Introduction of Language

By
Abdul Wali
Major Points of Discussion
1. Origin of Language
2. What is Language
3. Importance of Language
4. Characteristics of Human Language
5. Function of Human Language
6. Role of Verbal & Non-verbal Language
7. How to Use a Dictionary Effectively
 Origin of Language

George Yule- The Study of Language.

 What is Language
A language is system of arbitrary, vocal
symbols that permit all people in a given
culture, or other people who have learned the
system of that culture, to communicate or to
interact (Finocchioro, in Ramelan 1984)
 What is Language
A language is a system of arbitrary vocal
symbols used for human communication
(Wardhaugh, in Ramelan, 1984).
A language is a set of rules enabling speakers
to translate information from the outside
world into sound (Gumperz, 1972).
 What is Language
A language is arbitrary system of articulated
sounds made use of by a group of humans as
a means of carrying on the affairs of their
society (Francis, in Ramelan, 1984)
 What is Language
Aristotle thinks that only human beings has
the ability to use. “language” to indicate the
advantageous and the harmful, the right and
the wrong, while other. animals can only emit
voice to indicate painful and pleasant things.
Such a difference is based on the different
faculties of the soul.
 Importance of Language
Language is ultimately important because it is
the primary means through which humans
have the ability to communicate and interact
with one another.
 Importance of Language
1. Easy Social Contact
2. Cultural Carrier
3. Easy Conveyance of Idea
 Easy Social Contact
Language makes social contact easy. Society,
as we have seen, is a web of social
relationships which imply development of
social contacts among the individuals with
language contacts become easy to be
established because men can easily exchange
their ideas.
 Cultural Carrier
Language helps or hinders the spread of
culture. Ideas require language. Sometimes an
idea or concept is hard to translate because the
language has no words with which to express
it. We are facing this difficulty in our country
because Urdu, our national language does not
possess terms for a number of English words
used in sciences and vice versa.
Easy Conveyance of Idea
Language gives a capacity for conveying
ideas about a great variety of things. In times
when there was no language the ideas were
transmitted by signs or cries which were not
easy to interpret. Man felt great difficulty in
the clear expression of states of emotion.
Easy Conveyance of Idea
There was no uniformity of these signs or
cries. Some of these signs were quite
complicated, for instance, ‘man’ was denoted-
by extending the forefinger, the rest of the
hand being shut, and drawing a line with it
from the pit of the stomach down as far as can
be conveniently reached.
 Characteristics of Human
Language
1. A Language is a system
2. A Language is said to be arbitrary
3. A Language is social
4. A Language is spoken
5. A language is productive and creative
6. Duality
 Language is a System
Language is said to be a system, it must be
systematic in nature. The systematic property of a
language can be seen from the fact that, take an
example, The sentence is not ordered at random.
In this relation, we cannot say “Goes Ali school to
everyday.” English language has its own patterns
of ordering some words to be a sentence. The
patterns of ordering show that a language must be
systematic.
Language is Said to be Arbitrary

Language is said to be arbitrary. This means

that it is firstly created on the basis of social
agreement. In this relation, there is no
reasonable explanation, for instance, why a
certain four-footed domestic animal is called
dog in English.
 Language is Social
Language is social. We all know that a
language is socially acquired, learned and
then used, It is not genetically transmitted;
but, it is socio-culturally acquired or learned.
 Language is Spoken
Language is always spoken. This statement
implies that all people the world over,
regardless of their race or ethnic group,
always speak a language. This means that
they always have a way of communicating
ideas by using sounds that are produced by
their speech organs.
 Language is Spoken
Human language can be said to be an oral-
auditory communication system. Why? Oral-
auditory communication has many advantages
over other possible means of communication.
A speaker and a listener do not need an
instrument, as writers and readers do. This is
to say that the writers and readers need writing
implements and written texts respectively.
 Language is Productive and
Creative
One of the characteristic of human language
is that it is productive or creative. This refers
to the ability of native speakers to understand
and produce any number of sentences (which
they never heard before) in their native
language.
The first aspect of the creative use of
language is that a human being can say things
that have never been said before.
 Duality
Human language is organized at two levels
simultaneously. This property is called duality
(or “double articulation”).When we speak, we
have a physical level at which we produce
individual sounds, like n, b and i. As individual
sounds, none of these discrete forms has any
intrinsic meaning. In a combination such as
bin, we have another level with a meaning
that is different from the meaning of the
combination in nib.
 Duality
We have distinct sounds, and, at another
level, we have distinctmeanings
Functions of Human Language

1. Personal
2. Interpersonal
3. Directive
4. Referential
5. Metalinguistic
6. Imaginative
 Personal Function
The personal function enables the user of a
language to express his innermost thoughts;
his emotions such as love, hatred, and sorrow;
his needs, desires, or attitudes; and to clarify
or classify ideas in his mind.
 Interpersonal Function
The interpersonal function enables him to
establish and maintain good social relations
with individuals and groups; to express praise,
sympathy, or joy at another’s success; to
inquire about health; to apologize; to invite.
 Directive Function
The directive function enables him to control
the behavior of others through advice,
warnings, requests, persuasion, suggestions,
orders, or discussion.
 Referential Function
The referential function enables him to talk
about objects or events in the immediate
setting or environment or in the culture; to
discuss the present, the past, and the future.
 Metalinguistic Function
The metalinguistic function enables him to
talk about language, for example, “What
does .…….mean?”
 Imaginative Function
The imaginative function enables him to use
language creatively in rhyming, composing
poetry, writing, or speaking.
Role of Verbal Communication
We use verbal communication to define
everything from ideas, emotions, experiences,
thoughts, objects, and people (Blumer).Think
about how you define yourself. You may
define yourself as a student, employee,
son/daughter, parent, advocate, etc.
Role of Non-Verbal Communication

Non-verbal language may have the

following basic functions:
1) to communicate attitudes and emotions
2) to support the sense of words
3) substitution of verbal language
Role of Non-Verbal Communication

For example, pointing to the door when you

tell someone to leave. Facial expressions
reinforce the emotional states we convey
through verbal communication. For example,
smiling while telling a funny story better
conveys your emotions (Hargie, 2011).
Role of Non-Verbal Communication

Vocal variation can help us emphasize a

particular part of a message, which helps
reinforce a word or sentence’s meaning. For
example, saying “How was your weekend?”
conveys a different meaning than “How was
your weekend?”
Role of Non-Verbal Communication
Nonverbal communication can convey meaning
by contradicting verbal communication. As we
learned earlier, we often perceive nonverbal
communication to be more credible than verbal
communication. This is especially true when we
receive mixed messages, or messages in which
verbal and nonverbal signals contradict each
other. For example, a person may say, “You can’t
do anything right!” in a mean tone but follow that
up with a wink, which could indicate the person
is teasing or joking.
How to use a Dictionary Effectively

Got the word: Now, that you have found your

word, what should you pay attention to?
1.Definition of the word
2.Different pronunciations – pay attention to
the stress mark - ' - usually placed before a
syllable to help you pronounce the word
correctly.
3.Capitalization
How to use a Dictionary Effectively

4. Synonyms and antonyms

5. Use of preposition, 'in', 'on' etc.,
6. Phrases/idioms linked to the word
7. Spellings in American, British and
Australian English.