Language

Look at the picture on the next slide

and think of your interpretation upon
seeing it.
 Language is a system of
communication, a medium for
thought, and a social interaction.
 Language is the expression of ideas employing
speech sounds combined into
words which are then combined into sentences.
Ideas and thoughts are converted into
meaningful
messages and expressed through the use of
language.

Henry Sweet
 Language is also a system of
conventional, spoken, and written
symbols through which human beings
communicate with each other.
 Language has no inherent relation
between the words of a language and their
meanings of the ideas conveyed by them. It
may be noted that had language not been
arbitrary, there would have been only one
language in the world.
Characteristics of Language
 Language is
arbitrary.

Language has no inherent relation between the

words of a language and their meanings of the ideas
conveyed by them. It may be noted that had language not
been arbitrary, there would have been only one language in
the world.
SIGNIFIER SIGNIFIED

DOG
 Language is
social.

Language is a set of conventional communicative signals used by

humans for communication in a community.

Language in this sense is a possession of a social group,

comprising an indispensable set of rules which permits its
members to relate to each other, interact with each other, and co-
operate with each other.
 Language is
symbolic.

Think of someone suffering with:

sorrow, embarrassment, failure, love,
anger
 Language is
symbolic.

Language consists of various sound symbols and their

graphological counterparts that are
employed to denote some objects, occurrences, or
meaning.
These symbols are arbitrarily
chosen and conventionally accepted and employed.
 Language is
systematic.

Often to goes he the market.

 Can you understand it?

No. It is because it was not arranged on the usual way.

 Language is
systematic.

Often to goes he the market.

He often goes to the market.

You are there.

There you are.

Are you there?

 Language is
systematic.

Language is symbolic, its symbols are arranged in a

particular system, and all languages have
their system of arrangements.
All languages have phonological and grammatical
systems, and
within a system, there are several sub-systems.
 Language is vocal.

Language is primarily made up of vocal

sounds only produced by a physiological
articulatory
mechanism in the human body.
Language is vocal.
 Language is Non-
instinctive,
Conventional

Like all human institutions, languages also change

and die, grow, and expand.
Every language then is a convention in a
community. It is non-instinctive because it is
acquired by
human beings.
 Language is the outcome of evolution
and convention. Like human institutions
languages also change and die, grow and
expand.

It is non-instinctive because it is
acquired by human beings. Nobody gets a
language in heritage; he acquires it because he
has innate ability.
Pennsylvania State University
 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, yet both sides
understand without difficulty.
Language changes according to the needs of society.
 Language is productive
and creative.

Pull the boat on to the beach. – beach the boat

Clean the floor with a mop. – mop the floor
Put the wine in bottles. – bottle the wine