Notes in Purposive Communication
propagandic façade of unity
I. Nature of Language
A. What makes a language… a and power. Just like Hitler, he
language?
• The distinction between
language and dialect is all just
a matter of politics.
• In a historical context,
language is established as a
symbol of political stability
among its multifaceted
sectors of society. For
example, in order for a
government to display its
political power to the world,
they need to be seen as a
united front with its
constituents, and
standardizing language is one
of its ways to manifest that.
• Through time, language
became an instrument of
national identity. Just like
the notable works of Dante
and Machiavelli, the Italian
language became widely
known because of their
contributions to certain
educational disciplines.
• Also, just like in a certain
political ideology which is
fascism, language is a
necessary element for the
state to be unified and for its
people to be subjected to an
autocracy.
(To back my claim that
language is a necessary
element for fascism, we all
know that language can be
used as a social barrier
among and between
individuals, hence, instability.
In the sphere of international
politics, if a nation is divided
by it, it can be seen as a
vulnerability and instability
especially in ancient warfare
times.
Now, fascists use the
just for them to gain influence
uses the notion of bringing
back Germany’s glory, and it
is no doubt that Hitler was a
very good communicator to
his fellowmen. But guided
with the ideologies of fascism,
it just shows how much
consumed he is for power and
authority)
• Standard Language also
serves as gatekeepers. As
language can be a way to
connect people, differences
arise, and these differences
tends to gatekeep certain
information because of their
prejudices about their cultural
differences.
• Linguists tend to avoid the
term dialect altogether.
Instead, many opt to call
different forms of speech
“varieties.” This way,
languages are seen as groups
of varieties.
B. Definition and features of language
• Language is, today, an
inseparable part of human
society. Human civilization
has been possible only
through language.
(Distinct Characteristics of Language)
1. Language is a System
- Phonological level: relates in
differences in sounds to differences in
meanings.
- Lexical level comprises of
morphemes: whole words attached
definitions.
- Syntactical level: words are
specifically arranged in sentences to
convey a thought.
 2. Language is always changing; it is
dynamic.
- Words that the "screen-technology"
demographic uses to communicate
are quite different from those of the
"baby boomers". So much so that
certain words and phrases are lost in
the past.
3. Dialect
- It describes the regional differences
of language. These differences are as
much auditory as they are definitive.
4. Language is Sociolect
- It is directly related to the speaker's
social class. A king and queen may
use different phrases and intonation
than a pauper, for instance, and the
hip-hop generation's language is
easily distinguished from those of the
"valley".
5. Language is Idiolect
- It refers to the speech habits of an
individual. From this view, even
twins who have lived together all
their lives will use language
differently. It includes voice quality,
pitch, intonation, word choice and
many other factors.
Language is Arbitrary – No inherent
relation between the words of a language and
their meanings or the ideas conveyed by
them.
Language is Social – a possession of a social
group, comprising an indispensable set of
rules which permits its members to relate to
each other, to interact with each other, to
cooperate with each other; it is a social
institution.
Language is Symbolic - consists of various
sound symbols and their graphological
counterparts that are employed to denote
some objects, occurrences or meaning.
Language is Systematic - All languages
have their system of arrangements. Every
language is a system of systems. All
languages have phonological and
grammatical systems, and within a system
there are several sub-systems.
Language is Vocal – it is primarily made up
of vocal sounds only produced by a
physiological articulatory mechanism in the
human body. Writing is only the graphic
representation of the sounds of the language.
So, the linguists say that speech is primary.
Language is Non-instinctive, Conventional
- Language is the outcome of evolution and
convention. Each generation transmits this
convention on to the next. Every language
then is a convention in a community. It is
non-instinctive because it is acquired by
human beings.
Language is Productive and Creative - The
structural elements of human language can be
combined to produce new utterances, which
neither the speaker nor his hearers may ever
have made or heard before any, listener, yet
which both sides understand without
difficulty. Language changes according to
the needs of society.
Duality – referring to the two systems of
sound and meaning.
Displacement – means the ability to talk
across time and space.
Humanness – means that animals cannot
acquire it.
Universality – means refers to the
equilibrium across humanity on linguistic
grounds.
Competence and Performance – language is
innate and produced is society and
furthermore, language is culturally
transmitted.
(Structure of Language)
Language and the ability to
communicate is an essential building block of
human relationships. It helps us share
information, ideas and feelings with one
another, making language structure and
development critical to groups of people and
on an individual basis. Language
development begins in infancy and continues
throughout a person.
The Basic Structure of Language new sights and sounds,
including speech.
• The fundamental building
blocks of a language are the
• Mothers in particular play a
syllables. It is to be noted that
large role in teaching the
auxiliary modifications of the
structure of language to their
pronunciation of multisyllable
children.
words are of the syllable
rather than the phoneme. Expert Insight
Thus, the basic chunks of a
• Due to the importance of
language are the syllables.
language development in
children, many parents are
concerned about the pace at
(Language Theory & Development)
which their child is learning
The Five Parts of Language Development speech. Refer their child to a
language development
- The basic function of language
specialist, such as speech
structure is to help people
pathologist, who is an expert
communicate with one another
in the field of language
through speech, whether verbal,
structure and development.
written or through sign language.
Although there are many different
• The specialist will evaluate
languages, they share the same basic
the child and then make
attributes of sounds, word and
recommendations based on
sentence formation and meaning and
his findings.
cadence of speech.
Development
C. The power of language: How words
• Language development
shape people, culture.
occurs primarily in infants
and toddlers under three years
• Speaking, writing, and
of age. As humans age, it
reading are integral to
becomes increasingly difficult
everyday life, where language
to learn new language
is the primary tool for
structures.
expression and
Time Frame communication.

• Child development specialists

• Linguists consider language
have noted milestones that
as a cultural, social and
children reach by certain ages
psychological phenomenon.
in the area of language
development. Reaching these
milestones is important in the
development of language “Understanding why and how languages
structure since these skills differ tells about the range of what is
build upon one another. human,” – Dan Jurafsky
“Discovering what’s universal about
• These milestones are set in
languages can help us understand the core of
six-month increments for the
our humanity.”
first 24 months of life and
then in yearly increments
from two to five years of age.
Understanding Stereotypes
Considerations
- Even the slightest differences in
• Language development in language use can correspond with
children occurs best in homes biased beliefs of the speakers,
that emphasize exposure to according to research.
 - Language can play a big role in how
we and others perceive the world, and
linguists work to discover what words
and phrases can influence us,
unknowingly.
One study showed that a relatively harmless
sentence, such as “girls are as good as boys
at math,” can subtly perpetuate sexist
stereotypes. Because of the statement’s
grammatical structure, it implies that being
good at math is more common or natural for
boys than girls, the researchers said.
How other languages inform our own
- Although there is a lot in common
among languages, each one is unique,
both in its structure and in the way it
reflects the culture of the people who
speak it.
- Jurafsky said it’s important to study
languages other than our own and
how they develop over time because
it can help scholars understand what
lies at the foundation of humans’
unique way of communicating with
one another.
“All this research can help us discover what
it means to be human,” Jurafsky said.
Language as a lens into behavior
- Linguists analyze how certain speech
patterns correspond to particular
behaviors, including how language
can impact people’s buying decisions
or influence their social media use.

- For example, in one research paper, a

group of Stanford researchers
examined the differences in how
Republicans and Democrats express
themselves online to better
understand how a polarization of
beliefs can occur on social media.

- “We live in a very polarized time,”

Jurafsky said. “Understanding what
different groups of people say and
why is the first step in determining
how we can help bring people
together.”
II. History of Language more efficient, abstract
signing.
a. Evolution's great mystery:
Language.
b. Human Characteristics: Language
& Symbols.
• What we call language is
something more specific than Humans Express Themselves
communication. Language is
- The ability to plan, record
about sharing what’s in our
information, and communicate
minds: stories, opinions,
helped humans survive as climates
questions, the past or future,
fluctuated strongly.
imagined times or places,
ideas. It is fundamentally
- Ultimately, words and symbols led to
open-ended and can be used to
language and the richness of modern
say an unlimited number of
human life.
things.
Communicating with Color
• Many researchers are
- By 350,000 years ago, with ocher and
convinced that only humans
manganese, our ancestors marked
have language, that the calls
objects and possibly their own skin.
and gestures other species use
Colors were symbols by which they
to communicate are not
identified themselves and their
language. Each of these calls
group.
and gestures generally
corresponds to a specific
- Humans may have first used ocher
message, for a limited total
either as an adhesive or a pigment,
number of messages that
and later to make artistic drawings
aren’t combined into more
and paintings.
complex ideas.
Ancient Burials
• So far, no animal
- By 100,00 years ago, our ancestors
communication seems to have
often buried the dead together with
the open-endedness of human
beads and other symbolic objects.
language. But as far as we
Burial rituals heightened the group’s
know, only humans have
memory of the deceased person.
language. And while humans
These rituals may imply a belief that
speak around 7,000 distinct
a person’s identity extends beyond
languages, any child can learn
death.
any language, indicating that
the biological machinery Expressing Identity
underlying language is
What do you wear to define who you are?
common to all of us.
- By 100,00 years ago, our ancestors
• Language may have begun to used jewelry and other personal
take shape during the adornments to reflect their identity.
Pleistocene, 2 to 3 million These adornments may have
years ago, with the emergence represented membership in a
of the genus Homo that particular group or someone’s age,
eventually gave rise to our sex, and social status.
own species, homo sapiens.
Brain size tripled, and Recording Information
bipedalism freed the hands for - By 77,000 years ago, from simple
communication. There may beginnings like these came our ability
have been a transition from to store enormous amounts of
gestural communication to information.
gestural language— from
pointing to objects and
pantomiming actions— to
Information or decoration? We use language to
communicate in a complex,
- A close-up look at these objects
ever changing world.
shows that in all three the markings
are clearly organized. This systematic
• As our bodies evolved for
pattern suggests to some researchers
speech, the voice box dropped
that the markings represent
lower in the throat. The area
information rather than
above the vocal chords
decoration.
lengthened, enabling us to
Creating Paintings and Figurines make a wide variety of
sounds.
- By 40,000 years ago, by this time,
humans were creating two- and three-
- Costs
dimensional images of the world
• When the voice box dropped
around them.
to make speech possible, it
became impossible to
- By 17,000 years ago, they had
swallow and breathe at the
developed all the major
same time. Food could get
representational techniques including
stuck in the larynx and cause
painting, drawing, engraving,
choking.
sculpture, ceramics, and stenciling.
Working on stone, ivory, antler, and
• Because human babies do not
occasionally clay, they created
have a lowered voice box,
imaginative and highly complex
they can breathe while
works of art.
nursing like other mammal
When Did Humans Start Writing? infants.
- By around 8,000 years ago, humans
were using symbols to represent
c. Where did English come from?
words and concepts. True forms of
writing developed over the next few
• English has evolved through
thousand years.
generations of speakers,
undergoing major changes
• Cylinder seals were rolled
over time.
across wet clay tablets to
produce raised designs.
• While modern English shares
many similar words with
• Cuneiform symbols stood
Latin-derived romance
for concepts and later for
languages, like French and
sounds or syllables.
Spanish, most of those words
When Did Humans Start Talking? were not originally part of it.
Instead, they started coming
- Scientists are not sure. Spoken
into the language with the
language does not fossilize, and
Norman invasion of England
there are few clues about when our
in 1066.
ancestors began to use complex
language to communicate.
• It may be hard to see the roots
of modern English underneath
- However, making and using some of
all the words borrowed from
the objects here, which date back
French, Latin, Old Norse, and
350,000 years, involved complex
other languages. But
behaviors that probably required
comparative linguistics can
language.
help us by focusing on
Benefits and Costs of Talking grammatical structure,
patterns of sound changes,
- Benefits and certain core vocabulary.
• Spoken language is essential
to modern human cultures.
• This historical language was
never written down, we can
only reconstruct it by
comparing its descendants,
which is possible thanks to the
consistency of the changes.
III. Characteristics of Language
a. Ten defined characteristics of
language which proves Language
to be a unique possession of Human
Beings but not of Animals.
• Language is a mirror of mind
in a deep significant sense. It
is a product of human
intelligence, created anew in
each individual by operations
that lie far beyond the reach of
will or consciousness.
Non-human Communication Systems are
based on one of the following three designs:
1. A finite repertory of calls (one for
warnings of predators, one for claims
of territory and so on.)
2. A continuous analog signal that
registers of some state (the livelier
the dance of the bee, the richer the
food source that it is telling its
hivemate.)
3. A series of random variations on a
theme (a birdsong repeated with a
new twist each time.)
- Human beings also make noises to
communicate with other human
beings. There are, however,
significant characteristics features of
human languages are the following:
1. Duality or Patterning: ‘Language is
a symbol system based on pure or
arbitrary conventions… infinitely
extendable and modifiable according
to the changing needs and conditions
of the speakers’. Robins (1985).
- Language is not an amorphous,
disorganized, or chaotic combination
of sounds. Language operates at two
levels of systems: Phonological and
Syntactical.
• At the phonological level,
Sounds are arranged in certain
fixed or established,
systematic order to form
meaningful units or Words
and of smaller formal units
called Morphemes.
• Similarly Syntactical rules of
the language., words too
combine to form sentences
according to certain
conventions i.e. grammatical
or structural rules of the
language. However, sentence
must conform to the
established language
conventions of the Syntactical
rules of language.
• Language is thus rightly
called as system of systems as
it operates at the two levels of
‘patterning’ which is also
called as ‘duality of
patterning’.
2. Discrete or Symbolic System:
‘Language is a system of
conventional spoken or written
symbols by means of which human
beings, as members of a social group
and participants in its culture,
communicate’
- A symbol is a concrete event, object
or mark that stands for something
relatively abstract.
- A speaker or writer wants to
communicate with another fellow
being, puts his message across in the
form of symbols. The receiver of the
message, who shares a common code
with the sender of the message,
decodes this message sent in the form
of symbols and interprets these to
arrive at a certain meaning.
- Thus, language is a symbol system,
and every language is discrete.
3. Grammar: ‘When we study human
language, we are approaching what
some might call the “human
essence,” the distinctive qualities of
mind that are, so far as we know,
unique to mind’.
- The human brain contains a program
that can build an unlimited set of
sentences out of a finite list of words
called as ‘mental grammar’.
- Human language has a very different
design. The discrete combinational
system called ‘grammar’ makes
human language infinite, digital and
compositional.
4. Species-Specific & Species
Uniform: “Language is a purely
human and non-instinctive method of
communicating ideas, emotions and
desires by means of a system of
voluntarily produced symbols”.
- Only human being possesses
language, and all normal humans
uniformly possess it and use it for
communication. Language is, in that
sense, species-specific- it is specific
only to one set of species.
- Also, all human beings uniformly
possess language. It is only a few deaf
persons who cannot speak. Thus,
language is species-uniform to that
extent
5. Form of Social Behavior:
“Language is the institution whereby
humans communicate and interact
with each other by means of
habitually used oral-auditory
arbitrary symbols”.
- Language has to be acquired and
learnt, it do not passes from parent to
a child. Both acquisition & learning
of language is possible in society. A
human child learns to speak the
language of the community or
group in which he or she is placed.
- Language is thus a form of social
behavior.
6. Creativity: “A language is a set
(finite or infinite) of sentences, each
finite in length and constructed out of
a finite set of elements”
- Human brain is competent enough to
construct different sentences from out
of the limited set of sound/symbols
belonging to a particular language.
Human brain is so productive, that
using a few basic principles of
construction, it can create a large
number of constructions; there is no
limit to the length of anyone
sentence.
- It can be continued to any length by
repeating the relative clause pattern.
This property of language, which
enables sentences to be formed inside
other sentences, is called
recursiveness or creativity.
7. Arbitrariness: “A language is a
system of arbitrary vocal symbols by
means of which a social group
cooperates”.
- This means that there is no inherent
connection between sounds and
symbols, or between symbols and
their referents.
- Thus, the relation between a word and
its meaning is quite arbitrary; it is a
matter of convention.
- Language is arbitrary in the sense that
there is no inherent relation between
the words of a language and their
meanings, or the ideas conveyed by
them.
- Language may, therefore, be called a
system of conventional symbols,
where each symbol represents a
stretch of sounds with which a
meaning is associated.
- It may be noted that had language not
been arbitrary, there would have been
only one language in the world.
8. Displacement: “No matter how
eloquently a dog may bark, he cannot
tell you that his parents were poor but
honest”.
- Human language possesses the
quality of being ‘context free’ i.e.
human beings can talk about
experiences without actually living
them and of objects and events not
physically present at the time and
place of speaking because the use of
human language is not directly
controlled by stimulus.
- Only Human language users are
capable of producing messages
pertaining to the present, past or
 future, near or distant places, i.e. in a
multidimensional setting.
9. Culture-preserving & Culture-
transmission: ‘Thanks to language,
man became Man’.
- Language is culture-preserving and
culture-transmitting. Language is the
most dynamic form in which
culture is preserved and
transmitted to future generations.
10. Dynamic: “A language is a symbol
system…based on pure or arbitrary
convention…infinitely extendable
and modifiable according to the
changing needs and conditions of the
speakers”.
- Language is dynamic; it is not
static. It keeps on changing at all the
levels- at the level of sounds, words
and word-meanings, sentences.
Language is changing, growing every
day, and new words continue to be
added to it in the course of time.
- Language is thus open-ended,
modifiable, and extendable.
(The possession of language, perhaps more
than any other attribute, distinguishes
humans from other animals and it makes
humans ‘unique’.”)
b. Effective Use of Language.
(The Importance of Language)
- As a writer, it is important not only to
think about what you say, but how
you say it. To communicate
effectively, it is not enough to have
well organized ideas expressed in
complete and coherent sentences and
paragraphs. One must also think
about the style, tone and clarity of
his/her writing, and adapt these
elements to the reading audience.
- Again, analyzing one's audience
and purpose is the key to writing
effectiveness.
- In order to choose the most effective
language, the writer must consider the
objective of the document, the
context in which it is being written,
and who will be reading it.
(Characteristics of Effective Language)
There are six main characteristics of effective
language. Effective language is: (1) concrete
and specific, not vague and abstract; (2)
concise, not verbose; (3) familiar, not
obscure; (4) precise and clear, not
inaccurate or ambiguous; (5) constructive,
not destructive; and (6) appropriately
formal.
1. Concrete and Specific Language
- Concrete language includes
descriptions which create tangible
images with details the reader can
visualize. Abstract language is vague
and obscure and does not bring to
mind specific visual images.
2. Concise Language
- A hallmark of effective writers is the
ability to express the desired
message in as few words as possible.
Good writers, in other words, use
language which is straightforward
and to-the-point.
3. Familiar Language
- Familiar language is that which the
readers easily recognize and
understand because they use it on a
regular basis. One of the most
important functions of language is to
build "homophily" or a sense of
commonality with one's readers.
- Language which is foreign and
unfamiliar to the reader tends to
emphasize the differences between
writer and reader and makes the
message difficult to understand. By
using language that is familiar to
the reader, the message is likely to
have more impact.
4. Precise and Clear Language

- The use of appropriate language is a

tricky matter because the meaning of
words is relative and situational.

- In other words, words can be

interpreted in different ways by
different people in different
situations. For this reason, it is
important to choose language which
is as precise and clear as possible.
The more precise and clear one's
use of language becomes, the fewer
the number of possible
interpretations for a message.

- In short, it is wise to think carefully

about your choice of words and their
potential interpretations. To
communicate effectively, precise
and clear language is essential.

5. Constructive Language

- Constructive language phrases a

potentially negative message in a
positive way, whereas destructive
language directs blame and criticism
toward the reader, creating
defensiveness.

- Readers are likely to become

defensive when the writer's language
expresses any or all of the following:

• Superiority over the reader

• Indifference or apathy about an
issue of importance to the reader
• Negative evaluation or judgment
of the reader (as opposed to
neutral descriptions or
observations)
• Command or control over the
reader
• Skepticism or doubt about the
reader's credibility or the
legitimacy of their claim

6. Formality of Language

- The formality of the language one

uses should match the formality of the
situation and the relationship between
the writer and reader.