1.2. DEFINITION OF
LANGUAGE
Language is defined
as “a system of conventional, spoken or written symbols by means of which human
be nicate.
(1)
“Language is a
primarily human and non-instinctive method of communicating ideas, emotions and
desires by means of a system of voluntarily produced symbols”.
Sapir,
Language, 1921
(2)
“Language is its
widest sense means the sum total of such signs of our thoughts and feelings as
are capable of external perception and as could be produced and repeated at
will.”
____A . H Gardiner, Speech and Language,
1935.
(3)
“ Language may be defined as the expression of
thought by means of speech-sounds.”
Henry Sweet, The History of
Language.
(4)
“ A system of
communication by sound, i.e. through the organs of speech and hearing, among
human beings of a certain group or community, using vocal symbols possessing
arbitrary conventional meanings.”
Mario A. Pei and Frank Gaynor,
Dictionary of Linguistics, 1954.
(5)
“Language is human
………a verbal systematic symbolism …… a means of transmitting information…….a
form of social behavior …..(with a) high degree of convention.”
J.Whitemouth, Language.
1.3.2. Language is
means of communication
Language
is the most powerful, convenient and prance means and from of communication .
Non –linguistic symbols such as a
expression gestures, signals of various kinds, traffic lights road –signs,
flags, emblems and many more such things as will as shorthand, mores and other
codes, the deaf and dumb and braille alphabets the symbols of math emetics and
logic, etc. Are also means of communication , yet they are not so flexible, comprehensive perfect and
extensive as language is. Language is the best means of self-expression. It is through
language that humans express their thoughts, desires, emotions and
feelings, it is through it that they
store knowledge, transmit messages knowledge and experience from one person to
another, from one generation to another.
(2) 1.3.3. Language
is a social phenomenon
Language is a set of conventional
communicative signals used by humans of
communication signals used by humans for communication in a community .
Language is this sense is a possession of a social group, comprising an
indispensable set of rules which permits its members to relate to each other,
to interact with each other, to co-operate with each other; it is a social
institution. Language exists in society: it is a means of nourishing and
developing culture and establishing human relations.
(3) 1.3.5. Language
is arbitrary
By
the arbitrariness of language we mean that there is no inherent or logical
relation or similarity between any give feature of language and its meaning.
That is entirely arbitrary, that there is no direct, necessary connection
between the nature of things or ideas the language deals with.
(4) 1.3.7. Language
is systematic
Every
language is a system of system. All language have phono-logical and grammatical
systems, and within a system there are several sub-systems. For example, within
the grammatical system we have nore-pholgical and syntactic systems, and within
these two sub-systems we have several
other systems such as those of plural, of mood, of aspect, of tense, etc.
(5) 1.3.6. Language is symbolic
The
symbolism of language is a necessary consequence of the feature of arbitrariness
discussed above. A symbol stands for something else; it is something that
serves as a substitute. Language is a system of arbitrary vocal symbols. For
concepts, things, ideas, objects, etc. we have sounds and words as symbolis.
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