Language is the most important tool of communication invented by human civilization.

Language helps us share our thoughts, and understand others. It’s hard to overestimate
the importance of language for our lives. Every time we speak, we do it with a particular
purpose. Sometimes we want to deliver a message, or express our feelings. We use
language to ask for help, or just to say a joke.

Generally, there are five main functions of language, which are informational function,
aesthetic function, expressive, phatic, and directive functions. Any language is
determined by a number of factors, such as a social background, attitudes and origin of
people. Language is always related to situation it is used within. Every person has a
certain social background, and this is what determines one’s language.

We are going to consider different functions of language, and its connection to social
circumstances, since language is related to the type of social organization.

As we mentioned above, language is used in every part of our lives, and it’s the most
important part of communication. We use language in every situation, every time we need
something. In turn, our needs determine our language, since we choose a type of
language that is most effective for our needs.

Even our sentence has its particular function. It may express a statement, or a question.
It also may be just an exclamation. If we want to know something, we create a sentence
in the form of a question. In other case, if we want to share information or emotions, we
choose a statement structure.

Five Functions
According to Geoffery Leech (1974), there are five main functions of language. We
mentioned all these five functions at the beginning. Now, let’s take a closer look at each
one of them.

 The informational function can be considered most important, since it helps us deliver
messages, describe things, and give our listener new information. Actually, message is a
word that describes this function best. The informational function is also related to such
terms as a truth and a value.

 The next function of language is the expressive function. We need such function every
time we want to express our feelings. There are words that are used to express attitudes
and feelings, which don’t deliver any particular information. Obvious examples of such
words are swear words, as well as various exclamations. This function of language is
used not to deliver a message, but to express feelings and impressions. Due to the
expressive function of language, we can understand the personality of a speaker, and his
or her emotions. While the informational function can be illustrated on the example of an
encyclopedia article, the expressive function is used in literature and poetry. Every time
we say a phrase like “I love this movie so much”, we don’t give a listener any particular
information about the subject of this sentence, except our feelings about it.
 The directive function of language is used to induce certain actions or reactions. The
example of such a function is a command. Another example of this function is a request.
Here affective and situational meanings of a phrase are more important than a general
meaning, which makes this function somewhat similar to the expressive function. The
directive function is a function of social control and interpersonal interaction. Another
feature of this function is that the reaction of a listener is even more important than a
thought expressed by a speaker, since this reaction determines whether such a phrase
achieved the target or not.
Every time we ask someone to bring us something, it’s a directional use of language. We
motivate somebody and influence his or her behavior in a certain way. Sometimes
directive sentences may express more than one function. For example, if we say “I’m
hungry”, it means both information about us, and a request for food. This sentence also
expresses our feelings, so this example represents three functions of language in one
short sentence.

 Another function of language is the aesthetic function. According to Leech (1974), this
function doesn’t have any particular purpose. Here words and sentences are considered
as linguistic artifacts. This function serves neither as a request nor as a message. The
aesthetic function helps us use words as a tool of a poetic art, and as certain signs. Here
the beauty of chosen words and phrases is more important than usefulness of this
information. For the sake of such a function, we use different adjectives, such as
“gorgeous”, “elegant”, “stunning”, and so on. According to Jacobson (1933), who studied
this function of language more than anyone else, the aesthetic function depends not only
on structure, but on cultural norms as well. He also gives an example of such influence,
comparing poems of Karel Macha, and diaries, as examples of aesthetic functions applied
by different generations.
 The fifth function of language is the phatic function. The only purpose of such a function
is to maintain social relationships, and to begin, or continue the conversation. A well-
known example from British culture is a small talk about the weather. Such a kind of talk
doesn’t provide us with any necessary information. It even doesn’t express our feelings,
but it helps us to interact with people. Every time we meet somebody on the street, we
can talk about the weather, or work, or children, it doesn’t matter. The real reason for
such a talk is not our interest, but simply our desire to talk. Of course, such conversations
may also contain some interesting information, but it’s not necessary.

There are other classification systems for language. For example, H. Douglas Brown
highlighted not five, but seven functions of language, noting that his system isn’t really
different from Leech’s system. Generally, such an approach was introduced by J. R. Firth,
who created a basis for British linguists, considering language as an interpersonal and
interactive tool. According to him, language forms our behavior and helps us influence
the behavior of others.