Uses and Function of Language

DURATION

3 Hours

OBJECTIVES

d) Distinguish the different functions of language.

READINGS AND VIDEOS (Please see the digital copies of the materials.)

Reading 4.1 Hall, R. Logic: A Brief Introduction. Retrieved from

Reading 4.2 Copi, I., Cohen, C & McMahon, K. (2014). Introduction to Logic Fourteenth
Edition. London: Pearson Education Limited

Video 4.1 Functions of Language in https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XsWjk020ag0

4.0 Uses and Functions of Language

Source: Introduction to Logic

A mixture of functions is a natural feature of almost all our uses of language.We can see this in
our own speech and writing. Emotive language may be used toadvance our purposes in directing
others: “That conduct is utterly disgusting!”says parent to child, expressing an attitude, seeking
to direct behavior, and (with those same words) probably reporting a fact. We may say that
language has three major functions:

1. Informative
2. Expressive
3. Directive
To these we may add less common types of use:
Ceremonial language (as when we say, “How do you do?” upon being introduced to a stranger),
in which words may combine expressive and other functions; and
Performative language (as when we say, “I apologize for my foolishremark”), in which words
themselves serve, when spoken or written, to perform the function they announce. Other
examples are “I congratulateyou, . . .” “I accept your offer, . . .” and “I promise you that. . .

”Logicians are chiefly concerned with language used informatively–affirming or denying

The uses of language must be distinguished from the forms of language. The several uses
of language (informative, expressive, etc.) are implemented using different forms. Sentences (the
units of our language that express complete thoughts) may be declarative in form, or
exclamatory, or imperative, or interrogative.

In summary, the principal uses of language are three: informative, expressive, and directive. The
grammatical forms of language are essentially four: declarative, interrogative, imperative, and
exclamatory. There is no sure connection between the grammatical form of a passage and the
use or uses its author intends.
Language that serves any one of the three principal functions may take any one of the four
grammatical forms.

Source: Logic : A Brief Introduction

Ronald Hall, Stetson University

These broad categories of non-informative uses language will include the following:

• Expressive
• Directive
• Performative
• Ritual (in Copi’s book – Ceremonial)

Identifying these different uses is often not an easy matter. Skill in doing so will come only with
attentive practice. We must develop an ear, as it were, for picking out which use is most
prominently involved in the passages we are interpreting. Recognizing the primary use that a
particular sentence is intended to have requires close attention to context and content. And again,
developing this skill in recognizing differences in languages uses will take practice.

• The Expressive Use

I have tried to make it clear that not every sentence has an informative use. Indeed, we
quite often use sentences for purposes other than providing information. A very common example
of such a use of language is what we will call its expressive function. Expressive Directive
Performative Ritual .3 Consider this example: Someone says, “I am so sorry your cat is ill. Please
accept my sympathy." It should be clear to you that the primary function of these sentences is
not to inform someone of something. There is little, if any, intention to inform, despite the fact that
some information is conveyed (information about the health of the cat, the psychological state of
the speaker, and so forth). Rather, in this case, the speaker’s primary interest is not to inform,
but to express his or her emotions or feelings. Because such sentences are not used primarily to
inform and as such have no content that can be evaluated as true or false, such sentences would
not ordinarily figure in the construction of arguments.

One caution: Don’t be misled by the use of “express” here, for while all uses of language
may be considered “expressions”, we are using the term “expressive” in this context as roughly
equivalent to the ideas of venting, revealing, manifesting, evoking, or provoking feelings. We use
language in this expressive function when we are trying to vent our own emotions or when we
are trying to evoke emotions in our audience, or both.

As an example of the use of language both to vent and to evoke feelings, consider this:
“OMG!” “How vicious can a person be?
• The Directive Use

Here we have yet another task that sentences are used to accomplish. In this case, the
task is to get someone to do, or not to do some action. Suppose someone says: “Take your cat
to the veterinarian!” It would be a mistake to think that this person was trying merely to convey
information or to express his or her feelings. Rather, in this case the speaker’s primary intention
is to provoke action in his or her audience; as we might put it, the speaker here is issuing a
command or an imperative. We call this the directive language use. The speaker is not providing
information but has issued a directive that is neither true nor false.

Accordingly, directives do not ordinarily form a part of arguments. However, even though
such directives are neither true nor false, it does make sense to appraise them as, for example,
appropriate or inappropriate, warranted or unwarranted, loving or hateful.

Another caution: There is a difference between the sentence “Take your cat to the
veterinarian!” and “You ought to take your cat to the veterinarian.” The latter sentence may
express some claim that is either true or false. Consider this example: Someone notices that your
cat has a runny nose and watery eyes. He says to you, “These are symptoms of feline upper
respiratory infection. This is a serious feline illness. A veterinarian may be able to help your cat
recover. You ought to take the cat to the veterinarian.” Now we have an argument. The conclusion
of this argument is intended to cause some action, but also to inform the cat owner of some
course of action that the facts call for. Such arguments have often been called practical
syllogisms or practical arguments, since their conclusions do serve the practical function of
informing us of what course of action we ought to take.

What this example also makes clear is that one and the same sentence can involve more
than one language use. Indeed, more than two functions can be present. With a certain urgency
of voice, I may well add the expressive function to my claim and directive: “Take your cat to the
veterinarian right now!” Because language uses can be combined in this way, I have made a
point to refer to the “the primary intention” of a speaker or writer in determining the primary
language use at play in the particular passage under investigation. Accordingly, we will identify
the language use of a sentence as informative, expressive, or directive if that function is the
primary one. Making this identification does not preclude acknowledging that other functions may
also be at play in the passage that is being interpreted.

• The Performative Use

It was J. L. Austin who helped to bring our attention to the performative language use. As
he pointed out, in successful performative utterances we accomplish an action in and through
the saying of certain words. Here we must not be confused by the fact that all language uses
involve doing things with words, for example, informing, directing, venting. The performative
language use is a special case of doing things with words. In the case of the performative
language use, some particular action is accomplished in and by saying certain things in certain
circumstances.

Consider the act of making a bet or a promise. The way that we engage in these actions
is by saying certain things in certain circumstances with the appropriate sincerity, etc. The way
that I engage in the act of betting you something is by saying to you, “I bet you…” If you agree,
and you are competent, sincere, and so forth, the bet is on. Similarly, the way that I promise you
something is by saying certain words to you with the appropriate earnestness and with your
willingness to trust me. Usually, I say, “I promise…”

While such performative utterances are neither true nor false, and accordingly cannot be
used to construct arguments, they certainly can be assessed as being successful or not. For
example, just saying the words, “I bet you,” is not sufficient for engaging in the act of betting, for
among other things, you must agree to enter the wager. Lots of things can go wrong. If you do
not agree, my attempt to bet you something fails: I said the words, “I bet” but I did not bet you.

• The Ritual Use

The ritual language use is very closely related to the performative function. As in the case
of the performative, the ritual function may involve the accomplishment of some deed by the use
of words. For example, in saying the words of the pledge of allegiance to the flag, we may well
be doing something, namely, pledging our allegiance to our country. But we need not be doing
this. Indeed we might just be going through the motions of a ritual. This use of language marks
it off from the performative in an important way. We put this difference as follows: unlike its
performative cousin, in its ritual function, words are not used to bring something about.

There are countless such ritual uses of language, for example, saying a prayer, saying
"Good-bye," saying "Happy Birthday," toasting newlyweds, and so forth. Normally, when we say
to someone “How ya doing?” this is not an inquiry into his or her well-being, but a ritual greeting.
We engage in the act of greeting someone by saying these words. The words, we might say,
constitute a kind of handy formula for greetings. Of course we can greet each other differently,
with different words, but when we adopt commonly accepted formulas, we are using language in
its ritual function. Perhaps you can think of some further examples of this ritual use of language.