Functions of Language
Outlines: 
 Defining language 
 Defining function 
 Language function processing 
 Proponents of language functions 
 Aspects of language functions
a) General or micro
b) Meta or macro 
 Conclusion
Defining language: 
The word function is often used in different
senses in the literature of linguistics: 
 In sociological studies of language, function is
often used to refer to the role language plays
in society. 
 In ethnography, scholars use function to refer
to the specific uses of language. 
 In systemic-functional linguistics, functions of
language are highly generalized categories of
meaning which simultaneously underlie an
utterance
 An abstract system of symbols and meanings.
 a) Physiological
 Language is a purely human and non-
instinctive method of communicating ideas,
emotions and desires by means of voluntarily
produced symbols. (Sapir) 
 The method of human communication, either
spoken or written, consisting of the use of
words in a structured and conventional way.
Language function processing:
 Language function is processed socially when
individuals make use of their tongue for
interaction.
 Biologically much of the language function is
processed in several association areas, and
there are two well-identified areas that are
considered vital for human communication:
 Wernicke area 
 Broca area
Proponents of language functions:
In the history of linguistics we find many
renowned personalities who worked on language
functions but some of the prominent are:
a) Roman Jakobson
b) Bronislaw Malinowski
c) Micheal Halliday
d) Finch
Aspects of language functions:
We can study language functions in two aspects:
1. General or micro aspects
2. Meta or macro aspects
1. General or micro aspects:
Refer to the particular individual uses of
language in a society. Finch (1998) lists seven
general (micro) functions:
 Emotive or expressive function
 Releasing physical and nervous energy
 Such as our expression of fear and
affection, surprise or our involuntary
verbal reactions to beautiful things.
 According to Finch instructions allow us
to release inner feelings
 A great deal of so-called 'bad language'
or swearing fulfills this function.
b) Phatic function:
 coined from Marlinowski
 express our willingness to be sociable
  helps us negotiate the start and end of
exchanges whether in spoken or
written form
c) Recording function:
 denotes using language to make a
durable record of things that ought to
be remembered.
 The most significant function behind
the development of language from
being an oral medium to becoming a
written one.
 It might be a short-term record, as in a
shopping list or a list of things to do, or
a long-term record, as in a diary or
history of some kind
d) Identifying function:
 allows us to identify an enormous array
of objects and events with considerable
precision
 quick and accurate reference
 helpful in proper arrangements
 we use names to classify different
types of things, whether we call a car
anautomobile, a lorry, a van or a truck
makes a big difference.
e) Reasoning function
 A tool of thought
 Before we say something we think and
to do that we necessarily use
language.
 Speaking and writing comes from
thought •
 Reasoning may vary in connotations
e.g., "black" may be associated with
evil and death, and "white" with purity
and goodness
f) Communicating function
 referential or prepositional function
 We use language to express ourselves
to others
 We also need language in order to
understand what they are
communicating to us
 Requesting, apologizing, informing,
ordering as well as promising and
refusing are all reasons for
communicating our ideas.
g) Pleasure functions
 Language allows us to derive pleasure
from it.
 A large part of the pleasure we derive
from language comes from the
successful exploitation of linguistic
novelty at different levels of the
language
 For example language often gives
pleasure both to the speakers and
listeners supported by the frequent use
of assonance, alliteration and
onomatopoeia in poetry.
2. Meta or macro aspects:
The term metafunction originates in
systemic functional linguistics and is considered to
be a property of all languages.
A function which is capable of describing
one or more other functions.
Michael Halliday, the founder of systemic
functional linguistics, calls these three functions:
a) Ideational Function:
 the content function of language and allows
us to conceptualize the world for our own
benefit and that of others
 language as a cording system which deals
with the relation between man and nature
 The ideational function is further divided into:
1) Experiential function:
The experiential function refers to the
grammatical choices that enable speakers to
make meanings about the world around us and
inside us
 it is through this process of humans
making meaning from experience that
language evolved
 For example when we watch small
children interacting with the objects
around them we can see that they are
using language to construe a theoretical
model of their experience
2) Logical function:
 Those systems which set up logical–
semantic relationships between one
clausal unit and another
 When two clauses are combined, a
speaker chooses whether to give both
clauses equal status, or to make one
dependent on the other.
 In addition, a speaker choose some
meaning relation in the process of
joining or binding clauses together
b) Interpersonal Function:
 It is the participatory function of language
 language servers as a medium between
individuals
 we use language to interact with others, to
establish and maintain relations with them, to
please them, to anger them, and influence
their behavior, to get their help or sympathy
a) Textual Function:
 the relation of language to the verbal and
nonverbal situational environment
 when language is in use, playing the the
previous two metafunctions, it naturally forms
a text
 language as a system organizes messages in
a unified manner so that chunks of messages
fit logically with others around them and with
the wider context in which the talking or
writing takes place
Conclusion: 
 Functions of Language is an international
journal of linguistics which explores the
functionalist perspective on the organization
and use of natural language. 
 Language affords human beings the ability to
communicate anything they can imagine. As a
tool, language is infinitely flexible and can be
put to multiple purposes. 
 Functions of Language promotes the
constructive interaction between linguistics
and such neighboring disciplines as sociology,
cultural studies, psychology, ethology,
communication studies, translation theory and
educational linguistics.
