INTRODUCTION
In this unit, you will learn about language as a social phenomenon and the various functions of language in the society.
The ability of humans to use language to communicate is one thing that makes them different from other creatures. Language should not just be seen as a tool for communicating, but also one for establishing social relationships between human beings. It is the social essence of language and the different ways people use language to achieve socialisation that we will be examining in this unit.
3.1 Language as a Social Phenomenon
Language, according to Wikipedia Dictionary is a system of signals, including voice sounds, gestures or written symbols which encodes and decodes information.
However, languages are not just sets of symbols. They also often conform to a rough grammar, or system of rules, used to manipulate the symbols. What is more important to us here is that language is constructed by humans, who live in communities to express their way of life. So, whatever system of rules and symbols a language possesses are given to it by its speakers.
Every language use is situated within a group of speakers who have something in common. They may be people living in the same community who may share the same origin, profession, social class, and so forth. Such a group of people tend to behave alike because the environment or context in which they operate constrains them to use language in a particular way. Since language is a system of symbols, the speakers choose from the linguistic system in which they operate only those symbols that will communicate something meaningful to them.
The words and the structure of a group of language speakers reflects the way they see the world and these in turn, guide their social interaction. For instance, the world view of Yoruba speakers makes them to see kinship relations in a different way from the way English speakers see them. Someone’s brother in the Yoruba world view is not just “a male who has the same parents as the person”. Someone’s brother includes all male relatives who are slightly older or younger than that person.
It is also important to note that in some cultures, greetings are used more for socialising than in other cultures. In most African cultures, a lot of value is placed on greetings before the commencement of conversation, during conversation and at the end of a conversation.
Different contexts of language use have their distinct social identity and style markers. For instance, the way language is used in casual conversation setting is different from the way it is used in institutionalised discourse setting, such as: Church, debate, quiz, symposium, public lecture, and so forth. There are ways people behave when they speak different languages. This means that language has a connection with behaviour. In fact some scholars have summarised this by saying that language is a form of behaviour. For instance, there are ways to speak and behave in a courtroom, and this is essentially different from the way we behave when we for instance are in the open market for any form of transaction. The market situation in Africa allows for sellers to advertise their wares by calling out to potential buyers. There are also ways we behave in conversations that makes them look orderly. For instance, participants in conversations will not usually talk all at once. Conversely, there will not usually be stretches of time in which no one talks at all.
Language cannot be discussed without mentioning the culture in which it is used. Culture is regarded as the way of life of a people. The language a people speak is used to express the various elements of their culture. Likewise, we cannot speak meaningfully about culture without talking about the society in which the culture resides. So, we see that the society is the base for all the discussions we may be having about language. And within each society or segments of the society, we have different cultures, which those who belong to them express through their use of language.
3.1.1 Functions of Language
The most basic function of language that readily comes to the mind of every one is the communicative function. This means that language is used to communicate or express the ideas in our mind. These ideas themselves emanate from the world we live in. This however is too simplistic a way of seeing the function of language. In this section, we have identified some major functions of language, which will be applicable to any known human language. They are given below.
3.1.2 Emotive Function
Language is used to express the state of our mind, the way our mind is working at some particular point in time. The emotive function of language focuses on the addresser and it is also referred to as expressive function. The addresser's own attitude towards the content of the message is emphasised. Each time we use certain expressions, they show how we feel. Such expression are called emotive utterances Examples are emphatic speech or interjections, such as: “hurray”, “damn it”, “oh my God”, “wow”, ouch” (English), “ye e” in Yoruba to express pain or sorrow), “aah” (to express surprise), and so forth.
3.1.3 Referential Function
Referential Function refers to the context. This function emphasises that communication is always dealing with something contextual. It is also called representative function of language. Speakers use language to refer to their world. The only thing that accounts for the difference in languages is the fact that speakers’ worlds differ, hence their view, which is expressed in language must equally differ. Most words used in language refer to some entity in the physical or experiential world of the speaker. For instance, the word “chair” refers to an object in the world that has four legs and is used for sitting. However, we are aware that some words we use do not refer to anything in the world as such. For instance grammatical words, such as prepositions and articles do not refer to any concrete object.
3.1.4 Social Function
Language is used to maintain relationships between speakers. This is the social function of language. It is also referred to as phatic communion. It is the use of language that helps the speakers to establish contact. By mere exchange of words, ties of union are created. For instance, greetings are regarded as a way of establishing relationship in language. They come before any form of verbal interaction. This function of language signifies the basic human requirement to signal friendship. The function is more about a ritual exchange about speakers’ well-being, e.g.:
Good morning - directed to someone you met in the morning
Bless you - in Nigeria, directed to someone who has just sneezed
Hello - directed to somebody one wants to talk to
3.1.5 Poetic Function
Language is used for creative purposes by some users. Sometimes, our messages convey more than just the content, and until we probe into the deeper meaning being conveyed, we may lose the whole message. Most English words have the ordinary surface day to day meaning and in addition, connotation, i.e., meaning above the ordinary meaning, which is not always directly linked to the surface usage. This function of language is commonly employed in literary works, where writers deliberately deviate in their use of language to create certain effects. For instance, a woman described as a “bitch” is a woman of easy virtue, or simply put, a prostitute.
SELF-ASSESSMENT EXERCISE
i. Read the first act of the drama text The Lion and The Jewel by Wole Soyinka.
ii. Identify the various functions of language in the text.
3.1.6 Other Functions
The functions discussed above are the generally stated functions of language. There are other miscellaneous functions of language functions, which we will discuss briefly below.
Language can be used as a means of expressing one’s identity. Speakers’ use of language is constrained by the totality of who they are in terms of their social background, age, sex, profession, and region of origin. For instance, certain expressions are generally associated with certain group of speakers. It is on the basis of this function of language that linguists study how language varies, by examining varieties of language peculiar to an individual (idiolect); variety of language peculiar to people from a particular geographical location (dialect); variety of language that reflects features of speech (pronunciation) peculiar to people from the same region (accent); variety of speech peculiar to people of the same profession (register).
Each utterance we make is designed to perform certain functions such as: informing the listener, questioning the listener about some facts, promising the listener that one will do something, and ordering the listener to do something. This, is language study is referred to as speech acts. This means that our utterances make us and our listeners to behave or act in a particular way. Listeners are expected to recognise the speaker’s intention or else communication would not be achieved.
4.0 CONCLUSION
To conclude this unit, it is clear from the discussion above that language is a social phenomenon, which users use not just as a tool for expressing their minds, but also as a means of socialising among the group of users.
5.0 SUMMARY
This unit examined language as a social phenomenon. It looked at the nature of human language and how the code used by speakers is derived from their world view of the society in which they dwell. It underscored the importance of culture and society which are both essential ingredients of any instance of language use.
The second aspect of the unit deals with four major functions of language: emotive, referential, social, and poetic functions. It also looks at two other functions, those that view language as a means of expressing our identity and controlling reality.
6.0 TUTOR-MARKED ASSIGNMENT
1. Language should not just be seen as a tool for communicating, but also one for establishing social relationships between human beings. Discuss this statement.
2. What is ‘phatic communion’?
3. Identify two functions of language and explain them.
4. Record your own examples of language forms that perform social and poetic functions in at least two Nigerian indigenous languages.
7.0 REFERENCES / FURTHER READING
Fasold, R. W. & Connot-Linton, J. (2006). An Introduction to Language and Linguistics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Gumperz, J. (1983). Language and Social Identity. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Yule, G. (1995). The Study of Language. Cambridge: CUP.
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