语言及语言学

is: language is

a means of verbal communication.

1.2 The Functions of Language

Language can not exist without the society, and the society can not break away

from language. Language has a very big use in establishing and developing of human

society. Language is used for communication, incarnate one

’

s mind, and many other

functions, but the main usage is communication.

In

general,

there

are

seven

functions

of

language:

(1)

informative,

(2)

interpersonal,

(3)

performative,

(4)

emotive

function,

(5)

phatic

communion,

(6)

recreational function, (7) metalingual function.

These

functions

of

language

are

in

the

abstract

sense,

that

is,

not

in

terms

of

using language to chat, to think, to buy and sell, to read and write, to greet, praise and

condemn people, etc. And then I will explain these functions in details.

1.2.1

Informative Function

For

most

people,

the

informative

function

is

predominantly

the

major

role

of

language. Language is the instrument of thought and people often feel need to speak

their thoughts aloud, for instance, when they are working on a math problem. The use

1

写作学期论文

of language to record the facts is a prerequisite of social development. This is indeed a

crucial function of language. It is also called ideational functional grammar. Halliday

notes

that

“Language

serves

for

the

expression

of

content:

that

is,

of

the

speaker

’

s

experience of the real world, including the inner world of his own consciousness.

…

In

serving

this

function,

language

also

gives

structure

to

experience,

and

helps

to

determine our way of looking at things, so that it requires some intellectual effort to

see

them

in

any

other

way

than

that

which

our

language

suggests

to

us

”

(in

lyons,

1970).

1.2.2

Interpersonal Function

By

far

the

most

important

sociological

use

of

language

is

the

interpersonal

function,

by

which

people

establish

and

maintain

their

status

in

a

society.

In

the

framework of functional grammar, this function is concerned with interaction between

the

addresser

and

addressee

in

the

discourse

situation

and

the

addresser's

attitude

toward

what

he

speaks

or

writes

about.

For

example,

the

ways

in

which

people

address others and refer to themselves (e.g. Dear Sir, Dear Professor, yours) indicate

the

various

grades

of

interpersonal

relations.

“

Language

serves

to

establish

and

maintain

social

rules,

which

include

the

communication

roles

created

by

language

itself

—

for

example

the

roles

of

questioner

and

respondent,

which

we

take

on

by

asking

or

answering

a

question;

...

Through

this

function,

...

social

groups

are

delimited,

and

the

individual

is

identified

and

reinforced,

since

by

enabling

him

to

interact

with

others

language

also

serves

in

the

expression

and

development

of

his

own

personality

...”

(Halliday

,

in

Lyons,

1970).

Attached

to

the

interpersonal

function of language is its function of expressing identity.

The interpersonal function

is such a broad category that it is often discussed under various other terms as in the

following

performative,

emotive,

expressive

and

phatic

function

of

language.

They

seem to emphasize different aspects of the interpersonal function.

1.2.3

Performative Function

This concept originates from the philosophical study of language represented by

Austin

and

Searle,

whose

theory

now

forms

the

back-bone

of

pragmatics.

The

performative function of language is primarily to change the social status of persons,

2

Language and Linguistics

and this kind of language employed in performative verbal acts is usually quite formal

and even ritualized. The performative function can extend to the control of reality as

on

some

magical

or

religious

occasions.

For

example,

in

Chinese

when

someone

breaks a bowl or a plate the host or the people present are likely to say

sui sui ping an

(every year be safe and happy) as a means of controlling the invisible forces which the

believers feel might affect their lives adversely.

1.2.4

Emotive Function

According to some investigations, though the conveying of information occurs in

most uses of language, it probably represents not more than 20 percent of what takes

place in verbal communication (Nida, 1998: 17). The emotive function of language is

one

of

the

most

powerful

uses

of

language

because

it

is

crucial

in

changing

the

emotional status

of an audience for or

against someone or something. According to

Crystal (1992), it is a means of getting rid of our nervous energy when we are under

stress, e.g. swear words, obscenities, involuntary verbal reactions to a piece of art or

scenery; conventional words/phrases, e.g. God, My, Damn it, What a sight, Wow, Ugh,

Oh. It is also discussed under the term expressive function. The expressive function

can often be entirely personal and totally without any implication of communication

to others.

1.2.5

Phatic Communion

This

term

originate

s

from

Malinowski’

s

study

of

the

functions

of

language

performed

by

Trobriand

Islanders.

It

refers

to

the

social

interaction

of

language.

Ritual exchanges about health or weather such as good morning, God bless you, nice

day often state the obvious. Yet they indicate that a channel of communication is open

if

it

should

be

needed.

And

different

cultures

have

different

topics

of

phatic

communion. According to Crystal, the weather is not a universal conversation filler as

the

English

might

like

to

think.

Rundi

women

(in

Burundi,

Central

Africa),

upon

taking leave, routinely and politely say

“

I must go home now, or my husband will beat

me.

”

Broadly

speaking,

this

function

refers

to

expressions

that

help

define

and

maintain interpersonal relations, such as slings, jokes, jargons, ritualistic exchanges,

switches to social and regional dialects. We have to learn a large repertoire of such

3

写作学期论文

usages if we are to interact comfortably with different people.

1.2.6

Recreational function

The recreational function of a language is often overlooked because it seems so

restrictive in purpose and supposedly so limited in usefulness. However, no one will

deny the use of language for the sheer joy of using it, such as a baby's babbling or a

chanter's chanting. In the Latin and Islamic worlds as well as in some areas of China,

there

is

widespread

use

of

verbal

dueling,

in

which

one

singer

begins

a

song

of

usually

few

lines

and

challenges

his

opponent

to

continue

the

content

or

provide

a

rejoinder in a similar rhythm and rhyme scheme. Such verbal duels may last for a few

hours and is performed for the sheer joy of playing on language. To take one example,

the well-known movie Liu San Jie features a scene o

f “dui ge”

(song dueling) mostly

for the sheer joy of playing on language. If you observe a children's play, you will find

the

power

of

sound.

Sometimes

even

nonsensical

lyrics

perform

a

recreational

function in the game: the repetitive rhythms help to control the game, and the children

plainly take great delight in it.

1.2.7

Metalingual Function

Our language can be used to talk about itself. This makes the language infinitely

self- reflexive: We human beings can talk about talk and think about thinking, and thus

only humans can ask what it means to communicate, to think.

1.3

The usage of language

Pragmatics is the specific subject to describe the usage of language. It is talking

about the way how language is used in communication, but not how language form. It

is

the

study

of

meaning

in

context.

It

deals

with

particular

utterances

in

particular

situations

and

is

especially

concerned

with

the

various

ways

in

which

many

social

contexts

of

language

performance

can

influence

interpretation.

It

regards

speech

performance as reference as primarily a social act ruled by various social conventions.

2 Relationship between language and linguistics

According

to

our

constant

realization,

language

means

speaking.

Nevertheless,

the definition of linguistics is

much narrow:

language does not

equal to

speak;

it is

4