Unit Two

About Language
2.1 Theories of the origin of L.

 Communication constitutes one of the

most fundamental needs of human
beings, and is ultimately essential for
their survival.
 Since language is of so much primacy to
human beings, people have always
speculated upon where language came
from; consequently we have with us
today various theories and speculations.
2.1.1 Ancient Theories of
Divine Origin
 A) Biblical: The story of the Garden of Eden
goes that ‘God created Adam and speech
simultaneously’.
 B) Egyptian: They considered themselves to
have the oldest civilization and asserted that
the original human language was Egyptian.
 C) Greek: They speculated about everything in
the universe. It was commonly held among the
classic Greeks that at some ancient time there
was a ‘legislator’ who gave the correct, natural
name to everything.
2.1.2 Modern Theories of
The Origin

 A) Bow-wow theory
 B) Pooh-pooh theory (Gottfried von Herder 1772)
 C) Ding-dong theory (Müller in the 1800s)
 D) Yo-he-ho theory (around the turn of the 2000s )
 E) Ta-ta theory
 F) Sing-song theory (Otto Jesperson )
 G) Contact theory (G. Révész)
2.2 Definitions of Language

 ‘What is language?’ at first sounds like a

naïve and simple question. Yet to this
extremely familiar, everyday
phenomenon, it is difficult to give a
satisfactory definition. We might have
probably come up with an answer very
much like:
2.2.1 Language is a means
of communication.
 A variety of ways could be named.
 Tracing down to the root, we are left with
only two: speaking and writing.
 Of the two, speech is primary, spoken
long before the dawn of recorded history.
 Hundreds of groups of people have no
writing system, and yet they have their
own languages.
 Therefore, this definition should be
altered to the following:
2.2.2 Language is a vocal
means of communication.
 Still this definition is incomplete in that we
don’t just make a lot of noises. Every-
thing we utter is set forth in a meaningful
order lest we fail to communicate.
 Thus, in order to communicate, we must
have a system.
 AMnd our definition of language have to
be amended to:
2.2.3 Language is a vocal
system of communication.
 The utterances we make must adhere to
some preconceived order and
arrangement.
 These ideas are represented by ‘symbols’
which are embodied in sounds.
 In order to react to the symbols or utter
them, we must first learn them.
 Then the definition can be further revised
to read:
2.2.4 Language is a system
of vocal symbols used for
communication.
 There is no connection between the
sounds and the objects.
 The speakers have all agreed arbitrarily
upon the relationship of utterance and
concept.
 A typical example is ‘a rose by any other
name would smell as sweet.’
 Now, we might have to further alter the
definition:
2.2.5 Language is a system
of arbitrary vocal symbols
used for communication.
 Communication suggests the imparting of
ideas.
 But we do not merely listen passively to
ideas all the time.
 Rather, we often find ourselves called
upon to lend a helping hand.
 Thus we ready to add to our definition:
2.2.6 Language is a system of
arbitrary vocal symbols used for
communication or interaction.
 Animals are able to communicate ideas
and interact by means of an arbitrary
vocal system.
 What differs human beings from these
animals is that humans are able to pass
on a whole complex of ideas.
 We have symbolic language and they
seem to have a signaling system.
 Thus, it is necessary to include another
function in the definition:
2.2.7 Language is a system of
arbitrary vocal symbols used
for communication, intention,
and cultural transmission.

 To specify the users, as Leonard

Bloomfield first named, the term ‘a
speech community’ (Within certain
communities successive utterances are
alike or partly alike.) ought to be
borrowed to make the definition complete:
2.2.8 A language is a system
of arbitrary vocal symbols
by means of which the
members of a speech
community communicate,
interact, and transmit
their culture.
 2.2.9 Some modern linguists’
definitions of L.:
 a) Sapir (1921): Language is a purely human and
non-instinctivee method of communicating ideas,
emotions and desires by means of voluntarily
produced symbols.
 b) Chomsky (1957): From now on I will consider
language to be a set (finite or infinite) of sentences,
each finite in length and construct out of a finite set of
elements.
 c) Hall (1968): (Language is) the institution
whereby humans communicate and interact with each
other by means of habitually used oral-auditory
arbitrary symbols.
2.2.10 Generally accepted
definition of language:
 Language is a system of arbitrary
vocal symbols used for human
communication.
2.2.11 Main Attributes of
Language

 Language has a system.

 Language is vocal.
 Language is arbitrary.
 Language is a human activity.
 Language is non-instinctive.
 Language is social activity.
 Language is related to culture.
 Language changes.
2.3 Design Features

 To show that language is human is to

distinguish language from other systems
of animal communication.
 Differences and similarities between
language and animal communication
systems can be highlighted by comparing
essential characteristics of the systems.
 Hochett (1960) and Thorpe (1974), call
these essential characteristics design
features
2.3.1 Hochett’s Design Features

 1. Mode of  9. Displacement
communication  10. Productivity
 2. Rapid Fading  11. Cultural
 3. Interchangeability transmission
 4. Feedback  12. Duality (of
 5. Specialization Patterning)
 6. Semanticity  13. Prevarication
 7. Arbitrariness  14. Reflexiveness
 8. Discreteness  15. Learnability
2.3.2 Arbitrariness
 Language is arbitrary. Different sounds can be
used to refer to the same object in different
languages.
 e.g. 桌子 (in Chinese) table (in English)  机
（つくぇ）(in Japanese)
 Yet language is not entirely arbitrary; certain
words are motivated.
 e.g. onomatopoeic words: bang, crash, cackle
 compound words: photocopy, classroom
 The arbitrary nature is a sign of sophistication
and it makes it possible for language to have
an unlimited source of expressions.
2.3.3 Productivity-a
 Language is productive or creative in that it
makes possible the construction and
interpretation of new signals by its users.
 i) No constraints on topics:
 ii) We constantly add to the language: object
names, actions and novel combinations in
sentences.
 Being productive, language is productive at
many levels:
 Novel words created from sounds
 Words for a variety of concepts
 Sentences for novel ideas
 2.3.3 Productivity-b
 General principles of productivity:
 i) A finite number of basic elements
 Ii) “Rules” for combining them
 Iii) The system can be described by rules, but
there may not be that specific rule inside your
head.
 Productivity is unique to human language.
Most animal communication systems
appear to be highly restricted with respect
to the number of different signals that their
users can send and receive
2.3.4 Duality
 Language is a system, which consists of
two sets structures, or two levels.
 i) The lower, or the basic level: a structure of
sounds (speech sounds), meaningless by
themselves;
 ii) The higher level: grouping, or regrouping
of speech sounds into units of meaning.
 This duality of structure, or double
articulation of language enables its
users to talk about anything within their
knowledge.
2.3.5 Displacement
 Language can be used to refer to things
which are present or not present, real or
imagined matters in the past, present, or
future, or in far-away places.
 Some animals seem to possess abilities
appropriating those of displacement, and yet
they lack the freedom to apply this to new
contexts.
 Displacement is thus our ability to convey a
meaning that transcends the immediately
perceptible sphere of space and time, free
from barriers caused by separation in time
and place.
2.3.6 Cultural Transmission
 Human capacity for language has a
genetic basis. But the details of any
language system are not genetically
transmitted.
 Language is passed on from generation
to generation through teaching and
learning, rather than by instinct.
 In contrast, animal call systems are
genetically transmitted, that is, animals
are born with the capacity to produce the
set of calls peculiar to their species.
2.4 Assignments:

 a) What are the main features of human

language which are to show that it is
essentially different from animal
communicational system?
 b) What are the two major media of
linguistic communication? Of the two,
which is primary and why?