The Nature of Language

Enduring Understanding

§ Basically, language can be defined as the

tool used in communication process.
§ It is through language that we are able to
express our thoughts, share our feelings,
and communicate our views and
perspectives about things.

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 Enduring Understanding

§ We make decisions every day, or have

decisions made about us by other people,
based on the language we use. We
frequently evaluate a person’s education,
socioeconomic level, background, honesty,
friendliness, and numerous other qualities
by how that person speaks.

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 Enduring Understanding

§ Language is integrally intertwined with our

notions of who we are on both the personal
and the broader, societal levels.
§ When we use language, we communicate
our individual thoughts, as well as the
cultural beliefs and practices of the
communities of which we are a part: our
families, social groups, and other
associations.
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 Enduring Understanding

§ However, language can also be the

source of misunderstanding sometimes.
§ That is because there is no one-to-one
correspondence between words and
meanings, and even between gestures
and meanings.

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 Enduring Understanding

• Take for instance the following example:

Karon is a word found both in Hiligaynon

and Cebuano languages referring to the
concept of time. But while karon in Cebuano
means ‘now’, karon in Hiligaynon means ‘later’.

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 Enduring Understanding

§ It is therefore important that we are

familiar with a particular language so
that we can understand it and use it in
the communication process.

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 Enduring Understanding

DEFINITIONS OF LANGUAGE

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 Enduring Understanding

1. Language is a purely human and non-

instinctive method of communicating
ideas, emotions, and desires by means
of a system of voluntarily produced
symbols.
~Sapir (1921)
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 Enduring Understanding

2. Language is the process whereby

humans communicate and interact with
each other by means of habitually used
oral-auditory arbitrary symbols.
~Hall (1969)

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 Enduring Understanding

3. Language is a system of arbitrary vocal

symbols used for human communication.
~Wardaugh (1972)

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 Enduring Understanding

Characteristics of Language
(Fromkin and Rodman, 2003)

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 Enduring Understanding

1. Wherever humans exist, language

exists.
2. All languages change through time.
3. All grammars contain rules for the
formation of words and sentences
of a similar kind.
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 Enduring Understanding

4. Similar grammatical categories (e.g.

noun, verb, etc.) are found in all
languages.

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 Enduring Understanding

5. Any normal child, born anywhere in the

world, of any racial, geographical, social,
or economic heritage, is capable of
learning any language to which s/he is
exposed to.
The differences we find among
languages cannot be due to biological
reasons. ©Baradillo et al. (2018). Purposive
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