Language is what makes us uniquely human. Bees use an elaborate communication system to tell one another precisely how to get from the hive to a source of pollen. Some birds can imitate human speech. Some monkeys use specific calls to tell one another whether a predator is a leopard, a snake, or an eagle. And dogs are very good at reading our gestures and tone of voice. But we humans are the ones who can talk about feelings and opinions. Animals simply cannot do that.
Every human knows at least one language, spoken or signed. In this lesson, we will learn about the key properties and features of language as well as the structure of language.
Language is the ability to produce and comprehend spoken and written words. The study of language is called linguistics. Language shapes our social interactions and brings order to our lives. Complex language is one of the defining factors that make us human.
We uniquely have the ability to communicate complex and abstract ideas. At first, it was spoken language. Then, independently, several human cultures developed the written word - the means to communicate with others over thousands of miles or years. Through language, we have built civilizations, developed science and medicine, literature, and philosophy. We do not have to learn everything from personal experience, because through language we can learn from the experience of others.
Grammar - Every language has a set of rules. These rules are known as grammar. Speakers of a language have internalized the rules and exceptions for that language's grammar. There are two types of grammar - descriptive and prescriptive.
Descriptive grammar represents the unconscious knowledge of a language. English speakers, for example, know that "me like apples" is incorrect, and "I like apples" is correct, although the speaker may not be able to explain why. Descriptive grammars do not teach the rules of a language, but rather describe rules that are already known. In contrast, prescriptive grammars dictate what a speaker's grammar should be and they include teaching grammars, which are written to help teach a foreign language.
Lexicon - Every human language has a lexicon - the sum total of all of the words in that language. By using grammatical rules to combine words into logical sentences, humans can convey an infinite number of concepts.
Language is such a special topic that there is an entire field called linguistics devoted to its study. Linguistics view language in an objective way to form theories about humans to acquire and use language. There are a few major branches of linguistics, which are useful to understand in order to learn about language.
Phonetics, Phonology - Phonetics is the study of individual speech sounds; phonology is the study of phonemes, which are the speech sounds of an individual language. These two cover all the sounds that humans can make, as well as which sounds make up different languages. A phonologist could answer the question, "Why do BAT and TAB have different meanings even though they are made of the same three sounds - A, B and T?"
Morphology - This is the level of words and endings, to put it in simplified terms. The term morphology refers to the analysis of minimal forms in the language which are themselves comprised of sounds and which are used to construct words that have either a grammatical or a lexical function.
Lexicology is concerned with the study of the lexicon from a formal point of view and is thus closely linked to morphology.
Syntax - This is the level of sentences. It is concerned with the meanings of words in combination with each other to form phrases or sentences. An example of syntax coming into play in a language is "Eugene walked the dog" versus "The dog walked Eugene". The order of words is not arbitrary - in order for the sentence to convey the intended meaning, the words must be in a certain order.
Semantics - Semantics, most generally, is about the meaning of sentences. Someone who studies semantics is interested in words and what real-world object or concept those words denote, or point to.
Pragmatics - It is an even broader field that studies how the context of a sentence contributes to meaning. It tells how the same word can have different meanings in different settings. For example, "Will you crack open the door? I am getting hot." Semantically, the word 'crack' would mean to break, but pragmatically we know that the speaker means to open the door just a little to let in some air.
| Object of study | Name of field |
| Language use | Pragmatics |
| Meaning | Semantics |
| Sentences, clauses | Syntax |
| Words, forms | Morphology |
| Classified sounds | Phonology |
| All human sounds | Phonetics |
Knowing a language encompasses this entire system, but this knowledge (called competence) is different from behavior (called performance). You may know a language, but you may also choose to not speak it. Although you are not speaking the language, you still have the knowledge of it. However, if you don't know a language, you cannot speak it at all.
