Language is a purely human and non-instinctive
method of communicating ideas, emotions and
desires by means of voluntarily produced
symbols.
Hall
Language is the institution whereby humans
communicate and interact with each other by
means of habitually used oral-auditory
arbitrary symbols
Chomsky
From now on I will consider language to be a
set of (finite or infinite) sentences, each finite
in length and constructed out of a finite set of
elements
• No logical/intrinsic connection between meanings
and linguistic signs.
• typical example: different sounds are used to
refer to the same object in different languages
• the link between a linguistic sign and its meaning is
a matter of convention.
not entirely arbitrary
word
1. Onomatopoeic words (rumble, cackle, bang)
2.Some compound words (shoemaker, air-conditioner)
syntax
less arbitrary than words
eg: he came in and sat down.
he sat down and came in.
arbitrariness and convention
the link between a linguistic sign and its meaning is a
matter of convention.
arbitrariness--makes it possible for language to have an
unlimited source of expressions/creative/productive
conventionality--makes learning a language laborious
productivity\creativity
Human beings can produce and understand an infinitely
large number of sentences.
words: different way different things
sentance:basic linguistic units form an infinite set of sentances
peculiar to human languages
duality
Language consists of two levels of structure
lower level
a structure of sounds (meaningless )
high level
units of meaning (words, phrases, sentences)
The numbers of sounds/words are relatively finite, but the
numbers of sentences are absolutely infinite.
Language is productive because of its own duality
displacement
Not restricted to time and space
• Speakers can talk about a wide range of things, free from
barriers caused by separation in time and place.
eg:
I used to go to that Thai restaurant a lot.
Some day I’d like to try the bungee-jumping.
May I borrow this pen?
cultural transmission
1.Language is culturally transmitted, Animal call
systems are genetically transmitted.
2.Language is passed from one generation to
the next by teaching and learning, rather than
by instinct.
function
at least 7:phatic,directive,informative,interrogative,espressive,evovative,performative
Metafunctions of language
元功能
Ideational Function
概念功能
1. to organize the speaker or writer′s experience of the real or imaginary world
2. to convey factual information
3. to express the speaker′s attitude, evaluation,feelings and emotions.
Interpersonal / Social Function
人际功能
to indicate, establish, or maintain social
relationships between people
Textual Function
语篇功能
to create long utterances or pieces of writing
which are both cohesive and coherent.
language
Language is a system
• Systematic ---- rule-governed, elements in it are
arranged according to certain rules; can’t be combined at will.
• e.g. *bkli, *I apple eat
Language is arbitrary
• Arbitrary ---- no intrinsic connection between the
word and the thing it denotes
• different languages have different words for the
same thing
• e.g. “pen” by any other name is the thing we use to
write with.
Language is vocal
• The primary medium is sound for all languages
• Writing systems are later than spoken forms
Language is a symbol
• Words are associated with objects, actions, ideas by
convention.
•Language is for human communication
•language is human-specific.
•not equal to other communication systems
A Generally Accepted Definition：
语言是用于人类交流的具有任意性特征的口头符号系统。
Language is a system of arbitrary vocal signs
used for human communication.（Wardhaugh, 1977）
