Philosophy of Language and Literature

ENG101
PHILOSOPHY OF LANGUAGE
AND LITERATURE
On Philosophy
NATURE
MEANING
CLASSIFICATION
DISCIPLINES
Philosophy of Language and Literature
Nature of Philosophy
Philosophical disputes are not caused by a lack of factual
information.
Philosophical problems are seldom solved by an appeal to facts.
Philosophy is often more concerned with method than with

theoretical content.
One of philosophy's chief goals is clarification.
Philosophy is concerned with the critical reflection on justification

and evidence.
Philosophical inquiry centers on the quest for truth about crucial

issues that are perennially discussed by thoughtful persons.
Philosophical analysis and explanation involves appeals to systems

of principles.
Meaning of Philosophy
 Etymology. Philos - sophia. Lover of - wisdom.
 Rational critical thinking, of a more or less systematic kind

about the conduct of life, the generalization of life
and the justification of belief .
Four more appropriate definitions of philosophy's purpose:
• Philosophy is (or at least should be) the development of

broad conceptual frameworks that serve to discard false
beliefs and unify fragmented beliefs in art, science, religion
and society.
• Philosophy is, or at least should be, limited to the analysis

and clarification of language.

Meaning of Philosophy
More appropriate definitions of philosophy's purpose:
• Philosophy is, or ought to be, the description of the human

condition, to wake us up and sharpen our perception of
existence.
• Philosophy is or ought to be the systematic and rigorous

search for the truth about certain non-empirical but
enduring questions, emphasizing clearly stated arguments
and analysis of key terms.

Classification of Philosophy
Philosophy of Mind
Philosophy of Religion
Philosophy of Science
Philosophy of Art
Philosophy of Language

Disciplines of Philosophy
Logic
Ethics
Metaphysics
Epistemology

On Language
Meaning
History, Major Stages of Development of

Language
Nature and Characteristics
Dialectology
Speech Community

On Language

Dialectal Differences
Social Aspects of Language
Language Change
Language in Communication
Pidgins and Creoles

Meaning of Language
 Language is a system for communicating.
 It is the ability to acquire and use complex systems

of communication, particularly the human ability to do so,
and a language is any specific example of such a system.
 The system of words or signs that people use to express

thoughts and feelings to each other
 Any one of the systems of human language that are used

and understood by a particular group of people
 Words of a particular kind

Major Stages of Language Development
oBabbling
oHolophrases
oTwo-Word Sentences
oTelegraphic Sentences
oJoined Sentences
oOvergeneralizations

Nature and Characteristics
LANGUAGE is…..
Learned
Discrete
Recombinable
Unconscious/intuitive
Interchangeable
Reflexive
Arbitrary
Redundant
Can displace
Productive

Dialectology
-scientific study of linguistic dialect, a sub-field

of sociolinguistics
-studies variations in language based primarily on

geographic distribution and their associated features
-treats such topics as divergence of two local dialects

from a common ancestor and synchronic variation

Speech Community
- a group of people who share a set of norms and expectations
regarding the use of language
- comes to share a specific set of norms for language use

through living and interacting together, and speech
communities may therefore emerge among all groups that
interact frequently and share certain norms and ideologies
- Early definitions have tended to see speech communities as

bounded and localized groups of people who live together and
come to share the same linguistic norms because they belong to
the same local community.

Dialectal Differences
-Dialectal Differentiation is a term that refers to the process by

which language changes over time and space and circumstance.
It is also known as language variation or language
diversification.
-In its broadest application, dialectal differentiation provides an

explanation for how new languages or dialects emerge from a
common language.

Social Aspects of Language
Language is a social medium, and thus a social skill.
Language is a major component in social events, communication

events, interaction with other people.
Learning language as a social skill heightens memory and

competency.
Languages are used by social groups (families, clans, tribes,

societies) to manage their relationships and cultural roles,
obligations and interrelationships.

Language Change
Types of Language Change
Lexical Changes
Phonological and Phonetic Change
Spelling Changes
Semantic Changes
Syntactic Changes

Language and Communication
- explores the role of words, grammatical constructions and

texts, and their influence on people’s ideas, social relations,
actions and exchanges of information. explores the role of
words, grammatical constructions and texts, and their influence
on people’s ideas, social relations, actions and exchanges of
information.
- enables you to deepen your knowledge of everything from how

language interacts with culture and media to how language
changes over time and how language enhances cognitive
abilities

Pidgins and Creoles
-A pidgin is a simplified, makeshift language that develops to

fulfill the communication needs of people who have no language
in common but who need to occasionally interact for commercial
and other reasons.
-A pidgin language becomes the mother tongue of a population.

When that happens, it is called a Creole language.

-THE END
Prepared by :
CHLEA MARIE M. TANEDO

Philosophy of Language and Literature

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ENG101

Philosophical problems are seldom solved by an appeal to facts.

Philosophy is often more concerned with method than with

One of philosophy's chief goals is clarification.

Philosophy is concerned with the critical reflection on justification

Philosophical inquiry centers on the quest for truth about crucial

Philosophical analysis and explanation involves appeals to systems

 Rational critical thinking, of a more or less systematic kind

Four more appropriate definitions of philosophy's purpose:

• Philosophy is (or at least should be) the development of

• Philosophy is, or at least should be, limited to the analysis