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INTR TO GEN LING Chapter 1

Language is a complex and controversial phenomenon with no single definition, characterized by its unique structure and spontaneous knowledge. The origin of language remains debated, with explanations ranging from divine gifts to human invention and innate faculties. Human language possesses distinct properties such as arbitrariness, displacement, productivity, and total feedback, and is primarily acquired through spoken forms, which are considered more fundamental than written language.

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8 views

INTR TO GEN LING Chapter 1

Language is a complex and controversial phenomenon with no single definition, characterized by its unique structure and spontaneous knowledge. The origin of language remains debated, with explanations ranging from divine gifts to human invention and innate faculties. Human language possesses distinct properties such as arbitrariness, displacement, productivity, and total feedback, and is primarily acquired through spoken forms, which are considered more fundamental than written language.

Uploaded by

mennani.taha112004
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Chapter One

W H A T IS L A N G U A G E ?
Language Nature and Function
(Read Chapter 1 / p.15 – p.38)

1. Definition

Language is a complex phenomenon. There is no comprehensive definition and no


agreement as to the nature of language. The term is controversial, abstract and neutral. It
depends on the specific outlook, approach or angle from which the linguist considers it (e.g.,
human, social, geographical, political, socio-psychological…factors). Language can be defined
as “a group of speech habits shared by a group of individuals,” and / or “a rule-governed (a
structure and a pattern on which it is built), highly organized system of communication.”
Compared with other modes of communication (e.g., animal language, computer language,
mathematical language or code…), human language is unique because of its complex and
intricate structure, highly controlled vocal system, and its natural spontaneous knowledge.
Besides, body language (gestures and facial expressions) may accompany verbal
communication or be used instead of it, as when trying to converse with a deaf person or with
a foreigner whose language is unknown to you.

2. The Origin of Language


There is also no agreement as to the origin of language, the original language as well
as its nature. The essential question is whether it was a single, original language (e.g., the
monogenetic hypothesis), or it appeared independently in several places or at several times.
Three main explanations have been given as to the origin of language:

2.1. The religious explanation: It considers language as a divine gift, and thus it has a divine
origin (a common belief in the three monotheist religions: Judaism, Christianity and Islam).
God even created the whole world by a Word. In the Holy Qur’an, we read, “ And He [God ]
taught Adam all the names.” ( Sura Al Baqara, Verse 31). The Hindus also believe that
language was a gift from Brahma’s wife…The major significance and magical power of
language, as a divine gift, are clearly apparent in different aspects of various people’s cultures
around the world, including the Moroccan one.

2.2. The Anthropological explanation: According to this explanation, both man’s origin and
language’s origin are closely related. Language is therefore a human invention that developed
via the development of man himself to adapt with nature, or respond to the cries of nature, and
environment. The most important basis here is the evolutionary account.

2.3. The Rationalist View: This view thinks that language faculty is innate, that man is born
with it; neither given to him nor invented by him (the German philosopher Johan Herder in the
18th century and Noam Chomsky in the 20th century, among many others, adopted this view).
They also believe in the universality of human language, in that all natural languages stem
from the same general system / language or Universal Grammar (Chomsky). Within this view,
there is the phonetic explanation (adopted by the phoneticist Philip Liberman) that maintains
that the development of language was related to the development of the vocal tract (articulatory
and auditory organs), which is also related to the development in the brain. However, such a
view is insufficient to explain the origin of language.
To conclude, the origin of language seems to be a fascinating topic for the general public,
yet modern linguists do not focus too much on it simply because it is beyond the immediate
interest and scope of scientific investigation.

3. Properties of Human Language


Human language is characterized by a lot of properties and essential characteristics. Among
these, are the following:
- Language is the dividing line between Man and animals. It is primarily a human
phenomenon or activity. Besides, it is a highly organized system of communication.
- Language, as speech organs and mental structure, is an inherent feature, that is, part of
Man’s fundamental character.
- A child acquires his first language or mother tongue easily and quickly without formal
teaching, regardless of his or culture.
- It is species-specific, that is, it is unique for humans because animals cannot learn or
speak human language although they have their own means of communication. Many
experiments with animals, especially primates, have felt.
- It has a vocal-auditory channel. It uses a vocal tract/articulatory system to produce
speech sounds and an auditory/hearing system to receive and process the speech sounds
(unlike animals).
- Arbitrariness of human language, that is there is no natural relation between things
and the names attributed to them, or between sound and meaning; unlike the old belief
of Naturalists… Saussure (1916) was among the first linguists to talk about this when
he introduced the notion of the arbitrary relation between the elements of the Linguistic
Sign (Signified vs. Signifier). Exceptions to this arbitrariness are the onomatopoeic
words whose sounds, people think, imitate the sounds of nature (example:
buzz/crash/splash/tweet…) This arbitrariness makes human language flexible, that is
the vocabulary can be expanded without any restriction imposed by the relationship
between sound and meaning.
- Displacement refers to the capacity of human language to talk about or refer to objects
that are remote/far in both time and space ( not necessary to be present or even exist).
- Productivity refers to the creativity of human language. It allows new, unlimited
signals/words/forms to be produced in a spontaneous and unpredictable manner, without
imitation or memorization. Animal language uses a limited number of voices and cries
to express joy, hunger, anger…The same is also true for computer language that
remains, despite the huge technological development, very limited in comparison with
the human language that is a creative, efficient, adaptive and flexible system of
communication.
- Total feedback : A speaker is able himself to monitor/control/manipulate his speech
through his auditory or hearing system (his ears). Total or partial deaf people fail to
monitor their speech, which leads to its partial or total deterioration. The sound, in fact,
stimulates both the speaker and the hearer.

4. Knowledge of Language

Knowledge of language refers to that unconscious, abstract, innate competence that enables
speakers to have a good command/monitoring of all aspects of their native language or mother
tongue. It’s a rule-governed system made up of sounds, words, and sentences. It’s, in
Chomsky’s terms, the linguistic competence ( unconscious linguistic ability) that is distinct
from the linguistic performance (the actual speech).

5. Spoken and Written Language

There are essential differences between the spoken and written forms of language at the levels
of pronunciation, vocabulary and grammar. At the level of pronunciation, for instance, spoken
language makes use of prosodic features (stress, intonation…), hesitation, repetition, unfinished
sentences while the written form uses paragraphing, punctuation, capitalization, formal
language…It is also believed that the spoken form is clearer and less ambiguous than letters or
printed documents especially in public and business relations. In modern linguistics, it is argued
that spoken language is more important written language and, consequently, the primacy of
speech over writing, for many reasons. First, speech is much older than writing through history.
Second, writing is only a substitute of speech. Even now, many human languages don’t have a
universally accepted written status. Third, spoken language is acquired naturally during infancy
without special instruction. Fourth, most of us uses the spoken form of language more than the
written form; the written form is used only when the spoken one is unreliable. Last, but not
least, most language changes occur in the spoken language before they occur in the written
language.

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