MAJOR FUNCTIONS OF LANGUAGE

Informative (or logical) Primarily used to convey information. Also

used to describe the world and to reason about it. It includes
misinformation; false and true propositions; correct and incorrect
arguments.

Thats really great!

Match me such marvel, save in Eastern clime
A rose-red city half as old as time.
We distinguish between facts a sentence formulates and facts
about the speaker who formulates them.
War is always the wrong solution to international conflict. -
evidence of beliefs of the person who utters that remark.
I strongly oppose our involvement in this war on moral
grounds. statement about the speaker, but it also serves to
express judgment about the morality of the war under discussion.
Some expressive discourse also has informative content, and
may express attitudes as well as beliefs.
Grow old along with me!
The best is yet to be,
The last of life for which the first was made.

Directive with or without expressive or informative elements. It

seeks to guide or to command.

Step on the scale, please.

Drive defensively. The cemetery is full of law-abiding citizens
who had the right of way.

Emotive may be used to advance our purposes in directing others;

expressing an attitude, seeking to direct behavior, and probably
reporting a fact.

That conduct is utterly disgusting!

LESS COMMON TYPES OF USE:

Ceremonial words may combine expressive and other functions;

proforma / template

How do you do?

Performative words themselves serve, when spoken or written, to

perform the function they announce.

I apologize for my foolish remark

I congratulate you
I accept your offer
I promise you that

FORMS OF LANGUAGE DISCOURSE

 Grammar textbooks usually define a sentence as a unit of language that
expresses a complete thought, and they divide sentences into:

Declarative when we are reasoning (We will discuss.)

Exclamatory when we are expressing emotion (Thats
fantastic!)
Imperative when we are seeking to direct conduct; command
(Take off your pants!)
Interrogative attitudes may also be expressed (What can you
possibly mean by that?)

DISCOURSE

Formal and orderly and usually extended expression of thought

on a subject
Connected speech or writing
A linguistic unit (as a conversation or a story) larger than a
sentence
Functions of language may all be used at once. In fact, an
effective communication does.

Examples:

Definition of abortion (Merriam-Webster)

:the termination of a pregnancy after, accompanied by, resulting in, or

closely followed by the death of the embryo or fetus; such as

a: spontaneous expulsion of a human fetus during the first 12 weeks of

gestation compare miscarriage

b: induced expulsion of a human fetus

c: expulsion of a fetus by a domestic animal often due to infection at any

time before completion of pregnancy

Catholic Dictionary (Catholic Dictionary)

Abortion is either direct (induced) or indirect. Direct abortion is any

destruction of the product of human conception, whether before or after
implantation in the womb. A direct abortion is one that is intended either as
an end in itself or as a means to an end. As a willful attack on unborn human
life, no matter what the motive, direct abortion is always a grave objective
evil.

Indirect abortion is the foreseen but merely permitted evacuation of a fetus

which cannot survive outside the womb. The evacuation is not the intended
or directly willed result, but the side effect, of some legitimate procedure. As
such it is morally allowable.

National Abortion Federation (prochoice.org)

A medical abortion is one that is brought about by taking medications that

will end a pregnancy. The alternative is surgical abortion, which ends a
pregnancy by emptying the uterus (or womb) with special instruments.
Either of two medications, mifepristone or methotrexate, can be used for
medical abortion. Each of these medications is taken together with another
medication, misoprostol, to induce an abortion.