Language Functions

When we refer to the functions of language, we are actually talking

about the properties of language, and the purposes it is used for by
individuals. Historically speaking, Plato was said to be the first to discuss
an instrumentalist definition of language, and according to this definition,
language primarily serves the purpose of communication, as it is a
linguistic tool.
We use language for an almost infinite number of purposes, from
writing letters, or notes to the milkman, to gossiping with our friends,
making speeches and talking to ourselves in the mirror. However, if you
think about it, there are a number of recurring functions which, despite
the many different uses we make of language, are generally being served.
Some are apparently so ordinary as almost to pass unnoticed as functions,
whilst others are loftier and almost abstract. But the important thing to
recognize is that, linguistically speaking, they are all of equal importance.

For Halliday, there are three macro-functions that provide the basic
functions on learning a foreign language. They are:
1. Ideational
2. Interpersonal
3. Textual
Ideational meanings represent our experience of phenomena in the
world framed by different processes and circumstances which are set in
time by means of tense and logical meanings. Interpersonal meanings are
shaped by the resources of modality and mood to negotiate the proposals
between interactants in terms of probability, obligation or inclination,
and secondly, to establish and maintain an ongoing exchange of
information by means of grammar through declaratives, questions, and
commands. Textual meanings are concerned with the information as text
in context at a lexicogrammatical level. Phonology is related arbitrarily to
this function as its abstract wordings includes intonation, rhythm and
syllabic and phonemic articulation.
Halliday identified seven types of function that language serves for
children in the early years, as they attempt to find out their environment,
control it, interact with other human beings, and comment on their
environment and their experience.
 The first function is the instrumental. This is the ‘I want’ function,
where a child shows their desires and needs (Gimme sweetie). The second
is the regulatory or ‘Do as I tell you’ function, where a child is
exercising control of people in their environment, telling them what to do
(Wash hands). The third is the interactional or ‘Me and you’ function,
where a child uses language to establish personal contact and enter into
social relationships (Love Mummy). The fourth is the personal or ‘Here I
come’ function, where the child uses language to assert their individuality
and to express their identity and feelings (Jimmy good boy).
In these first four functions, language is used to enable a child to
satisfy physical, emotional and social needs. The next two functions
concern the use of language by the child in relation to their environment.
The fifth function is the heuristic or ‘Tell me why’ function, where the
child uses language to explore their environment, to find out about the
reality that they inhabit (Why the bus stop here?). The sixth is the
imaginative or ‘let’s pretend’ function, where a child uses language to
create their own imaginary environment or where they simply use
language playfully (e.g. in rhymes or riddles).
The last function is the one most readily associated with adult
language: the representational or ‘I’ve got something to tell you’
function, where language is used as a means of communicating
information or expressing propositions.
Instrumental  I want function
Regulatory  Do as I tell you function
Interactional  You and Me function
Personal  Here I come function
Heuristic  Tell me why function
Imaginary  Let’s pretend function
Representational  I’ve got something to tell you function

Geoffrey Finch
We need to distinguish between the micro and macro functions of
language. Micro functions, as the name suggests, cover the particular
individual uses whilst macro functions relate to the larger, more general
purposes underlying language use. Let’s begin by looking at some of the
micro functions.
Micro functions
(i) To release nervous/physical energy (physiological function)
If you are a sports fan watching your favorite sport on television you may
well feel the overwhelming urge at certain exciting moments in the match
to shout instructions to the players: Go on, don’t mess about, for God’s
sake shoot! The instructions are perfectly useless; they serve no
communicative purpose, but they allow us to release pent-up energy
which otherwise would be quite intolerable. A great deal of what we say
when angry, in the heat of the moment, is said simply to relieve the
physical and nervous energy generated by emotional distress.
(ii) For purposes of sociability (phatic function)
The word ‘phatic’ comes from Greek and means ‘utterance’. So literally
this is speech for its own sake. The term itself was coined by Malinowski,
the anthropologist, who was struck by how much of what we say is
essentially formulaic and meaningless. He did most of his research on the
Pacific islanders and found that the same was true of their languages.
Examples are ‘How do you do?’, ‘Ah, here you are,’ ‘Where do you
come from?’ ‘Nice day today’ – all of which serve in one society or
another as formulae of greeting or approach.
Phatic language, then, fulfils important contact uses: it helps us negotiate
the start and end of exchanges whether in spoken or written form. Failure
to observe these social courtesies can cause considerable embarrassment
and even bad feeling.
(iii) To provide a record (recording function)
We are constantly using language to record things we wish to remember.
It might be a short-term record, as in a shopping list or a list of things to
do, or a long-term record, as in a diary or history of some kind. It’s the
most official use of language; bureaucracies thrive on exact records and
modern commercial life would be impossible without up-to-date and
accurate files. Indeed, it’s probably the most significant function behind
the development of language from being simply an oral medium to
becoming a written one. Archaeological evidence from around 4000 BC
suggests that the people of the Middle East were using an early writing
system to record business transactions. Clay shards from the Sumer
valley with pictures of animals, and scratches indicating numbers, suggest
that a primitive form of trading script flourished there. This is obviously a
long way from writing as we know it in the shape of a modern alphabet,
but once pictures are used to represent material transactions it’s only a
small step to the development of further expressive possibilities.
(iv) To identify and classify things (identifying function)
Language allows us to identify an enormous array of objects and events,
without which it would be very difficult to make sense of the world
around us. Learning the names of things allows us to refer quickly and
accurately to them; it gives us power over them. Many non-literate
societies believe that names are sacred; once you know the name of
someone or something you can manipulate it magically by means of a
spell or special ritual. In some cultures the special name of god is sacred
and not allowed to be spoken except by priests because that name is
enormously powerful and could be used for evil purposes. This is the
origin of many taboo words. The Bible warns against using God’s name
‘in vain’, or indiscriminately.
(v) As an instrument of thought (reasoning function)
All of us have a running commentary going on in our heads during our
waking hours. For most of the time we are not aware of it; like breathing,
it’s automatic. Schizophrenics are acutely conscious of it and imagine it
to be coming from someone else. But the voices they hear are really parts
of themselves which they are unable to acknowledge. Running for the bus
or the train we are constantly talking to ourselves in a form of continuous
monologue. Sometimes it takes the form of a dialogue with some
imagined ‘other’, but more often than not it is simply a form of silent
thinking. As an exercise you might try thinking about something, making
a conscious effort not to use words. Making your mind blank is one of the
most difficult things to do because the brain is in a state of constant
activity; its principal concern is with enabling us to survive, and language
is an essential part of that survival process.
(vi) As a means of communicating ideas and feelings (communicating
function)
This is probably the function that most people would select first as the
principal purpose of language. And clearly it is an extremely important
function. Communication is a two-way process. On the one hand we need
to be able to use language to express ourselves to others, and, conversely,
we need it in order to understand what they are communicating to us.
There are of course a variety of reasons which may prompt the act of
communication. We use language for requesting, informing, ordering,
promising, and reprimanding, to mention just a few. In all these cases we
could say that language is being used to perform certain speech acts, or,
more specifically, ‘direct’ speech acts.

(vii) To give delight (pleasure function)

There are various kinds of pleasure which we derive from language. At
the simplest level there is the sheer enjoyment of sound itself and the
melody of certain combinations of sounds. Most poetry exploits this
function. Devices such as onomatopeia, alliteration, and assonance all
draw on the pleasure we find in euphony, as do rhythm and rhyme. This
pleasure is important in language learning. There is considerable evidence
to suggest that children respond as much to the melody of the language as
to any cognitive content. Indeed, spoken English is rhythmically
organised around the syllable. The syllable is the smallest rhythmic unit
in the language.

Macro functions
Michael Halliday calls them ‘metafunctions’. A metafunction is one
which is capable of describing one or more other functions.
(i) The ideational function
In using language to identify things, or as an instrument of thought, or to
provide a record, we are using language as a symbolic code to represent
the world around us. The ideational function, then, is that function in
which we conceptualize the world for our own benefit and that of others.
In a sense we bring the world into being linguistically.
(ii) The interpersonal function
We gain much of our sense of identity, of who and what we are, from our
relationships both with animate and inanimate things, and language is an
essential part of that personalizing process. We could say that rather than
bringing the world into being, this function is concerned with the way we
bring ourselves into being linguistically. Using language as a means of
communication, for purposes of phatic communion, or to release
nervous/physical energy, involves activities in which we are prioritizing
the interpersonal function of language. And it is possible for people to be
able to perform this function very well without necessarily being able to
perform the ideational function so well. There are those whose
interpersonal skills and general ability to project themselves are quite
developed but whose conceptual powers and level of understanding may
be limited. And vice versa, of course.
(iii) The poetic function
In this sense the word ‘poetic’ doesn’t mean the ability to write poetry. It
means the ability to bring the world into being as an area of play. It is by
such means that we bring delight to ourselves and others, but we also do
much more. We render the world safe and less threatening because we
can manipulate it linguistically for our own individual pleasure. Through
metaphor, jokes, and rhythm we express our own creative freedom. All
utterances or writings of whatever kind are by this criterion ‘poetic’ in so
far as they appeal to our fundamental instinct for play.
We can see that these three functions, the ideational, the interpersonal,
and the poetic, relate very broadly to the competences: grammatical,
communicative, and creative. I am suggesting, then, that linguistic
competence is a mix of competences which all individuals possess and
which are basic to the fulfilment of a few overarching and central
functions.
(iv) The textual function
It is ability to construct texts out of our utterances and writings. Michael
Halliday calls it the ‘textual function’. We can see it as using language to
bring texts into being. When we speak or write we don’t normally confine
ourselves to single phrases or sentences, we string these together to make
a connected sequence. And there are words in our language which are
particularly designed to enable us to do that. Consider, for example, the
following piece: One day a lady came into our street. She had on a
brightly colored bonnet which seemed out of place there. It had three
feathers and a broad blue ribbon which fluttered gaily in the breeze.
There are a number of words and phrases here which indicate that these
sentences belong to the same little story. In the second sentence, the word
She clearly refers back to the phrase a lady. Similarly, there looks back to
our street and is only comprehensible because of that link. In both the
second and third sentences which relates to the much longer phrases a
brightly colored bonnet and a broad blue ribbon respectively, and in each
case it enables the grafting of a second clause onto the main one. These
words ensure that the sentences are cohesive and form a recognizable
text.
Dell Hymes states eight functions:
Expressive function focuses on the addressor or sender in relation to
other components. It involves the identification of the source, expression
of attitude toward one or another component or toward the event as a
whole, excogitation (thinking aloud), etc. Such function may be of course
intended, attributed, conscious, and unconscious.
Directive function focuses on the addressee or other receiver. It involves
the identification of the destination, and the ways in which the message
and event may be governed by anticipation of the attitude of the
destination. Persuasion, appeal, rhetoric, and direction enter here,
including as well the sense in which the characteristics of the addressee
govern the other aspects of the event as a matter of protocol. Effects on
receivers may be of course intended, attributed, conscious, unconscious,
achieved, frustrated.
Phatic function focuses on channels in relation to other components. It
has to do with maintenance of contact and control of noise, both physical
and psychological in both cases.
Metalinguistic function focuses on codes. It is involved in learning,
analysis, devising of writing systems, checking on the identity of an
element of the code use in conversation.
Contextual function focuses on settings. All components may be taken as
defining the setting of the event, not just its location in time and space.
Such context has two aspects, verbal and nonverbal from the standpoint
of speech, kinesic and nonkinesic from the standpoint of body motion,
and, generally, for any one code or modality, context constituted for a
message by other messages within the same code or modality as distinct
from context constituted by all other facets of the event.
Poetic (stylistic) function focus on message-form aspects as
proofreading, mimicry, aspects of emendation and editing, and poetic and
stylistic concerns.
Referential function focuses on topic. It has to do with reference and
content.
Metacommunicative function focuses on the event itself. If the message
is taken as subsuming all other components, then focus on the message as
surrogate of the whole event may be taken as entailing
metacommunicative functions.

David Crystal
1. Expressive Function: such as our verbal reactions to beautiful art or
scenery, our expression of fear and affection.
2. Phatic Function (coined by the anthropologist Malinowski): to provide
a means of avoiding a situation which both parties might otherwise find
embarrassing i.e. to maintain a comfortable interpersonal relationship.
For example: when someone sneezes, we say “Bless you!”, other phrases
are: Good morning or Pleased to meet you.
3. Sonic function: the desire to exploit the sonic potential of language.
For example: political speechmaking, our voices when we sing in the
kitchen or bath, of course songs.
4. Ludic function: to draw attention to the way the normal rules of
language can be bent or broken to convey novel effects. Such as in:
advertising, newspaper headline-writing, telling jokes.
5. Performative function (controlling reality): all forms of supernatural
belief involve the use of language as a means of controlling the forces
which the believers feel affect their lives. Such as prayers directed to
God. Another situation, apart from the religious, illustrate this
performative function of language such as the words which name a ship
at a launching ceremony.
6. Recording function: it displays a great degree of organization,
impersonality, and explicitness. For example: record-keeping, such as
historical records, geographical surveys.
7. Mental Function: the need to speak our thoughts aloud because it
might help us concentrate. This can be found in mathematical
calculations ‘in our heads’. This mental act is accompanied by a verbal
commentary, but it’s not essential.
8. Personal function: tell our listener or reader about our regional origins,
social background, level of education, occupation, age, and personality.
9. Meeting technological demands: the constraints introduced by each
technology have fostered the use of conventions whose purpose is to
maximize the efficiency with which the medium is used. For example, the
broadcasting medium demands different norms of articulation if its output
is to be universally understood; newspapers operate with different sizes of
type; and the limitations on screen size force computer and mobile phone
users to devise new techniques of layout and abbreviation.