THE NATURE OF LANGUAGE

Language
Every creature strives to communicate with its own kind. One of the ways in which this
need is fulfilled is by expressing thoughts in the medium of language. Language is the
bridge between individuals that tells them they are needed, that they are not alone.
Language thus gives self-expression and by extension identity. Language is a systematic
and conventional means of human communication by way of vocal sounds.
Functions of Language
1. Gives self-expression and identity. It tells our listeners or readers about ourselves-
in particular about our regional origins, social backgrounds, and levels of
education, occupation, age, sex, and personality.
2. It gives shape to thoughts and emotions, and communicates these to intended
audiences.
3. It is the basic elements with which the history of the world has been recorded.
4. It is a time capsule that allows us to view and re-view any moment in the past of
literate man.
5. It is a repository of information.
6. To express judgment, opinions, assertions etc. It is used to say if a statement is
true or false.
7. To maintain social rapport between people to build and maintain relationship.
One of the main basic human urges is to communicate
Language a means of communication

Communication happens when the decoder receives, decodes and understands the means
of the encoder.

The encoder and the decoder are called the interlocutors (persons who take part in a
conversation)
Sounds are basic units of language. But not sounds in themselves or in a jumble. Sounds
have to be meaningful. They acquire meaning when they organize themselves in an
intelligible combinations and forms as:

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 Sound Forms Meaning

Sounds >> Forms >> Meaning give us an intelligible (that can be understood), sensible
structure to understand the world around us.
These three components, in fact, represent the three fundamental dimensions of the
organization as well as the three levels of analysis in language- Phonological, syntactic
and semantic.
1. Phonological level: Sounds and their organization.
2. Syntactic level: forms and their organization.
3. Semantic level: Meaningful as manifested in the phonological and syntactic
levels.
Features of Human Language
1. Language as a system. It is system of system. Language is not a collection of
sound and forms at random but highly organized system in which each unit has its
place and value. Each sound is related to other sounds, each word is related to
other words to make meaning.
2. Arbitrariness: Human language is an arbitrary phenomenon. There is no natural
connection or relationship between a word and its meaning. The signifier and the
signified are brought together arbitrarily
3. Open-Ended System: The sounds, words and sentences in language may be finite
or limited, but the combinations and constructions are infinite or unlimited. Thus
creative or productive potential of the language enables its user to manipulate and
make infinite varieties of constructions to express himself or herself.
4. Duality of structure: Human language is organized at two levels or layers
simultaneously: at the level of individual sounds like n,p,b,k, a……. but none of
these individual sounds have any meaning in themselves. Their meaning comes
from the meaningful combinations to produce words.
5. Displacement: Human language can be used to refer to any dimension of space
and time. We can use language to refer to the past, the present and the future. It
can also be used to refer to any place here or elsewhere; in neither case does the
language user have to move from his place or her place to refer to time or place.
6. Meta-linguistic system: Human language can be used to talk about itself its
features, functions, varieties and levels of sophistications.
7. Cultural Transmission: Human beings maybe born with innate predispositions
to acquire language, but they are not born with the ability to produce utterances in
a specific language. Language is not genetically transmitted. It is culturally
transmitted and has to be consciously learned.
8. Language is an individual and social phenomenon: Language serves in
expressing individual needs and urges; it brings an individual into relationship with the
external world.

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9. Human language is species-specific and species-uniform:

Language is specific to the home of the species and all human beings are capable of
learning the language in which they are born.

10. The human vocal truct: An elaborate language requires a highly sophisticated
speech organ that will enable the speaker to produce the many differentiated sounds.

Etymology

The word is derived from the greek word “etomos” which means real or true. The ending
“ology” suggests the study/ science of something. Etymology is the study of the origins
of words or the history of words (how they evolved, when they entered a language, from
what source. And how their meanings have changed over time)

The behaviorist Theory

Behaviorists believe that children learn to speak by imitation and parents then reinforce
or correct their speech constantly.

The Rationalistic Theory

Rationalists argue learning is a much more complex process. The child is born with all
the facilities to learn the language.

The Cognitive Theory

According to this theory the children can only use certain linguistic structures when they
understand fully the concepts surrounding them. Piaget linked language acquisition to a
child's maturation.

Pre-Language stage

The pre-linguistic sounds of the very early stages of child language acquisitions are
simply called “cooing” and “babbling”.

Cooing -when the child is around 3 months

Babbling – When the child is around 6-9 months (contain syllable type sounds such as
ma,da)

Two-Word Stage (18-20 Months)

The child's vocabulary moves beyond 50 distinct words by the time the child is 8 years
old.

Telegraphic Speech-Between 2-3 years, the child will begin producing a large number
of utterances which could be classified as multiple word utterances.

Care Taker Speech-The characteristically simplified speech style adopted by someone