Function of Language
Function of Language
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.
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.
Every 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.