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WWeeeekk11..TThheeNNaattuurreeooffHHuummaannLLaannggFerdinanddeSaussure(1857,11–1913,2),aSwisslinguistwhoseideaslaidafoundationformanysignificantdevelopmentsinlinguisticsinthe20thcenturyandwidelyconsideredtobeoneofthefathersof20th-centurylinguistics,saidin1916:“Languageisasystemofsignsthatexpressideas,andisthereforecomparabletoasystemofwriting…”EdwardSapir(1884,1-1939,2),aGerman-bornAmericananthropologist-linguist,saidin1921:“Languageisapurelyhumanandnon-instinctivemethodofcommunicatingideas,emotionanddesiresbymeansofvoluntarilyproducedsymbols.”BernardBloch(1907–1965)andGeorgeTrager(1906–1992),Americanlinguists,saidin1942:Alanguageisasystemofarbitraryvocalsymbolsbymeansofwhichasocialgroupcooperates.NoamChomsky(1928-)anAmericanlinguist,saidin1957:“Aset(finiteorinfinite)ofsentences,eachfiniteinlengthandconstructedoutofafinitesetofelements.”R.A.Hall(1911–1997),anAmericanlinguistandspecialistintheRomancelanguages,saidin1968:“Theinstitutionwherebyhumanscommunicateandinteractwitheachotherbymeansofhabituallyusedoral-auditoryarbitrarysymbols.”Alanguageisthesystemofsymbolswiththemostgeneralmeaningsofanyusedbyhumans.Theperceptibleportionsoflinguisticsymbolsarearticulatorygestures,transmittedoneafteranotherusuallyassounds.Theyareusedtocommunicateorstoreinformation,oreventodesignandthink.★Thedefinitionthatmostlinguistsagree:Languageisassyysstteemmofarbitraryvvooccaallssyymmbboollssusedforhhuummaannccoommmmuunniiccaattiioonn.Inthesenseofourlinguisticstudy,itisgenerallyheldthat:Languageisasystem—Itismadeupofunits,functions,andrelations.Languageisasetofsymbols—Itinvolvessigns,whicharesequencesofsounds,thosecanbetransferredintovocalsigns.Languageisvocal—Inlinguistics,languageisfirstofallspeech,meaningfulvocalsounds.Languageishuman—Inthestudyofthiscourse,languageisrestrictedtohumannaturallanguage.Languageiscommunication—Thechiefpurposeoflanguage.Ofalltheaptitudesandbehaviorswhichcharacterizehumanbeings,languageisthemostuniquelyhuman,andquitepossiblythemostimportant.Languageisacapacitythatdistinguisheshumanbeingsfromothercreatures.MajorDesignFeaturesofHumanLanguageArbitrarinessWordsandtheirmeaninghavenoaprioriconnection.Wecannottellfromthesoundstructurewhichmeaningisbehindit.DualityofpatterningLanguagehastwolevelsofstructure:atthelevelofsoundandatthelevelofmeanings,andthesetwolevelsofstructureareindependentofoneanother.ProductivityLanguagehasthecapacitytogenerateaninfinitevarietyofmessages,includingmessagesthathaveneverbeensaidbefore.DisplacementLanguageisabletorefertothingsthatareremovedfromthespeakerinbothtimeandspace.Traditional(Cultural)transmissionLanguageislearnedthroughculturaltransmission,typicallyfromparentsandoldersiblings,childrenbuildtheirgrammaroflanguagebyinferencefromalimitedsampleofsentences.InterchangabilityIndividualscanbothreceiveandtransmitmessages.FunctionsofLanguageLanguageasameansofcommunication:Communicationofinformation,ideas,feelingsandemotionThecognitiveandsocialfunctionsoflanguagebehavior:theformerreferstothetransmissionofpropositional,orfactual,informationanddiscursivereasoningor“cogitation”;thesecondtotheestablishmentandmaintenanceofsocialrapport.※SomedescriptionsThewell-knownmodelofthefunctionsoflanguageintroducedbytheRussian-Americanlinguist,RomanJakobsoninLinguisticsandPoetics“,Jakobson'smodelofthefunctionsoflanguagedistinguishessixelements,orfactorsofcommunication,thatarenecessaryforcommunicationtooccur:※Briefly,thesesixfunctionscanbedescribedasfollows:(1)thereferentialfunctionisorientedtowardthecontext(thedominantfunctioninamessagelike'Waterboilsat100degrees');(2)theemotivefunctionisorientedtowardtheaddresser(asintheinterjections'Bah!'and'Oh!');(3)theconativefunctionisorientedtowardtheaddressee(imperativesandapostrophes);(4)thephaticfunctionservestoestablish,prolongordiscontinuecommunication[orconfirmwhetherthecontactisstillthere](asin'Hello?');(5)themetalingualfunctionisusedtoestablishmutualagreementonthecode(forexample,adefinition);(6)thepoeticfunction(e.g.,'Smurf'),puts'thefocusonthemessageforitsownsake'[Jakobson,1960,p.356]ThreeBasicFunctionsofLanguage1.Informativelanguagefunction:essentially,thecommunicationofinformation.a.Theinformativefunctionaffirmsordeniespropositions,asinscience.b.Thisfunctionisusedtodescribetheworldorreasonaboutit(e.g..,whetherastateofaffairsistrueorfalse).c.Thesesentenceshaveatruthvalue;hence,theyareimportantforlogic.2.Expressivelanguagefunction:reportsfeelingsorattitudesofthewriter(orspeaker),orofthesubject,orevokesfeelingsinthereader(orlistener).a.Poetryisoneofthebestexamples,butmuchof,perhapsmostof,ordinarylanguagediscourseistheexpressionofemotions,feelingsorattitudes.b.Twomainaspectsaregenerallynoted:(1)toevokecertainfeelingsand(2)toexpressfeelings.c.Expressivediscourse,quaexpressivediscourse,isbestregardedasneithertrueorfalse.e.g.,Shakespeare'sKingLear'slament,Ripenessisall!Evenso,thenatureoffictionalstatementsisaninterestingareaofinquiry.3.Directivelanguagefunction:languageusedforthepurposeofcausingorpreventingovertactions.a.Thedirectivefunctionismostcommo