Lecture 2 What Is Language
? I,The Definition of language
? II,Design Features of Language
? III,Functions of Language
I The Definition of Language
? Before we start the definition of
language,it should be understood that
occasionally the commonest concepts
are the most difficult to define.
– How you are going to define a human?
I The Definition of Language
? Human,
A featherless biped
(two-footed animal)
Plato
I The Definition of Language
? Diogenes held a plucked
chicken aloft in the
marketplace,proclaiming,
“Behold Plato's man!”
I The Definition of Language
? Can you guess the defined words from
their definition?
? 1,A movable piece of firm material or a
structure supported usu,along one side and
swinging on pivots or hinges,sliding along
a groove,rolling up and down,revolving as
one of four leaves,or folding like an
accordion by means of which an opening may
be closed or kept open for passage into or
out of a building,room,or other covered
enclosure or a car,airplane,elevator,or
other vehicle.
Third International Webster
I The Definition of Language
?DOOR
? Do you think
this exit
included in
the previous
definition?
I The Definition of Language
? 2,Anything reticulated or decussated,at
equal distances,with interstices between
the intersections.
A Dictionary of the English Language Samuel Johnson
? Reticulate,to form little squares
? Decussate,to form an X or a cross
? Interstice,a space,especially a small or
narrow one,between things or parts
? Intersection,the place where things cross
or overlap
I The Definition of Language
?NET
net of yeast protein
? Dictionary Definition
? 1,The use by human beings of voice
sounds,and often written symbols
representing these sounds,in
organized combinations and patterns in
order to express and communicate
thoughts and feelings.
? 2,A system of words formed from such
combinations and patterns,used by the
people of a particular country or by a
group of people with a shared history
or set of traditions.
? 3,an artificially constructed method
of communicating ideas,as by a system
of signs,symbols,gestures,or rules
? 4,The special vocabulary and usages
of a scientific,professional,or
other group
? 5,a characteristic style of speech or
writing
? 6,the manner or means of
communication between living creatures
other than human beings
? 7,A system of symbols and rules used
for communication with or between
computers
? Match the use of
the word language
with the
dictionary
definitions
? A,Shakespeare’s
language
? B,Linguistics is
the systematic
study of language,
? C,Basic language
? D,the language of
bees
? E,artificial
language such as
Esperanto
? F,his total
mastery of screen
language,camera
placement,editing
and his handling
of actors
? G,The document is
written in seven
languages
I The Definition of Language
? Sapir(1921),Language is a purely human and
non-instinctive method of communicating
ideas,emotions,and desires by means of
voluntarily produced symbols,
? Hall(1968,Essay on Language),Language is
the institution whereby humans communicate
and interact with each by means of
habitually used oral-auditory symbols,
? Trager (1942,Outline of Linguistic
Analysis ),A language is a system of
arbitrary vocal symbols by means of which a
social group co-operates.
I The Definition of Language
? According to Sapir (1921:8):
Language is a purely human and non-
instinctive method of communicating
ideas,emotions and desires by means
of voluntarily produced symbols.
? Can the following short flash be
called a language?
? 此处插入 flash
I The Definition of Language
Defects of Sapir’s Definition
What is now popularly referred to by
means of the expression,body language” ---
which makes use of gestures,postures,eye-
gaze,etc,as in the nonverbal flash---would
seem to satisfy this point of Sapir’s definition.
I The Definition of Language
? There are many
systems of
voluntarily
produced symbols
that we only count
as languages in
what we feel to be
an extended or
metaphorical sense
of the word
“language”.
I The Definition of Language
? More example of
body languages
? Arafat makes a
gesture of
"victory" to the
crowd before
delivering a
speech in the
meeting in
Ramallah on Sept,
9,2002,
I The Definition of Language
? Sometimes this
symbol is also
associated with
good fortune
I The Definition of Language
? In their Outline of Linguistic
Analysis Bloch and Trager wrote
(1942:5),
“A language is a system of
arbitrary vocal symbols by means of
which a social group co-operates.”
I The Definition of Language
? The most distinct feature:
arbitrary vocal system
? The term,arbitrariness” is here
being used in a rather special sense
? The definition explicitly restricts
language to spoken language,thus
making the phrase, written language”
contradictory.
I The Definition of Language
?,by means of which a social group co -
operates.” Bloch and Trager
?,method of communicating ideas,emotions
and desires” Sapir
? In contrast with Sapir’s,this definition
makes no appeal to the communicative
function of language.
? Instead,it puts all the emphasis upon its
social function; and,in doing so,as we
shall see later,it takes a rather narrow
view of the role that language plays in
society.
I The Definition of Language
? In his Essay on Language,Hall
(1968:158) tells us that language is
,the institution whereby humans
communicate and interact with each
other by means of habitually used
oral-auditory arbitrary symbols.”
I The Definition of Language
? First of all,both
communication and
interaction are
introduced into the
definition
(“interaction”
being broader than
and,in this respect,
better than
,cooperation”)
Among the points to notice here
I The Definition of Language
? Second,that the term, oral -
auditory” can be taken to be roughly
equivalent to, vocal” differing
from it only in that, oral -auditory”
makes reference to the hearer as well
as to the speaker i.e,to the
receiver as well as the sender of the
vocal signals that we identify as
language- utterances.
I The Definition of Language
Thirdly,Hall,like Sapir,treats
language as a purely human institution;
and the term,institution” makes
explicit the view that the language
that is used by a particular society
is part of that society’s culture.
I The Definition of Language
? Chomsky says that
“From now on I will consider a
language to be a set (finite or
infinite) of sentences,each finite in
length and constructed out of a finite
set of elements.”
Syntactic Structures
II Design Features of Language
-- Features that define our human language
II Design Features of Language
? 1,Arbitrariness,forms
of linguistic signs bear
no natural relationship
to their meaning (Page 4)
II Design Features of Language
? In other words,it is impossible to
predict the meaning from the form,or
vice versa,Look at the following
diagram,
word
form meaning
II Design Features of Language
? Is onomatopoeia (sound-imitating word)
arbitrary? Or do the words such as
“cuckoo”,“peewit”,“crash” etc,
bear a non-arbitrary connection
between their form and their meanings?
II Design Features of Language
? Apes gibber.猴子唧唧叫
? Roosters crow,公鸡喔喔叫
? Hens cluck,母鸡咯咯嗒
? Chicks peep,小鸡唧唧唧
? Bulls bellow,Cows moo 老牛哞哞哞
? Ducks quack.鸭子嘎嘎嘎
? Cats mew,小猫喵喵叫
? Frogs croak.青蛙呱呱呱
? Goats bleat.小羊咩咩咩
? Pigs grunt,小猪呼噜噜
? Mice squeak,老鼠吱吱叫
? Dogs bark,小狗汪汪叫
II Design Features of Language
? Bees buzz; they go bzzz,
? Birds chirp; they go tweet tweet,
? Cuckoos go cuckoo,
? Donkeys bray; they go hee-haw,
? Doves coo,
? Geese honk,
? Horses neigh or whinney,
? Lions roar,
? Owls hoot; they go hoo,
? Roosters crow; they go cock-a-doodle-
doo,
? Turkeys go gobble gobble,
? Wolves howl,
II Design Features of Language
? Animals make much the same sounds
around the world,but each language
expresses them differently,English
and Chinese cows sound the same,but
not in English and Chinese!
II Design Features of Language
? Frog
– Afrikaans,kwaak-kwaak
– Albanian,kuak
– Arabic (Algeria),gar gar
– Bengali,gangor-gangor
– Catalan,cruá-cruá
– Chinese (Mandarin),gua gua
– Croatian,kre-kre
– Danish,kv?k
– Dutch,kwak kwak
– English (USA),ribbit
– English (GB),croak
– Estonian,krooks-krooks
– Finnish,kvak kvak
– French,coa-coa
– German,quaak,quaak
– Greek (Ancient Greek),
brekekekex koax koax
– Hebrew,kwa kwa (/qva qva)
– Hindi,me:ko:me:k-me:ko:me:k
– Hungarian,bre-ke-ke
– Italian,cra cra
– Japanese,kerokero
– Korean,gae-gool-gae-gool
– Norwegian,kvekk-kvekk
– Polish,kum kum
– Russian,kva-kva
– Spanish (Spain),cruá-cruá
– Spanish (Argentina),berp
– Spanish (Peru),croac,croac
– Swedish,kvack
– Thai,ob ob (with high tone)
– Turkish,vrak vrak
– Ukrainian,kwa-kwa
II Design Features of Language
?,稻花香里说丰年，听取蛙声一片” (big,loud
sound)
? Croak,A low,hoarse sound,as that
characteristic of frogs
? To utter a low,hoarse sound,(fig)To
mutter discontentedly; grumble
e.g,Global Warming Makes the Frog Croak
Global warming has wiped out two-thirds
of species of unique frogs that inhabit the
cloud forests of Central America,a study
published in Nature,the British weekly
science journal,says,
II Design Features of Language
? Conclusion,arbitrary and
onomatopoeic effect may work at the
same time.,It is only when you know
the meaning that you infer that the
form is appropriate.” (Widdowson,
1996:6)
II Design Features of Language
? Another question,
? By the property of arbitrariness,do
we mean that a person can use the
language as freely as we like?
II Design Features of Language
? The arbitrary link between a
linguistic sign and its meaning,
however,is also conventional,
? Read the following joke
II Design Features of Language
A naughty boy beginning to learn ABC is bothering his
teacher repeatedly:
“Why we shall read it A?”
“Why we shall read it B?”
??
The annoyed teacher pinched his nose.
“Auch,my nose!”
The annoyed teacher pinched his ear.
“Auch,my ear!”
Then the teacher asked:
“Why you call it your ear and nose?”
“It is so named and so called.”
“Alright,ABC is so named and so called.”
II Design Features of Language
? Question for consideration,Does the
arbitrariness of language prove
Shakespeare’s famous saying?
'Tis but thy name that is
my enemy?
What's in a name? that
which we call a rose
By any other name
would smell as sweet;
So Romeo would,were
he not Romeo call'd,
Retain that dear
perfection which he
owes
? Does the pictograph or hieroglyphic
writing （象形字） in China contradict
with the arbitrariness of language?
II Design Features of Language
? 2,Duality,the property of having two
levels of structure,The units of the
primary level are composed of elements
of the secondary level and each of the
two levels has its own principles of
organization,(Page 6)
? b-o-o-k (meaningless segments,lower
level,secondary) ---->
? Book (meaningful unit,higher level,
primary)
II Design Features of Language
? Can you think of some other systems
with the property of duality?
? Why is this property generally assumed
as central to language?
? Does animal language have this
property?
? How is this related to communicative
power?
II Design Features of Language
? 3,Creativity,the ability
that we all have to
construct and understand an
indefinitely large number of
sentences in our native
language,including
sentences that we have never
heard before,but that are
appropriate to the situation
in which they are uttered.
II Design Features of Language
? Displacement,the ability for the human
language users to symbolize objects,
events and concepts which are not
present (in time and space) at the
moment of communication,or the ability
to use language to talk about the
things that exist in our world of
experience or in the world of
imagination.
III Functions of Language
? Interpersonal 人际功能 Good morning,Ms
Zhang! Hello,Mary,(identity)
? Phatic交感性谈话, It’s really cold today.
Yeah,really.
? Performative 施为功能, Let’s begin our
class.
? Informative 信息功能, The design features of
languages are arbitrariness,duality,
creativity and displacement.
? Emotive 感情功能, I love this class,
? Recreational娱乐功能, parody (仿化）
? Metalinguistic 元语言功能, what I mean is,I
do hope you can enjoy the class
? I,The Definition of language
? II,Design Features of Language
? III,Functions of Language
I The Definition of Language
? Before we start the definition of
language,it should be understood that
occasionally the commonest concepts
are the most difficult to define.
– How you are going to define a human?
I The Definition of Language
? Human,
A featherless biped
(two-footed animal)
Plato
I The Definition of Language
? Diogenes held a plucked
chicken aloft in the
marketplace,proclaiming,
“Behold Plato's man!”
I The Definition of Language
? Can you guess the defined words from
their definition?
? 1,A movable piece of firm material or a
structure supported usu,along one side and
swinging on pivots or hinges,sliding along
a groove,rolling up and down,revolving as
one of four leaves,or folding like an
accordion by means of which an opening may
be closed or kept open for passage into or
out of a building,room,or other covered
enclosure or a car,airplane,elevator,or
other vehicle.
Third International Webster
I The Definition of Language
?DOOR
? Do you think
this exit
included in
the previous
definition?
I The Definition of Language
? 2,Anything reticulated or decussated,at
equal distances,with interstices between
the intersections.
A Dictionary of the English Language Samuel Johnson
? Reticulate,to form little squares
? Decussate,to form an X or a cross
? Interstice,a space,especially a small or
narrow one,between things or parts
? Intersection,the place where things cross
or overlap
I The Definition of Language
?NET
net of yeast protein
? Dictionary Definition
? 1,The use by human beings of voice
sounds,and often written symbols
representing these sounds,in
organized combinations and patterns in
order to express and communicate
thoughts and feelings.
? 2,A system of words formed from such
combinations and patterns,used by the
people of a particular country or by a
group of people with a shared history
or set of traditions.
? 3,an artificially constructed method
of communicating ideas,as by a system
of signs,symbols,gestures,or rules
? 4,The special vocabulary and usages
of a scientific,professional,or
other group
? 5,a characteristic style of speech or
writing
? 6,the manner or means of
communication between living creatures
other than human beings
? 7,A system of symbols and rules used
for communication with or between
computers
? Match the use of
the word language
with the
dictionary
definitions
? A,Shakespeare’s
language
? B,Linguistics is
the systematic
study of language,
? C,Basic language
? D,the language of
bees
? E,artificial
language such as
Esperanto
? F,his total
mastery of screen
language,camera
placement,editing
and his handling
of actors
? G,The document is
written in seven
languages
I The Definition of Language
? Sapir(1921),Language is a purely human and
non-instinctive method of communicating
ideas,emotions,and desires by means of
voluntarily produced symbols,
? Hall(1968,Essay on Language),Language is
the institution whereby humans communicate
and interact with each by means of
habitually used oral-auditory symbols,
? Trager (1942,Outline of Linguistic
Analysis ),A language is a system of
arbitrary vocal symbols by means of which a
social group co-operates.
I The Definition of Language
? According to Sapir (1921:8):
Language is a purely human and non-
instinctive method of communicating
ideas,emotions and desires by means
of voluntarily produced symbols.
? Can the following short flash be
called a language?
? 此处插入 flash
I The Definition of Language
Defects of Sapir’s Definition
What is now popularly referred to by
means of the expression,body language” ---
which makes use of gestures,postures,eye-
gaze,etc,as in the nonverbal flash---would
seem to satisfy this point of Sapir’s definition.
I The Definition of Language
? There are many
systems of
voluntarily
produced symbols
that we only count
as languages in
what we feel to be
an extended or
metaphorical sense
of the word
“language”.
I The Definition of Language
? More example of
body languages
? Arafat makes a
gesture of
"victory" to the
crowd before
delivering a
speech in the
meeting in
Ramallah on Sept,
9,2002,
I The Definition of Language
? Sometimes this
symbol is also
associated with
good fortune
I The Definition of Language
? In their Outline of Linguistic
Analysis Bloch and Trager wrote
(1942:5),
“A language is a system of
arbitrary vocal symbols by means of
which a social group co-operates.”
I The Definition of Language
? The most distinct feature:
arbitrary vocal system
? The term,arbitrariness” is here
being used in a rather special sense
? The definition explicitly restricts
language to spoken language,thus
making the phrase, written language”
contradictory.
I The Definition of Language
?,by means of which a social group co -
operates.” Bloch and Trager
?,method of communicating ideas,emotions
and desires” Sapir
? In contrast with Sapir’s,this definition
makes no appeal to the communicative
function of language.
? Instead,it puts all the emphasis upon its
social function; and,in doing so,as we
shall see later,it takes a rather narrow
view of the role that language plays in
society.
I The Definition of Language
? In his Essay on Language,Hall
(1968:158) tells us that language is
,the institution whereby humans
communicate and interact with each
other by means of habitually used
oral-auditory arbitrary symbols.”
I The Definition of Language
? First of all,both
communication and
interaction are
introduced into the
definition
(“interaction”
being broader than
and,in this respect,
better than
,cooperation”)
Among the points to notice here
I The Definition of Language
? Second,that the term, oral -
auditory” can be taken to be roughly
equivalent to, vocal” differing
from it only in that, oral -auditory”
makes reference to the hearer as well
as to the speaker i.e,to the
receiver as well as the sender of the
vocal signals that we identify as
language- utterances.
I The Definition of Language
Thirdly,Hall,like Sapir,treats
language as a purely human institution;
and the term,institution” makes
explicit the view that the language
that is used by a particular society
is part of that society’s culture.
I The Definition of Language
? Chomsky says that
“From now on I will consider a
language to be a set (finite or
infinite) of sentences,each finite in
length and constructed out of a finite
set of elements.”
Syntactic Structures
II Design Features of Language
-- Features that define our human language
II Design Features of Language
? 1,Arbitrariness,forms
of linguistic signs bear
no natural relationship
to their meaning (Page 4)
II Design Features of Language
? In other words,it is impossible to
predict the meaning from the form,or
vice versa,Look at the following
diagram,
word
form meaning
II Design Features of Language
? Is onomatopoeia (sound-imitating word)
arbitrary? Or do the words such as
“cuckoo”,“peewit”,“crash” etc,
bear a non-arbitrary connection
between their form and their meanings?
II Design Features of Language
? Apes gibber.猴子唧唧叫
? Roosters crow,公鸡喔喔叫
? Hens cluck,母鸡咯咯嗒
? Chicks peep,小鸡唧唧唧
? Bulls bellow,Cows moo 老牛哞哞哞
? Ducks quack.鸭子嘎嘎嘎
? Cats mew,小猫喵喵叫
? Frogs croak.青蛙呱呱呱
? Goats bleat.小羊咩咩咩
? Pigs grunt,小猪呼噜噜
? Mice squeak,老鼠吱吱叫
? Dogs bark,小狗汪汪叫
II Design Features of Language
? Bees buzz; they go bzzz,
? Birds chirp; they go tweet tweet,
? Cuckoos go cuckoo,
? Donkeys bray; they go hee-haw,
? Doves coo,
? Geese honk,
? Horses neigh or whinney,
? Lions roar,
? Owls hoot; they go hoo,
? Roosters crow; they go cock-a-doodle-
doo,
? Turkeys go gobble gobble,
? Wolves howl,
II Design Features of Language
? Animals make much the same sounds
around the world,but each language
expresses them differently,English
and Chinese cows sound the same,but
not in English and Chinese!
II Design Features of Language
? Frog
– Afrikaans,kwaak-kwaak
– Albanian,kuak
– Arabic (Algeria),gar gar
– Bengali,gangor-gangor
– Catalan,cruá-cruá
– Chinese (Mandarin),gua gua
– Croatian,kre-kre
– Danish,kv?k
– Dutch,kwak kwak
– English (USA),ribbit
– English (GB),croak
– Estonian,krooks-krooks
– Finnish,kvak kvak
– French,coa-coa
– German,quaak,quaak
– Greek (Ancient Greek),
brekekekex koax koax
– Hebrew,kwa kwa (/qva qva)
– Hindi,me:ko:me:k-me:ko:me:k
– Hungarian,bre-ke-ke
– Italian,cra cra
– Japanese,kerokero
– Korean,gae-gool-gae-gool
– Norwegian,kvekk-kvekk
– Polish,kum kum
– Russian,kva-kva
– Spanish (Spain),cruá-cruá
– Spanish (Argentina),berp
– Spanish (Peru),croac,croac
– Swedish,kvack
– Thai,ob ob (with high tone)
– Turkish,vrak vrak
– Ukrainian,kwa-kwa
II Design Features of Language
?,稻花香里说丰年，听取蛙声一片” (big,loud
sound)
? Croak,A low,hoarse sound,as that
characteristic of frogs
? To utter a low,hoarse sound,(fig)To
mutter discontentedly; grumble
e.g,Global Warming Makes the Frog Croak
Global warming has wiped out two-thirds
of species of unique frogs that inhabit the
cloud forests of Central America,a study
published in Nature,the British weekly
science journal,says,
II Design Features of Language
? Conclusion,arbitrary and
onomatopoeic effect may work at the
same time.,It is only when you know
the meaning that you infer that the
form is appropriate.” (Widdowson,
1996:6)
II Design Features of Language
? Another question,
? By the property of arbitrariness,do
we mean that a person can use the
language as freely as we like?
II Design Features of Language
? The arbitrary link between a
linguistic sign and its meaning,
however,is also conventional,
? Read the following joke
II Design Features of Language
A naughty boy beginning to learn ABC is bothering his
teacher repeatedly:
“Why we shall read it A?”
“Why we shall read it B?”
??
The annoyed teacher pinched his nose.
“Auch,my nose!”
The annoyed teacher pinched his ear.
“Auch,my ear!”
Then the teacher asked:
“Why you call it your ear and nose?”
“It is so named and so called.”
“Alright,ABC is so named and so called.”
II Design Features of Language
? Question for consideration,Does the
arbitrariness of language prove
Shakespeare’s famous saying?
'Tis but thy name that is
my enemy?
What's in a name? that
which we call a rose
By any other name
would smell as sweet;
So Romeo would,were
he not Romeo call'd,
Retain that dear
perfection which he
owes
? Does the pictograph or hieroglyphic
writing （象形字） in China contradict
with the arbitrariness of language?
II Design Features of Language
? 2,Duality,the property of having two
levels of structure,The units of the
primary level are composed of elements
of the secondary level and each of the
two levels has its own principles of
organization,(Page 6)
? b-o-o-k (meaningless segments,lower
level,secondary) ---->
? Book (meaningful unit,higher level,
primary)
II Design Features of Language
? Can you think of some other systems
with the property of duality?
? Why is this property generally assumed
as central to language?
? Does animal language have this
property?
? How is this related to communicative
power?
II Design Features of Language
? 3,Creativity,the ability
that we all have to
construct and understand an
indefinitely large number of
sentences in our native
language,including
sentences that we have never
heard before,but that are
appropriate to the situation
in which they are uttered.
II Design Features of Language
? Displacement,the ability for the human
language users to symbolize objects,
events and concepts which are not
present (in time and space) at the
moment of communication,or the ability
to use language to talk about the
things that exist in our world of
experience or in the world of
imagination.
III Functions of Language
? Interpersonal 人际功能 Good morning,Ms
Zhang! Hello,Mary,(identity)
? Phatic交感性谈话, It’s really cold today.
Yeah,really.
? Performative 施为功能, Let’s begin our
class.
? Informative 信息功能, The design features of
languages are arbitrariness,duality,
creativity and displacement.
? Emotive 感情功能, I love this class,
? Recreational娱乐功能, parody (仿化）
? Metalinguistic 元语言功能, what I mean is,I
do hope you can enjoy the class
