What Is Language? PDF

What is language? In this session What is language What are the different components of language Why are we looking at language Let’s do a poll First poll: What languages do you speak? Second poll: What languages have you been exposed to?  What is language? We use language everyday...

What is language? In this session What is language What are the different components of language Why are we looking at language Let’s do a poll First poll: What languages do you speak? Second poll: What languages have you been exposed to?  What is language? We use language everyday but we don’t really stop and think what it is Explain how you use language every day? Mentimeter What is language? Different people have defined language in different ways. What is language? So Language is: A skill: It is something we do. He/she speaks well but writes badly. What is language? A possession A tool Something we possess or Something we use What words can I use to in this have assignment? I have my home language but not much of my second language What is language? An event An Identity Language shows your Something that happens. I had a chat to my friend or I sent culture or group my friend an sms I am a South African Identity: Shared beliefs/ ideas What is a language and what is a dialect? How are languages “born”? https://www.ted.com/talks/martin_hilpert_what_makes_a_language _a_language?language=en What is language? Made up of sentences/words Languages can be born language has structure, rules and and die conventions. For example Latin – it lived and died and was incorporated into many other languages So…. Language is how we communicate with each other It can be non-verbal https://www.verywellmind.com/understand-body- language-and-facial-expressions-4147228  It can be verbal – formal or informal It can be in a written form It changes – e.g. Shakespeare  I am called the father of modern linguistics Change in language is spontaneous and not through linguistic engineering Words such as moron, mongol, non-binary This dude is a French man called Saussure. (1853 – 1913)  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FWQ1sBFLlEw So…. It is cultural and shows belonging to a group So…. We also have academic language in the classroom Pedagogy Language that is Angles specific to a Straight sides subject. Perpendicular etc. Think about challenges. A part of a whole is a fraction So… gender in language Who do you think are talking in a and b? Language encourages stereotyping. But research does show that men and women speak a bit differently. Why are you called the name you are called? What is your name? Why are you called that and not another name? Why are you called those names? Language is arbitrary Someone gave you that name, but they could have called you something else too. Language is arbitrary What is usually the “word” that children say when they see a dog/cow? Language is arbitrary No natural connection between the object and the name it is given. No relation between a dog which says woof and the word dog. Why is a dog called a dog, inja, hond? It is based on chance – randomly someone gave the object the word. Why is a woman called a woman? Women – English Umfazi – isiXhosa Dame- Afrikaans Femine/Femelle – French Hembre- Spanish Mudazi - Shona Advantages of arbitrariness We have multiple languages Allows change  used politically in both negative and positive ways Different kinds of communication Language is ubiquitous Humans are called Talking Animals Our language is evolving (changing) Difference between language and linguistics? Mentimeter Evaluation/ Conclusion (revision) The end