A system of arbitrary, conventionalized oral, written, and gestured symbols used for communication
Language does not explain the relationship between the word and the word-image in our minds
40% of languages are endangered
Nonverbal communication
Includes carriers of meaning such as eye contact, facial expression, gestures, body orientation, touch, quality of voice, silence
Language as a system
Consists of speech sounds, words, sentences used to convey meanings; governed by rules
According to Ethnologue, there are more than 7,000 languages in the world today
Edward Sapir: '“Language is purely human and non-instinctive method of communicating ideas, emotions, and desires by means of a system of voluntarily produced symbols.”'
The Philippines is home to about 187 languages: 158 alive, 14 in trouble, 11 dying, and 4 extinct
Conventionalized language
Emerges from agreement to associate a word to a word-image for majority understanding
Communication
Creation and deployment of meanings through shared verbal and nonverbal systems
Language based on utility
Tool for communication, means to conduct business transactions, way to express ideas and emotions
Verbal communication
Words used in oral and written exchanges
Nonverbals contribute more to the deployment and creation of meaning compared with verbal forms
Only about 23 languages are spoken by more than half of the world’s population
Language based on theoretical understanding
Linguistic concepts such as form, structure, phonology, morphology, syntax, discourse, Universal grammar
Arbitrary
Based on random choice, rather than any reason or system
Animals can communicate interspecies, sometimes crossing the boundaries of their genetic design, however their method of communication is not called “language”
Nonverbals contribute more to the deployment and creation of meaning compared with verbal forms
Experts believe
We use our senses to communicate, including eyes, speaking, hearing, feeling, smelling, and tasting
Ideation
Refers to our capacity to create, assess, and send messages to other people
Without language, there would be no communication possible between or among people
Edward Sapir's theory fits at the end to modify the word communication in the definition of language
Ideation is cognitive and happens in our brains
There would be no use for language if there is no attempt to communicate
We send and receive messages through our senses
Edward Sapir: '“Language is purely human and non-instinctive method of communication.”'
Definition of language
Language is a system of arbitrary, conventionalized oral, written, and gestured symbols used for human communication
Language manifests through our senses
1. Tactile belongs to proxemics
2. Visual belongs to kinesics
3. Olfactory and gustatory belong to zoosemiotics
4. Auditory and vocal belong to speech sciences
David Crystal (2011): '“Communication is the ideational definition of language.”'
Language is unique to humans and not shared with animals
David Crystal: '“We humans communicate using our senses.”'