Eng2103

WHAT IS LANGUAGE
Philosophers, logicians, psychologists, literary critics, creative writers, linguists and many
other have been interested in language and have defined it from the point of view of their own
disciplines. There is no comprehensive definition of language. The only answer to the question "What
is language?" is Language is language.
Let's look at some of the commonly quoted definitions.
a. 'Speech is the representation of the experience of the mind. Aristotle.
b. 'Language is a purely human and non-instinctive method of communicating ideas, emotions
and desires by means of a system of voluntarily produced symbols.' E. Sapir: Language.
c. When we study human language, we are approaching what some might call "human essence",
the distinctive qualities of mind that are, so far as we know, unique to man." --- N. Chomsky:
language and Mind.
Notice that most of these statements agree on a number of features.
i. Language is a means of communication and sell - expression.
ii. Language is arbitrary.
iii. Language non-instinctive; conventional.
iv. Language is symbolic.
v. Language is systematic.
vi. Language is vocal.
vii. Language is a-form of social behaviour.
viii. Language is human.
ix. Language is open-ended, extendable and modifiable.
x. Language is structurally complex.
IS LINGUISTICS A SCIENCE?
The approach and methodology of linguistics is scientific. Like a scientist a linguist develops
hypotheses, makes generalized statements and tests them against the fact of languages.
The linguist also hopes to be in position to make prediction about unobserved linguistic data
on the basic of those observed, and build a general theory which would explain and relate all the facts
to be found in individual languages. And finally like a true scientist, he is constantly engaged in
discovering more about languages, in refining his methods of investigation, and in constructing better
theories. He also tries to find out linguistic universals.
The closeness of Linguistics with other natural sciences like mathematics, physics,
physiology, biology, zoology, etc., is another proof of its scientific nature. Consequently, linguistics is
getting more and more technical and sophisticated every day. Nevertheless, linguistics is the scientific
study of language. It may be inductive or deductive. It is concerned with reportable facts, methods,
and principles. It formulates theories; its products are descriptive, verbal or algebraic statements about
language

Minimal pairs
Minimal pairs is a test used by phonologists to ascertain phonemic contrasts between both
consonants and vowels.
The vowel minimal pairs are as follows:
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Bit/bit/ Boot/bu:t/
Bet/bet/ Bite/bait/
Bat/bæt/ Bout/baut/
But/bit/ Sherbet/bat/
Beat/bi:t/ Bert/b3:t/
Bait/beit/
Boat/bout/
Bought/bƆ:t/
Sets of minimal pairs are as follows:
/Pit//put/ /pot//peat/
/leer/ /lair//lure/
Sets of minimal pairs like this may work well for one accent, but not for another accent. Although this
is a minor issue for consonants, it is important in discussing vowel phoneme systems. It is because
most accent variations in English involve vowels.

Organs of speech
The major role of the vocal cords is like a vibrator in the production of voice. If the vocal
cords are held loosely together, the pressure of the air coming from the lungs makes them vibrate. All
vowel sounds and some consonants /v//z//m//n/are voiced. The roof of the mouth is called the palate.
There are soft palate and hard palate. The soft palate (velum) can be moved up and down to block the
passage into the nose. If the soft palate is lowered, the passage through the mouth is closed. We
produce nasal sounds such as /m//n/. The hard palate is behind the upper front teeth called the alveolar
ridge.
Of all the movable organs in the mouth, the tongue is the most flexible organ. It has four
parts: the tip, the blade, the front and the back. When the lips are tightly held together, they form a
complete obstruction to produce bilabial stops such as /p/ /b/. When they are held apart, they are
spread. As a result, no friction can be heard. For example, /see/. When they are in an open position,
we produce such sounds as /car/ and /part/.