Definition of language

Language is a code that allows us to

represent thoughts and ideas by means of
sounds/letters. This code has complex
symbols with internal structure which is
rule-governed.
Language is a code
A code for conveying a great variety of
information each word of a language is
a symbol, a sequence of sounds or
letters which has a particular meaning.

How many of these words can you understand?
Wartawan
Merci
Yawwa
Mobil


How many of these words can you understand?
Wartawan reporter (BM)
Merci Thanks (French)
Yawwa Right on! (Nigerian)
Mobil car (Indonesian)


Can you find examples of an
untranslatable word/structure in your
mother tongue?
Linguistic symbols have function
and form
Words are put together to make phrases
and sentences which have a structure
e.g. Dennis plays
Noun
verb present tense

Linguistic Units are constructed
according to rules
There are spelling, grammatical rules which
determine how words fit into sentences.
Make a sentence from these words:
Kicked, ball, the, boy, little, a into , drain, the
Which of the following sentences
make sense to you?

1. Myself bit the apple.
2. What did John eat the curry and?
3. I wonder who and Mary went
shopping.
Language is specifically human
All humans are language for communication.
The possession of language distinguishes
humans from other animals.
Every human language uses sound to encode
meaning. The sound sequences are known as
words. These words have grammatical classes
and can be combined into phrases, sentences
and questions.
Language use is constrained by culture
While language rules allow us much freedom
to say whatever we like, external factors often
place constraints on this freedom
Eg. Suggest what you would say or not say
when you are making a speech.
Analyse the different types of morphemes and
word formation processes

Morphology free and bound
Eg. Inadequate in(free) and adequate (bound)
Derivational morpheme (change of word classes)
Eg. Nation (noun) national (adjective)
Inflectional morpheme (grammatical context)
Eg. Come came
The study of internal structure of words and of rules
by which words are formed.
Phrases
Phrases form units of meaning
Eg. The old man, the chocolate cake

Syntax

words are put together to form sentences.
Eg. I love to go shopping.
The rules of syntax combine words into phrases
and phrases into sentences.
The rules specify the correct word order for a
language, e.g. English is a subject-verb-object

Semantics

Is the study of meaning in communication.
This includes the study of the linguistic
meaning of morphemes, words, phrases and
sentences.

Pragmatics
Is the study of how the arrangement of words and
phrases can alter the meaning of a sentence.
The ability to understand another speakers intended
meaning is called pragmatic competence.
Pragmatics deals with the structural ambiguity in a
sentence