Notes in Purposive Communication
propagandic façade of unity
I. Nature of Language
A. What makes a language… a influence and power. Just
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.
(Distinct Characteristics of Language)
(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
like Hitler, he 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.
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 that emphasize exposure to
new sights and sounds,
 The fundamental building including speech.
blocks of a language are the
syllables. It is to be noted
 Mothers in particular play a
that auxiliary modifications
large role in teaching the
of the pronunciation of
structure of language to their
multisyllable words are of the
children.
syllable rather than the
phoneme. Thus, the basic Expert Insight
chunks of a language are the
 Due to the importance of
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
 Language development
words shape people, culture.
occurs primarily in infants
and toddlers under three
 Speaking, writing, and
years of age. As humans age,
reading are integral to
it becomes increasingly
everyday life, where
difficult to learn new
language is the primary tool
language structures.
for 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
six-month increments for the
of 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,
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
a. Evolution's great mystery:
Language.
 What we call language is
something more specific than
communication. Language is
about sharing what’s in our
minds: stories, opinions,
questions, the past or future,
imagined times or places,
ideas. It is fundamentally
open-ended and can be used
to say an unlimited number
of things.
 Many researchers are
convinced that only humans
have language, that the calls
and gestures other species use
to communicate are not
language. Each of these calls
and gestures generally
corresponds to a specific
message, for a limited total
number of messages that
aren’t combined into more
complex ideas.
 So far, no animal
communication seems to
have the open-endedness of
human language. But as far
as we know, only humans
have language. And while
humans speak around 7,000
distinct languages, any child
can learn any language,
indicating that the biological
machinery underlying
language is common to all of
us.
 Language may have begun to
take shape during the
Pleistocene, 2 to 3 million
years ago, with the
emergence of the genus
Homo that eventually gave
rise to our own species, homo
sapiens. Brain size tripled,
and bipedalism freed the
hands for communication.
There may have been a
transition from gestural
communication to gestural
language— from pointing to
objects and pantomiming
actions— to more efficient,
abstract signing.
b. Human Characteristics: Language
& Symbols.
Humans Express Themselves
- The ability to plan, record
information, and communicate
helped humans survive as climates
fluctuated strongly.
- Ultimately, words and symbols led to
language and the richness of modern
human life.
Communicating with Color
- By 350,000 years ago, with ocher
and manganese, our ancestors
marked objects and possibly their
own skin. Colors were symbols by
which they identified themselves
and their group.
- Humans may have first used ocher
either as an adhesive or a pigment,
and later to make artistic drawings
and paintings.
Ancient Burials
- By 100,00 years ago, our ancestors
often buried the dead together with
beads and other symbolic objects.
Burial rituals heightened the group’s
memory of the deceased person.
These rituals may imply a belief
that a person’s identity extends
beyond death.
Expressing Identity
What do you wear to define who you are?
- By 100,00 years ago, our ancestors
used jewelry and other personal
adornments to reflect their identity.
These adornments may have
represented membership in a
particular group or someone’s age,
sex, and social status.
Recording Information
- By 77,000 years ago, from simple
beginnings like these came our
ability to store enormous amounts of
information.
 - Benefits
 Spoken language is essential
to modern human cultures.
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
 As our bodies evolved for
systematic pattern suggests to some
speech, the voice box
researchers that the markings
dropped lower in the throat.
represent information rather than
The area above the vocal
decoration.
chords lengthened, enabling
Creating Paintings and Figurines us to make a wide variety of
sounds.
- By 40,000 years ago, by this time,
humans were creating two- and
- Costs
three-dimensional images of the
 When the voice box dropped
world 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
- However, making and using some of
underneath all the words
the objects here, which date back
borrowed from French, Latin,
350,000 years, involved complex
Old Norse, and other
behaviors that probably required
languages. But comparative
language.
linguistics can help us by
Benefits and Costs of Talking focusing on grammatical
 structure, patterns of sound
changes, and certain core
vocabulary.

 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.
- The formality of the language one
uses should match the formality of
the situation and the relationship
between the writer and reader.

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 Origins and Evolution of Language |
Michael Corballis | TEDxAuckland

How language began | Dan Everett |

TEDxSanFrancisco