Transcript The Functions of Language - Emmy Nadia : A Teacher E

The Functions of Language
- Intentional and Unintentional
Communication
EDL 1201
Linguistics for the Language
Teacher
Discussions about the
functions of language
Chomsky says it is what might be called
as the ‘human essence’.
 Corder states that ‘too complex to be
defined’
 Cook states it as ‘the heart of human life’
 Poole defines it as “the faculty for
communication by speech sounds, is a
universal characteristic of the human
race’

Many linguists have defined it as:
 - by which man communicates
 - a system of communication
 - for the purposes of communication and
many others which serves the many
needs of humans.

What are the functions of language?
To communicate
 To maintain good or bad relations with
others (make small talk/ negative
functions)
 To entertain (amusing ourselves &
others)
 To inform/ passing on information
(Trask & Mayblin 2002)

Language as means of
Communication
Pit Corder states that we have to make a
distinction between ‘intentional’ and
‘unintentional ‘ communication in order to
understand what language is in
communication.
 Intentional comm.
 Unintentional comm.

Intentional comm.

That is to convey messages through speech
acts, or non speech acts.
 There is the intent to really pass on some
information, like giving a speech, a lecture, a
talk, or merely talking to others.
 Walking, for instance, can be termed as
communicating intentionally. How?
 “She flounced out off the room and slammed
the door.”
Unintentional comm.
Corder gives the example of – if we see a
friend walking - unobserved by him, within
fairly broad limits, we may be able to draw
some conclusions about him. About what?
 His walk tells us something about him– his
state of mind or health, for instance.
 But, no one would suggest that he is walking
that way, in order to communicate with us??
 What does this tell us?

unintentional comm.2
All our behaviour, in some measure is
communicative – receiver learns smthg,
even tho the sender has no speific
intention to comm.
 So, as to conclude – behaviour is
informative and communicative.
Unintentional comm3

As we can tell someone from her walk, we can
as well gain info from someone’s else voice.
We can infer certain things from a person’s
voice.
 By the tone of voice – we can tell if a person is
excited, angry, or tired.
 What about disguising one’s voice? – to
mislead?
 Conclusion – all human behaviour can be
informative, and can be a mode of
communication.
So, the distinction?
The distinction between intentional and
unintentional communication lies in the
sender’s mind.
 The distinction between ‘being informed’
and ‘not being informed’ lies in the
receiver’s mind.

2nd distinction?

Is between linguistic and non linguistic
communication
 Trying to establish communication with a
friend.
 Linguistically – one may wave and then say
“Hey Bob, come here a moment.”
 Non-linguistically – making an ill articulated
sound and then some actions, which in
convention is agreeable to both sender and
receiver, means the same as above.
Is there a distinction?

linguists state that the distinction is unclear
 Writing is also linguistically communicative and
intentional, but it is not verbal
 We use ‘coughs’, ‘shouts’, ‘yawns’ and a wide
range of other vocal signals, but few linguists
would regard that as ‘linguistic’.
 But what all linguists agree on, is the presence
of the human cognitive aspect.
Communication and Meaning

Humans can communicate intentionally by
other than linguistic means.
 – our posture, walk, tone of voice, gesture,
our manner of walking, dressing and eating
can mean something to others.
 But, it has to have the conventional element to
it to be accepted and understood by others.
 Eg – behaviour like – ‘liking someone’, ‘angry’,
other emotions. (how do show disliking, envy,
etc.)

Humans live in a society, and there are
behaviours that we learned in our society and
acceptable and understood specifically in that
society group. This is what it means by having
a conventional element in it.
 For example- a tired walk: there is an
accepted way of walking which means tired.
 What about ‘like’? or ‘embarrassed’? ‘shy’? –
probably all our behavior has a conventional
element in them.
Behaviour to communicate
Any deliberate manipulation of bodily
behaviour is called ‘paralinguistics’.
 These includes – gestures, posture,
facial expressions, and the tempo, pitch,
and quality of speech.
 Exploiting both speech and
paralinguistics would mean a clearer
communication can be established.

What is communicated?
Traditionally it is ‘Thought’, or ‘expressing our
thoughts’..
 But that is not its only function. Language can
be used to communicate beliefs, opinions or
perceptions, small talk, etc.
 However, a bit of language cannot be taken
out of context, in isolation from the situation
and context it is made. Eg. “I love you.” –
means so many things if taken out of context,
can be misunderstood.

Further readings
Finegan, Chapt 1, pp. 18-31
 Read also on the ‘properties of the
human language’.
