Language: For the purpose of the scientific and philosophical study of language, it is essential here to begin with the most fundamental question "What is language?" In general parlance, language is a system of communication by written or spoken words, used by the people of a particular country or area. According to Sapir Language is a purely human and non-instinctive method of communicating ideas, emotions and desires by means of voluntarily produced symbols (Sapir 1921) Characteristics of Language Language is Species Specific : Language is said to be species-specific because it is a biological gift to only humans, and species-uniform because every normal human posses language. It is truth that other animals posses various degrees of communication systems, but it is limited to few sounds and actions. They cannot produce the complex communicative behaviour as humans so their limited communication cannot be considered language. In addition, even though the ability o
Friends, previously I discussed with you what is language? I also chalked some of the properties of language. Today I am going to discuss about the functions of language. Language plays a seminal role in our lives. Being a social phenomenon, one of the main functions of language is to communicate with people and to understand them. Communicative function of language helps us to establish cordial relationship in society. Communicative functions refer to the purpose of gestural, vocal, and verbal acts intended to convey information to others. Some communicative functions include commenting, requesting, protesting, directing attention, showing, and rejecting. It would not be exaggerating to say that without a language, we cannot imagine the human society. People use language according to their situation. When someone speaks, he has a specific intention or purpose. He wants to convey a message through that language. A person uses his language to many different purposes such as to e