Language Despite the fact that many definitions of language have been proposed, succinct definitions of language usually bring v

Language
Good morning, everyone. Today we will begin the lecture "series of language and linguistics with the discussion of language". Many definitions of language have been proposed. Henry Sweet, an English phonetician and language scholar, stated: "Language is the expression of ideas by means of speech-sounds combined into words. Words are combined into sentences, this combination answering to that of ideas into thoughts." The American linguists Bernard Bloch and George L Trager formulated the following definition: "A language is a system of arbitrary vocal symbols by means of which a social group cooperates." Any succinct definition of language makes a number of presuppositions and begs a number of questions. The first, for example, puts excessive weight on "thought," and the second uses "arbitrary" in a specialized, though legitimate, way. Now, I am going to give you several take-away messages, so that you will have a basic understanding of language.
A number of considerations enter into a proper understanding of language as a subject:
First of all, every physiologically and mentally normal person acquires in childhood the ability to make use, as both speaker and hearer, of a system of vocal communication that comprises a circumscribed set of noises resulting from movements of certain organs within the throat and mouth.[1]By means of these noises, people are able to impart information, to express feelings and emotions, to influence the activities of others,[2]and to comport themselves with varying degrees of friendliness or hostility toward persons who make use of substantially the same set of noises.
[3]Secondly, different systems of vocal communication constitute different languages; the degree of difference needed to establish a different language cannot be stated exactly. No two people speak exactly alike; hence, one is able to recognize the voices of friends over the telephone and to keep distinct a number of unseen speakers in a radio broadcast. Yet, clearly, no one would say that they speak different languages.[4]Generally, systems of vocal communication are recognized as different languages if they cannot be understood without specific learning by both parties, though the precise limits of mutual intelligibility are hard to draw and belong on a scale rather than on either side of a definite dividing line.[5]Substantially different systems of communication that may impede but do not prevent mutual comprehension are called dialects of a language.[6]In order to describe in detail the actual different speech patterns of individuals, the term idiolect, meaning the speech habits of a single person, has been coined.
[7]Next in order, normally, people acquire a single language initially—their first language, or mother tongue, the language spoken by their parents or by those with whom they are brought up from infancy. Subsequent "second" languages are learned to different degrees of competence under various conditions.[8]Complete mastery of two languages is designated as bilingualism;[9]in many cases—such as upbringing by parents speaking different languages at home or being raised within a multilingual community—speakers grow up as bilin-guals. In traditionally monolingual cultures, such as those of Britain and the United States, the learning, to any extent, of a second or other language is an activity superimposed on the prior mastery of one’s first language and is a different process intellectually.
Fourthly, language, as described above, is species-specific to human beings.[10]Other members of the animal kingdom have the ability to communicate, through vocal noises or by other means,[11]but the most important single feature characterizing human language, against every known mode of animal communication, is its infinite productivity and creativity. Human beings are unrestricted in what they can talk about; no area of experience is accepted as necessarily incommunicable, though it may be necessary to adapt one’s language in order to cope with new discoveries or new modes of thought.
OK My fifth point is that in most accounts, the primary purpose of language is to facilitate communication, in the sense of transmission of information from one person to another.[12]However, sociolinguistic and psycholinguistic studies have drawn attention to a range of other functions for language.[13]Among these is the use of language to express a national or local identity, a common source of conflict in situations of multi-ethnicity around the world, such as in Belgium, India, and Quebec.[14]Also important are the playful function of language—encountered in such phenomena as puns, riddles, and crossword puzzles—and the range of functions seen in imaginative or symbolic contexts, such as poetry, drama, and religious expression.
Finally, language interacts with every aspect of human life in society, and it can be understood only if it is considered in relation to society. This lecture series attempts to survey language, both spoken and written, in this light and to consider its various functions and the purposes it can and has been made to serve.[15]Because each language is both a working system of communication in the period and in the community wherein it is used and also the product of its history and the source of its future development, any account of language must consider it from both these points of view.
All right. I think I have covered the key aspects of language. As language is so interesting and yet mysterious, we feel obligated to study it. That’s why we have linguistics. The science of language is known as linguistics. It includes what are generally distinguished as descriptive linguistics and histor-ical linguistics. linguistics is now a highly technical subject; it embraces, both descriptively and historically, such major divisions as phonetics, grammar, including syntax and morphology, semantics, and pragmatics, dealing with these various aspects of language. But I am not going to go into the details of these concepts, because these will be the main points of the next lecture. See you next time.