The nature of Human Language and its Characteristics

Dr. Sarath W. Samaranayake

Department of International Language Teaching

Silpakorn University, Sanam Chandra Place Campus, Thailand.

Abstract

This article explores some aspects of human language from the point of semiotic view in
the first place, and then it describes how a message is communicated using signals and a channel
with an example drawn from a real-world situation. In addition, the article discusses the nature of
human language with specific reference to the definition provided by Bloch and Trager (1942, p.
5) who wrote, “A language is a system of arbitrary vocal symbols by means of which a social
group cooperates”. Finally, it argues that all human languages existing in the world are equally
useful and vital in that no single language can claim to be superior to another in terms of structural,
historical or biological priority.

Keywords: Semiotics, vocal symbols, encode, versatile, arbitrary

Introduction

If a question like “What is a language?” is posed to someone, it is likely that he/she will
say that we communicate with language. But If we probe into this concept and ask someone to
explain it, he or she will say that, with language, we express our thoughts, feelings, concepts and
exchange information. However, a description of this kind does not provide us with a complete
meaning to the question asked above because human language is such a phenomenon that one may
naturally be tempted to explore it further. Therefore, we need to examine language from a broader
perspective. To express that we communicate with language, too, does not reveal much about
language because we are aware that even animals do communicate, even though they do not have
a language. Human beings have other means of communication, in addition to language. For these
possible reasons stated above, it is necessary to investigate how language differs from other human
and non-human communication system.
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 Literature relevant to human language reveals that language comes under the discipline
called semiotics which is the science of signs or the study of communication systems. Several
concepts in semiotics are embedded in the following explanation by Lyons (1981).
A signal is transmitted from a sender to a receiver along a channel of communication. This
signal will have a particular form and will convey a particular meaning (or message). The
connection between the signal and its meaning is established by the code. Thus, the
message is encoded by the sender and decoded by the receiver.

A practical application of how communication system operates

The features discussed in the explanation above are common to all communication systems
including language. Some concepts involved in the communication system, when practically
applied to human communication, can be illustrated from a real-world situation as follows:
Suppose I am thirsty and walk into a restaurant, sit at a table and say to a waiter, “Coca Cola,
please”. The waiter will respond to my request saying either “Right or OK” and he/she will bring
me a coke in a short while. If we analyze what really occurred in the situation described above in
terms of semiotics, it becomes evident that my signal was the sound I produced /kou’, kӘ’ kou.lӘ/.
This signal was transmitted from my mouth to the waiter’s ears, along what is called the oral-
auditory channel. I encoded my signal as /kou’, kӘ’ kou.lӘ/. However, I could have changed its
form as Coco Cola buddy, which would have conveyed a different meaning or message. When the
waiter replied, “Right or OK”, I know that he has decoded my message correctly. This is a very
simple example drawn from our day-to-day happenings.
What has been discussed concerning semiotics has centered so far on some features
common to all communication systems in general, but our interest is in human language to which
I now turn. Recorded literature indicates that the attention of linguists, anthropologists and
sociolinguists and psychologists has attracted to different aspects of human language for
generations (Lightbown & Spada, 2006). When talking about human language, the first thing
which strikes our mind is that it is unique among all communication systems. This is to emphasize
that language is very versatile. To understand this characteristic of language, let us consider the
traffic lights which can convey only a very few messages such as GO, READY, STOP. Likewise,
the number of messages that animals can convey is limited. However, with human language,
people have the ability to talk about anything existing under the Sun. What enables us to use the
language in such a remarkable manner is worth discussing in detail.
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 A language is a system of arbitrary vocal symbols
Bloch and Trager (1942, p. 5) define the language, “A language is a system of arbitrary
vocal symbols by means of which a social group co-operates” If we examine this definition, we
find that each key word in this definition is a characteristic of language. Thus, we can conclude
that a language is a set of symbols. For example, (returning back to the restaurant scenario) the
signal transmitted in the restaurant, coca cola consists of at least four symbols:/ kou’, kӘ’ kou.lӘ/.
The substance of these symbols is sound produced by mouth. Hence, they are vocal symbols. A
symbol is a form, which stands for some real thing, i.e. some meaning. Thus, there are different
symbols for different meanings.
The term ‘vocal’ may need further clarification because the language can be written as well
as spoken. When we produce symbols with mouth, we use phonic medium. But we can also
produce the same symbols by drawing bits of lines on a paper with a pen or a pencil. This method
is called graphic medium. This transferability of medium appears to be a special feature of
language.
Then if language can be both spoken and written, the question next arises is as to why
language is defined as vocal symbols. In discussion of language, linguists generally are concerned
with spoken language or what they call ‘primacy’ of language. Primacy of speech means that
speech is basic, and writing is only secondary. There are many reasons to justify this view. Some
of them are stated below.
• Structural priority: We write what we speak. This does not mean that spoken language and
written language are identical. It only means that writing is a device to transfer the phonic
medium to graphic medium. Moreover, there are more than 3000 spoken languages in the world,
but only a few hundred of them have writing systems. Based on this premise, one cannot say
that the unwritten languages are not languages. On the other hand, there is no language, which
is only written and not spoken.
• Historical priority: Human beings have had spoken languages for millions of years, but the
history of writing is not even five thousand years old.
• Every human speaks a language every day, but a clear majority does not either read or write.

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• Biological priority: spoken language is natural, whereas written is artificial. Written language
can be said as man-made in the sense that every human child acquires spoken language without
any conscious learning.
There is no logical connection between the form and its meaning
Given the reasons above, language is speech to a linguist. With this background knowledge,
I now describe the next important key word ‘arbitrary’ in the definition of Bloch and Trager (1942).
Vocal symbols in natural languages are arbitrary. This means that there is no logical connection
between the form of a symbol and its meaning. For example, there is no connection whatsoever
between the sound /pen/ and the object called pen. There is no reason to call a ‘chair’, except that
speakers of English call it so. Further, a few words in any language can be onomatopoeic, e.g. The
English word ‘crow’, ‘flutter’, ‘splash’ are related to their meanings. Arbitrariness of language is
not limited to words. There is no reason for “He is a doctor”, to be a statement and “Is he a doctor?”
to be a question except the agreement among the speakers of English to interpret them in that way.
It is now evident that the arbitrariness of forms is one of the factors, which make language so
versatile. If we had to match forms with meaning, it would be impossible to make words for many
things. For example, what sounds will suit abstract concepts such as democracy and kindness.
Thanks to arbitrariness, anything could be called anything.
Duality of human language
Given the understanding of the characteristics of human language, I now move to examine
another characteristic which makes it much more efficient than any other communication system.
That is called duality. Language forms consist of units and the smallest unit of the language is the
phoneme. However, the syllables are larger than phonemes while morphemes and words are at a
higher level than syllables. These units belong to two classes: phonemes and syllables which have
no meaning of their own, but morphemes and words are meaningful units. In other words,
meaningful units are made of meaningless units. For example, let us examine the word ‘umbrellas’.
It consists of nine phonemes. /Λmbrella:z/ The nine phonemes make three syllables: Λm, brel, la;z.
Therefore, we can see that neither the phonemes nor syllables have any meaning. These phonemes
make two morphemes: umbrella+s. These two morphemes as a full word have meanings as other
full words have. This type of characteristic (duality) is an important feature of language. If each of
the phonemes or syllables had a meaning of its own, we cannot use that phoneme again in another

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word. To simplify this, imagine /Λm/ in ‘umbrella’ means the ‘handle’. Then it cannot be used in
the word ‘umpire’. It is because of duality and arbitrariness of language; we can form unlimited
number of words with a small number of phonemes.
The next key word in Bloch and Trager’s definition is ‘System’. A language is a system
of symbols and this does not mean to say that a language is not merely a collection of symbols. It
was Ferdinand de Saussure (1959) a Swiss linguist who introduced the concept of language as a
system. A language can be compared to a game of chess. What makes a game of chess a game of
chess? Let us imagine that there is a chessboard, chess pieces and more significantly, the rules for
moving those chess pieces, you could use any small object as a dummy piece and continue the game.
Similarly, the pieces of language games are phonemes, morphemes and words, and a set of rules of
how to use them when speaking or writing. For example, the English language system allows its
users to say or write as, “Peter ate a piece of bread”, but not “ate a piece of bread Peter”, or “A piece
of bread ate Peter. The rules of the system, unlike the symbols, are invisible, but they can be
discovered when they operate. It is the symbols and the rules together that form the system. Another
term which is similar to the meaning of system is ‘structure’. As discussed above, we realize that a
language has a system. Another important characteristic of human language is its productivity which
will be dealt with in the following section.
Human language is productive
According to Chomsky (1965), the most important property of human language is its
productivity because humans can understand and produce indefinitely many utterances that
nobody has either produced or heard previously. It means we can produce brand new sentences,
except when we use conventional expressions such as “Good morning”, “How are you?” and “I’m
fine. Thank you”. The number of phonemes, morphemes and words in a language are limited, but
with these limited symbols, we can create countless sentences which cannot be done in any other
communication system. Animal signals are ready-made fixed messages, perhaps like our “Good
morning”. As Chomsky has pointed out that productivity of language is due to its structure
dependence and recursiveness. “By recursiveness, we mean that certain grammatical constructions
can be extended indefinitely by repeated application of the same rules. Thus, noun phrases may be
coordinated without limit; Jack and Jill and Annie and Frank and ………. went to dance” (Robins,

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1980). Commenting on another characteristic of human language, Firth, (cited in Widdowson,
1971, p. 102) claims,
The moment a conversation is started whatever is said is a determining condition
for what in any reasonable expectation may follow. There is positive force in what
you say, and there is a negative side too, because what you say shouts out most of
the language of your companion, leaving him only a limited range of possible
responses.
Careful analysis of what Firth has claimed informs us that we are not free to tell what we want as
we are bound by social rules, norms and ethics that have established in each society.

Conclusion
To conclude this article which has discussed the nature of human language and its characteristics,
I consider it useful mentioning Brown’s (2000, p. 5) composite definition of language as follows:
1. Language is systematic
2. Language is a set of arbitrary symbols.
3. Those symbols are primarily vocal but may also be visual.
4. The symbols have conventionalized meanings to which they refer.
5. Language is used for communication.
6. Language operates in a speech community or culture.
7. Language is essentially human, although possibly not limited to humans.
8. Language is acquired by all people in much the same way; language and language learning
both have universal characteristics.
we can say the more we probe into the language the more we see how wonderful and exciting the
language is and this is true for all world languages existing across the world today in that there are
no primitive or under-developed languages as such. All languages are equally complex and
productive for all human beings.

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Bibliography

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America. Waverly Press, Inc.
Brown, H.D. (2000). Principles of language learning and teaching, Fourth Edition, NY
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Chomsky, N. (1965). Aspects of the theory of syntax. Mit press
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University Press.
Lyons, J. (1981). Language and Linguistics. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Ferdinand de Saussure. (1959). Course in General Linguistics. The Philosophical Library, New
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