inform or to give further emphasis to the known information Declarative statements are used Informative language is seen in analytical reports, arguments, and directions or most everyday speeches Performative Denotes actions using the verbs to be performed Language is used to do things or perform or reports an action Expressive Verbal communication is always used to meet the needs to express oneself. Language is used to express feelings. Expressive language function reports attitudes and emotions “You’re such a happy pill.” Or “This is great.” Jakobson’s Functions of Language Referential Function associated with the context concerned with the content language describes a situation or an object referred to a denotative, cognitive function since it pronounces a mental state involves both deictic words and specific descriptions to show things of facts example: “The sun rises from the east and sets in the west.” Emotive Function focuses on the sender, similar to expressive language best illustrated with interjections which are spoken to express a burst of emotions or surprise, excitement or frustrations is an expression of the speaker’s mental state – the speaker speaks for herself/himself is an expression of the speaker’s mental state – the speaker speaks for herself/himself o Example: “ouch”, “yuck”, “wow” Conative Function is directive and oriented towards receiver. used when the speaker expresses purposively to persuade or influence the receiver used for causing preventing an action used for commands and requests linguistic expressions evocative and imperative sentences which will direct the receiver to act out and do something linguistic expressions evocative and imperative sentences which will direct the receiver to act out and do something o Example: “Come in and join the class. Phatic Function communication is not only dependent on the sender and the receiver alone a channel of Jakobson calls it contact, is also necessary a channel is a psychological and physical association between the sender and the receiver is a socio-linguistic function used for the sake of interaction set for the “channel or contact” that establishes, suspends, or prolongs the communication used to keep the communication open and maintain contact with the person one is talking with a check whether the channel is still there a check whether the channel is still there Example: “Are you still listening?” or “Can you hear me?” can also be observed in greetings and casual conversations such as “hello” or “hi” provide keys to maintain or close the contact or channel for communication Example: “ok” or “bye” Metalingual Function also called “reflexive” use of language to describe itself (self-referential) or use of the code as Jakobson calls it language is used to talk about its features as in “sky has three letters” language is used to talk about itself, compared to the “the sky is blue” which about the characteristics of the characteristics Poetic Function focuses on the message and its aesthetic presentation associated with how the message reflects itself refers to the descriptive language used to create a picture in the mind an aesthetic manipulation of the intrinsic linguistic elements which focuses primarily on the splendor of the language itself. presents the richness of the language texture and sound words are arranged and crafted strikingly usings sounds and linguistic feature used in poetry – can’t be reduced only to the poetic nuances allows the readers or listeners more focus on the “signifiers” of linguists signs, away from the signified (Tsur, 2010) Halliday’s Meta Functions of Language Ideational Function involves the natural world and human consciousness concerned with creating and maintaining a notion of experience which is both experiential and logical denotes the speaker’s choice of linguistic elements that will help him to make meaning mostly illustrated when you interact with your surrounding and use the language to construe prototype of your experiences through interactions, humans make meaning from their experiences denotes logical-semantic associations where the relationship between one clausal unit and another is established Interpersonal Function is about the world of people working together seeks to create and uphold social relationships includes sentences and grammatical choices that allow s person to enact interpersonal relations grounded on assumption that a speaker always communicates with another which shows that language does not only interpret experiences but also as a vehicle with which to interact Textual Function comprises all grammatical systems needed to create relevance to context, through which language creates a semiotic world of its own A text is created that coheres the context of the situation within itself. Halliday’s Micro-Functions of Language Instrumental Function refers to the use of language to communicate, expresses desires, choices and preferences use of language instruments used when a child expresses what he/she wants such as food or milk and what he/she needs Regulatory Function refers to the use of language to control and regulate behavior concerned with influencing people to do things for the child Example: regulatory expressions ▪ “go away” ▪ “Do as I tell you” Interactional Function is often used to develop relationship and smoothen interaction includes greetings or responding to calls, like “I love you” or “thank you Personal Function demonstration when it is used convey information based on a personal level, such as emotions and attitudes and the identity of the speaker includes “noises children make when they find something interesting, or something tastes nice happens when the child wants to display his/her grasps of himself/herself and how he/she id distinct from the environment Heuristic Function when children explore and desire to learn form their environment, they used language in a heuristic manner children have inquisitive mind example: “what is that for?” or “tell me why” Imaginative Function used by the children to generate imaginary construct observed when they talk to themselves, create a story and converse with an imaginary friend is fulfilled when the children create and modify the place and the situation that they are in by using the language Example: “Let’ pretend…” or “imagine that” Representational Function is done more when children start attending school and start to stretch their speech use language to convey facts, explain ideas, relay and request information example: “I will tell you” or “I know”  Word: Definition & Criteria English language proficiency rests on vocabulary knowledge. Vocabulary development is integral to language learning. One major difficulty encountered by learners in improving their vocabulary is lack of knowledge on how words are formed. WORD FORMATION Speaking a language means knowing the words and the existence of these words in a language Example (Oxford Dictionary 2019) chillax – to relax and stop feeling angry or nervous about something whatevs – whatever These are two of the many added words that are recently added to Oxford English Dictionary Global Language Monitor (GLM) documented, analyzed and tracked trends in language usage worldwide, announced in its mid-year update that Covid is the Top Word of 2020 Who are responsible for the invention of most words to be featured in English? John Milton – 630 words Ben Johnson – 558 words John Donne – 342 words Shakespeare – 229 words Mechanisms of How Words Are Derivation – adding a prefix or suffix to the existing word Example: realization (1610) n. realize + -ation. action of making real Because of the pandemic, there is a growing realization that changes in our lifestyle need to be made. hyperlink (1987) n from hyper + link direct access from a marked place in a hypertext or hypermedia document to another Hyperlink is a highlighted text on a page that links that page to another Back Formation-is forming new words (neologism) by extracting the actual or supposed affixes from another word. When it becomes established in a language, it is easy to tell its back formation if we know the origin of a word Example: sculpt (from sculptor) proofread (from proofreading) scavenge (from scavenger) babysit (from babysitting) I need to proofread a lot articles tonight. Compounding-word formed from joining or combining two or more words Example awe-inspiring (hyphenated compound) carbon dating (open) o claptrap (closed) Witnessing some people overcoming life’s trials and difficulties is awe-inspiring. Repurposing-taking a word from one context and applying it in another context Example: Computer mouse (taken after long-tailed animal called mouse) Conversion- transplanting one word class to another by taking a word Example: words that serve as a verb as well as a noun, like friend Why do you friend me? words can serve as noun as well as an adjective, like giant I saw giant dog just outside our house. Eponyms-words named after a person Example: Alzheimer He got an Alzheimer’s disease. That explains a peculiar behavior Abbreviations Clipping – is cutting of a beginning or end of a word or both leaving a part to stand for the whole Back-clipped – are words that lose their forepart. It is removing the word like exam for examination and lab for laboratory Fore-clipping – the of a word is removed like plane for airplane, and phone for telephone Middle clipping – the middle of a word is retained like flu from influenza Complex clipping – multiple parts from multiple words are removed as in sitcom from situation comedy Acronym – are words formed by the initials or succession of beginning segments of words. They are pronounced ad single words Example: Interpol (International Criminal Police Organization Radar (radio detecting and ranging) NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) Initialism – means building a word from the initial letters in a phrase or name. They are read as sequence of letters. Example: DNA, USA Loanwords- are English words borrowed from other languages Example: tycoon (Japanese) tatoo (Tahitian) taboo (Polynesian) hunk (Flemish) Onomatopoeia-refers to the creation of a word by imitating the sound it makes Example: plop, ow, barf, bunch, bump, and midge all originated this way Reduplication-means the repetition or near-repetition of words or sounds Example:goody-goody, helter-skelter, picnic, claptrap Nonce words-are words pulled out of thin air, having little relation to any existing form Example: few and far between, but include quark (Murray Gell Mann) Error-misspelling, mishearings, mispronunciations and mistranscriptions Example:scramble – originated as a variant of scrabble, but overtime, they both have taken different meanings Blending- is taking two or more words, removing parts of each and joining the residues together to create a new word whose meaning is taken from the source words Example: webinar – world wide web + seminar