Structure of English

Nestor L. Traballo - Instructor

 What language is?
Henry Sweet, an English phonetician and language
scholar, stated: “Language is the expression of ideas
by means of speech-sounds combined into words.
Words are combined into sentences, this combination
answering to that of ideas into thoughts.”
The American linguists Bernard Bloch and George L.
Trager formulated the following definition: “A
language is a system of arbitrary vocal symbols by
means of which a social group cooperates.”
 What language is?
Every physiologically and mentally typical person
acquires in childhood the ability to make use, as
both sender and receiver, of a system of
communication that comprises a circumscribed
set of symbols (e.g., sounds, gestures, or written
or typed characters)
 What language is?
In spoken language, this symbol set consists of noises
resulting from movements of certain organs within the
throat and mouth.
In signed languages, these symbols may be hand or body
movements, gestures, or facial expressions. By means of
these symbols, people are able to impart information, to
express feelings and emotions, to influence the activities
of others, and to comport themselves with varying
degrees of friendliness or hostility toward persons who
make use of substantially the same set of symbols.
 Watch and Reflect
Language is…
How does language work?
What is not in Language?
What are Chomsky's contribution to the development
of view of language?
How does accent happen?
Why computers can not compute human language?
What is the role of pragmatics in language?
Why is language important to humans?
 Reference
Steven Pinker (2012). Linguistics as a Window to
Understanding the Brain | Big Think. Retrieved
from
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q-
B_ONJIEcE&list=RDLVQ-B_ONJIEcE&index=1