WHAT IS LANGUAGE?

If somebody asked you the question “what is language?” you might say ‘it
is what we speak’. But this would not be a very satisfactory answer. Just as if
someone asked you “what is water?” the answer, ‘it is what we drink’. Would be
totally inadequate. Similarly, to reply that language is ‘a source of communication’
or what we ‘speak’, takes a small part of what language actually is.
There are many different ways in which people speak about language gives
us a clue about its complexity. Most of the people think language as:

1. Language is a Skill:
Something we do. “He speaks well but writes badly.”

2. Language is a Knowledge:
Something we know. “I know what I mean but I can’t think of the word for
it.” “We don’t know much French.”

3. Language is a Possession:
Something we have or possess. “They haven’t much Italian.” “She has a
fine speaking style.”

4. Language is a Tool:
Something we use. “What words can I use to describe her?” “She used
rather learned language.”

5. Language is an Event:
Something which happens. “I was in the office when the conversation took
place.”

6. Language is a Group Identity:

Something which transmit culture. “It is only through our language that we
can truly express our national identity.”

7. Language is an Object:
Something which we can describe. “This language has a complex
structure.” “I can’t see how this language works.”

8. Language is a Living Organism:

 Something which takes birth, lives and dies. “Gradually a new language
was born.” “The eighteenth century saw a flowering of the language.” “That’s a
dead language.” “Urdu descended from Persian.”

SOME DEFINITIONS OF LANGUAGE

We can understand the term ‘language’ better in terms of its characteristics,

features and properties. Some linguist have been defined the term ‘language’ in
their own ways. But these definitions are not satisfactory completely. Here are
some of these definitions:

1.Robins (1985):

“Language is a symbol system based on pure or arbitrary conventions…

infinitely extendable and modifiable according to the changing needs and
conditions of the speakers.”

Explanation:

According to Robins language is a symbol system, every language that exists

in its written form has some symbols for its selected sounds. In English language,
for instance, we have symbol k for the sound of /k/ and we have the symbol t for
the sound of /t/.
This symbol system is purely arbitrary, in a way that there is no one to one
relations (correspondence) between the structure and the sound of the word and the
object it stands for.
This arbitrary symbol system is based on conventions. Convention means
some social agreement among speakers of language. In English language, for
example, we have a word ‘cat’ the word stands for a domestic pet. Why could it
not be a.c.t or t.a.c? Well, it could also be a.c.t or t.a.c, and there is nothing logical
about the combination c.a.t. except that it has now become a convention. A
convention that cannot be easily changed. Yet it is not impossible to do so.
Language is infinitely modifiable and extendable, continuously new words
are adding into language and words are changing their meanings according to the
needs of their spacers. As Shakespeare, for example, used the word “stomach” to
mean “courage”.

2.Sapir (1921):
 “Language is a purely human and non-instinctive method of communicating
ideas, emotions and desires by means of voluntarily produced symbols.”

Explanation:

There are two prominent terms in this definition i.e. human and non-
instinctive. According to Sapir, language is human. Only humans possess
language and all normal humans possess it.
Animals do have a communication system but it is not a developed system.
That is why language is said to be species-specific and species-uniform.
Language does not transfer from parents to a child. In this sense, it is non-
instinctive. A child has to learn a language, the language of the society in which
he/she is placed.

3. Hall (1969):

“Language is the institution whereby humans communicate and interact

with each other by means of habitually used oral-auditory arbitrary
symbols.”

Explanation:

This definition gives more prominence to the fact that language is primarily
vocal and speech is produced by oral-auditory symbols.
A speaker produces some strings of oral sounds that get conveyed through
the air to the listener. Listener receives the sound waves through his hearing organs
and conveys these sounds waves to the brain that interprets these symbols and gets
the meanings.

4. Noam Chomsky (1957):

“Language is a set (finite or infinite) of sentences, each finite in length, and

constructed out of a finite set of elements.”

Explanation:

Chomsky expresses the idea that each sentence has a specific structure.
Human brain is competent enough to construct different sentences out of limited
set of sounds/ symbols that belong to particular language.
 Human brain is, also, very productive. A child can produce a sentence that
has never been said or heard earlier.

5. Wardaugh (1972):

“Language is a system of arbitrary, vocal symbols used for human

communication.”

6. Bloch and Trager (1942):

"A language is a system of arbitrary vocal symbols by means of which a

social group co-operates."

Explanation:

Both Wardaugh and Bloch prominently point out that language is a system.
According to the system different sounds join to form words. For instance, the
letters p, e, n join to form a meaningful word pen. Whereas combinations like
e.n.p, n.e.p, e.p.n or n.p.e do not form any meaningful or sensible combinations.

7. Lyons (1970):

“Languages are the principle systems of communication used by particular

groups of human beings within the particular society (linguistic community)
of which they are member.”

8. Encyclopedia Britannica:

“Languages is a system of conventional spoken or written symbols by means

of which human beings, as members of a social group and participants in its
culture, communicate.”

Explanation:

Both the definitions above importantly point out that language is a source of
communication. Every speech community, social group or society has its own
communicative system.
From all these definitions it is evident that it is most possible to have a
single complete definition that brings out all the properties of language.
 However, on the basis of these definitions we can list out the various
characteristics of language.

CHARACTERISTICS OF LANGUAGE

Language is an essential part of human society it is the most effective source

of communication. Language undoubtedly has a very important social purpose. It
is difficult to imagine a society without language which is the basis of human
progress, civilization, culture, wisdom and intellect.
Some prominent and important characterizes of language are:
1. Language is a Source of Communication:

Language is a very important source of communication among humans.

Speaker A can communicate his or her emotions, ideas, beliefs or feelings to
speaker B through language. As the share same language as a common code of
communication. Humans use other non-verbal means of communication, e.g.,
facial expressions, body language, nods, winks, gestures, sirens, sketches, maps,
acting, miming, and dancing, and so on. But all these communication systems are
extremely limited. These systems are not as comprehensive, extensive, perfect and
flexible as language is.
Language is very important way of communication among humans that it is
really difficult to think of society without language.

2. Language Shapes Our Thoughts:

Ideas or thoughts are shapeless mass in human minds. Language gives shape
to our ideas and thoughts. Language guides us and it controls our entire activities.

3. Language is a Carrier:

Language is a carrier. Language carries human civilization, culture,

ideology, philosophy, custom and beliefs from one generation to the other
generation, from one century to the next centuries.

4. Language is Ubiquitous:
 Language is ubiquitous in the sense that it is present everywhere in all
human activities. Language is as important as the air we breathe. Language is
present in our all activities, actions, events and dealings.

5. Language is Species-Specific:

Language is the most valuable possession of man. All humans are blessed
with language. Language is species-specific in a way that only humans can speak
that is why they are called talking animals (Homo loquens). So, language is the
special and specific property of humans.

6. Language is Arbitrary:

Language is arbitrary, in the sense that there is no intrinsic, inherent or

logical relation between the words of a language and their meanings or the ideas
conveyed by them. For instance, there is no reason why a female adult human
being is called a woman in English, istree in Hindi, aurat in urdu, zen in persion
and femine in French. In these languages selection of these words mentioned that
here is purely arbitrary an accident of history.
The arbitrary nature of language permits change, but such changes don’t
normally take place. Once names are given to anything or any object, normally
their names are not changed. It is more difficult to change words in a language
because a whole society has accepted them. Therefore, while the arbitrary nature of
language permits change, its conventionality gives it stability.

7. Language is a System of System:

Language is called as a system of systems because language operates at

different levels. Two levels are most important. These are:
i. Phonological Level
ii. Syntactical Level

Phonological Level:
At phonological level some graphic symbols stands for the sounds of the
language, e.g., t symbol stands for /t/ sound, s symbol stands for /s/ sound. Sounds
are arranged in certain fixed systematic order to form meaningful units or words.
For instance, cat /k æ t/ , in this word “cat” there are three sounds /k/, /æ/, /t/,
when these three sounds are combined in specific order they make a meaningful
word.
Syntactical Level:

At syntactical level words are arranged or combined to form acceptable

meaningful sentences according to certain conventions of the language i.e.
grammatical or structural rules. For example, the sentence “The hunter shot the
tiger with a gun.” is acceptable sentence but the sentence “hunter the tiger a shot
gun with the” is not acceptable as the word order in the latter sentence is not
according to the established language conventions.
This property of language as a system of systems is also termed as duality
by some linguists.

8. Language is Primarily Vocal:

Language is primarily vocal. It is made up of vocal sounds only. These

sounds are produced by a physiological articulatory mechanism in the human
body. A child learns to speak first. Writing comes much later.
Writing is the graphic representation of the sounds of the language. The
letters k or q represents only the /k/ sound. A man speaks much more than he
writes during his life time.
The total quantum of speech is much larger than the total quantum of written
materials. That is why modern linguistics say speech is primary and writing is
secondary.

9. Language is form of Social Behaviour:

Language does not transfer from a parent to a child. That is why language
has to be learnt. This learning is possible only in society. A human child learns to
speak the language of the community or the group in which he or she lives. A
French infant, if placed in Punjabi family, the baby will learn to speak Punjabi
language.
So, a child picks up the language of the social set-up in which he or she
grows. Thus, language is a form of social behavior.

10. Language is a Symbol System:

In language words are symbols. They stand for objects. In English language,
for example, the word table is consisted of four different symbols of sounds i.e. /t/,
/eɪ/, /b/ and /l/ = /teɪbl /. The word table stands for an object consisted of a
wooden-board supported by four legs.
 When a speaker or a writer wants to communicate with other person. He
encodes or put his message into symbols (in speech or writing). The receiver of the
message, who shares a common code with the sender of the message, decodes this
message and the receiver interprets that message he received in the form of
symbols message at a certain meanings.

11. Language is a Creative & Productive:

Language is creative and productive. A user of a language does not always

produce only sentences that he has heard or learnt previously. But he can produce
and create new words, new sentences on the basis of his ‘knowledge’ of the
grammar and syntax of the language. He can write new poems or he can produce
many other kinds of new literature. He can produce an infinite number of sentences
and he can coined or create new words as well. This property of language is called
creativity and productivity.

12. Language is a Interchangeable:

It is an important characteristic of human language that language permits a
speaker to become a listener and a listener to become a speaker. This property of
language is called as interchangeability. It can also be called reciprocity i.e. any
speaker/ sender of linguistic signal can also be a listener/receiver.

13. Language is systematic:

Human language is systematic. Although language is consisted of various

symbols and language is symbolic, but all these symbols are arranged in a specific
patterns according to particular systems. All languages have their system of
arrangements. For example, how sounds will be arranged, how words will be
arranged and how sentences will be arranged and so on.

14. Language is Prevarication:

Language is prevarication. Prevarication is the ability to deceive or to lie.

Only humans can deceive each other and they can tell a lie with the help of
language. They can make false, wrong and meaningless statements.

15. Language is Reflexive:

 Human language is reflexive in a way that humans can use language to
describe language. They can use language for the sake of language. Its mean to use
language to talk about language.