Class 1 08/02/2024 Unit 1

Unit 1 | What is Language?

- Linguistics: the scientific study of language

- Why study language? Studying languages gives us insights into not only how languages work,
but also about our cognitive capabilities, about our society, and has various practical applications
in the society.
- What is language?
- What do we know when we say we know a language?1
- Language is the primary means through which humans communicate their thoughts and ideas,
express their feelings, pass on information, etc. It is something complex and yet so simple that the
children seem to acquire it almost automatically.
- Almost every human being in one or another way uses a language.
- When we say we know a language we actually know a lot of things about it. For example, we
know what sounds are possible in the language, which sound clusters can occur at which position
in the word, how words can be put in order to form sentences, and what do all of them mean, and
so on… we know:
o Sounds (phonetics and phonology)
o Words (morphology)
o Sentences (syntax)
o Meanings (Semantics) and their contexts (Pragmatics)
- A lot of this knowledge is hidden (i.e., stored in our mind). We call that linguistic competence,
and linguists are interested in this.
- The knowledge about our languages that we reveal in our usage (and this process is also not
conscious) is called linguistic performance.
- A word that often comes again and again in our discussions on language is grammar. It is of two
types:
o Prescriptive grammar prescribes the socially embedded notion of “correct” or “proper”
ways to use a language
o Descriptive grammars are simply descriptions of how languages are actually being used
- Also, there is the issue of defining what is a language and what is a dialect? And there is no
objective answer to it. The answer always has something to do with political and social support
than it actually has to do with any language varieties themselves. “A language is a dialect with an
army and navy”.
1
I’m not going to answer these questions at the moment since we will be revisiting and revising the answers to these
questions as we go.

Winter 2024 Introduction to Linguistics [1]

Class 1 08/02/2024 Unit 1

- Design Features of language: In 1960s, Charles Hockett listed 13 design features which he
thought were universal for human languages, among which he felt like the first 9 were also
present in animal communications as well. The last four were unique to humans. Later on, he
added 3 more features to the list to make it 16.
1. Vocal Auditory Channel: natural language is vocally transmitted by the speakers as
speech sounds and is received as speech waves by the listeners. Hockett didn’t take
sign language into account. Animals have tactile-visual and chemical-olfactory
channels.
2. Broadcast transmission and directional reception: When we speak, sounds are
transmitted in all directions, however listeners perceive the direction from which the
sounds are coming. Similar with sign language. Characteristic of most forms of
human as well as animal communication.
3. Transitoriness/Rapid fading: Language sounds fade away. Almost too quickly once
the speaker has stopped speaking it. Also true for sign languages. To preserve
language, people use other forms of language, like writing.
4. Interchangeability: Humans can give and receive identical linguistic signals, and are
not limited in types of messages they can say and hear. You can hypothetically create
any and all messages that exist. Or, in other words, you can say anything that you
may hear. Animal communications have some level of this. For example, certain
chemical scents only queen ants can produce and not others.
5. Total feedback: You hear your own speech and can control and modify it as per your
need while you are saying it. Same with signers.
6. Specialization: Purpose of human linguistic signals is to communicate and not have
some other biological function. When we speak or sign, we do it intentionally and not
driven by some other need. For example, dog panting might be understood by its
master as that the dog is thirsty, but dogs pant to keep themselves cool. Panting is a
biological function, and communication of its need to drink water is a secondary
matter. So here, we can say that this communication is non-specialized.
7. Semanticity: All signals in a communication system has a meaning or a function.
And we generally presume that whatever is being said has some meaning.

Winter 2024 Introduction to Linguistics [2]