LANGUAGE AND LINGUISTIC

MAKALAH
Summited to fulfill one of the requirements of the Introduction to Linguistic
Supporting Lecturer : AHMAD RIPAI RANGKUTI, S.Pd, M.Hum
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BY : The First Group
1. Hutri Diana Pulungan
2. Adilah Safria Ningsih
3. Muhammad Karim
4. Syafrida Yanti Sipahutar

PENDIDIKAN BAHASA INGGRIS

SEKOLAH TINGGI KEGURUAN DAN ILMU PENDIDIKAN
PADANG LAWAS
2023
 FOREWORD

There is no appropriate sentence for the author to say except gratitude to

God Almighty for the completion of the paper entitled "Language and Linguistic".
Don't forget the support, both material and non-material, given to the author in
preparing this paper. Therefore, allow the author to express his gratitude to Mr.
AHMAD RIPAI RANGKUTI, S.Pd, M.Hum as the author's Introduction to
Linguistic course lecturer who provided motivation in preparing this paper.
The author is aware that this paper is still not perfect. Therefore, the author
humbly requests constructive criticism and suggestions from readers to improve
this paper.

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 TABLE OF CONTENTS
FOREWORD......................................................................................... i
TABLE OF CONTENTS...................................................................... ii
CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION.......................................................... 1
A. Background................................................................................. 1
CHAPTER II DISCUSSION................................................................ 2
A. Language..................................................................................... 2
B. Language Characteristics............................................................ 3
C. Linguistic..................................................................................... 5
D. Linguistic Characteristic............................................................. 6
E. Language as an Object of Linguistic Study................................ 7
CHAPTER III CLOSING.................................................................... 9
A. Conclusion................................................................................... 9
REFERENCES...................................................................................... 10

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 CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
A. Background
Language is the main means for humans to communicate, express
thoughts, share stories, and build social interactions. From ancient times to the
modern era, language has been the backbone of human civilization and one of the
characteristics that distinguishes humans from other creatures on earth.
Linguistics is a scientific field that offers deep insight into the structure of
language, the role of language in communication, and the social and cultural
impact of language on society. Linguistics is how we can understand why the
world's languages differ from each other, how languages develop over time, and
what makes human language unique.
Linguistic studies are studies that not only focus on the structural aspects
of language, but also see language as a communication tool in a social context.
With a better understanding of language, we will become more aware of the
unique human skills of communicating and building relationships in an
increasingly connected world.

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 CHAPTER II
DISCUSSION
A. Language
In essence, language is an equally natural activity with breathing that we
don't think about. However, if we think about it if we don't speak, and we don't do
the act of speaking, then Our identity as a “human genus” (homosapiens) will be
lost because language reflects “humanity”. What differentiates us most from other
creatures is that we have language.
Language is a part of human life in a society with different customs and
cultural characteristics. Language becomes a real cultural practice of a society or
individual which is implemented as a means, idea, concept and social behavior of
that individual. In other words, every individual has a language that reflects
differences in their cultural characteristics, including the way that individual
communicates in society. In this case, the speech activity of the individual is
stimulated by what is behind the speech he produces (Kristanto, 2015: 101). This
speech will have an impact on other individuals, both verbally and nonverbally.
Whatever people do whether they play, quarrel, cook, wash, etc. when
they come together they will talk. We live in a world of language. We are the only
animals‖ that talk by means of language. According to the philosophy expressed in
the myths and religions of many people, it is language that becomes the source of
human‘s life and power. To some people of Africa, a newborn baby is a kuntu
(thing), not a muntu (person). Only by the act of learning does the baby become a
human being. According to this tradition, we all become human‘ because of
language; because we all come to know at least one language (see Fromkin et. al.,
1990:3).
Linguists are in a broad agreement about some important characteristics of
human language, and definition of a language widely associated with linguistics
may be used to illustrate areas of agreement. This particular definition states that
language is a system of arbitrary vocal symbols used for human communication‘.
The definition is rather imprecise in that it contains a considerable redundancy,
particularly in employing both of the terms system and arbitrary; some

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redundancy is perhaps excusable, however, for it allows certain points to be more
heavily emphasized than they would otherwise have been (Wardhaugh, 1972:3).
Lim (1975:1—3) also agrees that language is used for communication, and
it is made up of sounds. Similarly with Wardhaugh‘s (1972), Lim sees language
based on its characteristics. Language is systematic; when we think of language as
made up of sounds, we soon find out that only certain sounds occur in any one
language and that these occur in certain regular, predictable patterns. Language is
highly organized system in which each unit plays an important part which is
related to other parts.

B. Language Characteristics
Language is the collection of all efforts human use to communicate. Whether
spoken, written, or insinuated by movement and gesture, the five characteristics of
language remain relevant and important to human communication.
1. Language is Arbitrary
Language is arbitrary in the sense that there is no inherent relation between
the words of a language and their meanings or the ideas conveyed by
them. There is no reason why a female adult human being be called a
woman in English, aurat in Urdu, Zen in Persian and Femine in French.
The choice of a word selected to mean a particular thing or idea is purely
arbitrary but once a word is selected for a particular referent, it comes to
stay as such. It may be noted that had language not been arbitrary, there
would have been only one language in the world.
2. Language is Social
Language is a set of conventional communicative signals used by humans
for communication in a community. Language in this sense is a possession
of a social group, comprising an indispensable set of rules which permits
its members to relate to each other, to interact with each other, to co-
operate with each other; it is a social institution. Language exists in
society; it is a means of nourishing and developing culture and
establishing human relations.

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3. Language is Symbolic
Language consists of various sound symbols and their graphological
counterparts that are employed to denote some objects, occurrences or
meaning. These symbols are arbitrarily chosen and conventionally
accepted and employed. Words in a language are not mere signs or figures,
but symbols of meaning. The intelligibility of a language depends on a
correct interpretation of these symbols.
4. Language is Systematic
Although language is symbolic, yet its symbols are arranged in a particular
system. All languages have their system of arrangements. Every language
is a system of systems. All languages have phonological and grammatical
systems, and within a system there are several sub-systems. For example,
within the grammatical system we have morphological and syntactic
systems, and within these two sub-systems we have systems such as those
of plural, of mood, of aspect, of tense, etc.
5. Language is Vocal
Language is primarily made up of vocal sounds only produced by a
physiological articulatory mechanism in the human body. In the
beginning, it appeared as vocal sounds only. Writing came much later, as
an intelligent attempt to represent vocal sounds. Writing is only the
graphic representation of the sounds of the language. So the linguists say
that speech is primary.
6. Language is Non-instinctive, Conventional
No language was created in a day out of a mutually agreed upon formula
by a group of humans. Language is the outcome of evolution and
convention. Each generation transmits this convention on to the next. Like
all human institutions languages also change and die, grow and expand.
Every language then is a convention in a community. It is non-instinctive
because it is acquired by human beings. No body gets a language in
heritage; he acquires it because he an innate ability.
7. Language is Productive and Creative

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 Language has creativity and productivity. The structural elements of
human language can be combined to produce new utterances, which
neither the speaker nor his hearers may ever have made or heard before
any, listener, yet which both sides understand without difficulty. Language
changes according to the needs of society.
Finally, language has other characteristics such as Duality referring to the two
systems of sound and meaning. Displacement which means the ability to talk
across time and space, Humanness which means that animals cannot acquire it,
Universality which refers to the equilibrium across humanity on linguistic
grounds, Competence and Performance which means that language is innate and
produced is society and furthermore, language is culturally transmitted. It is learnt
by an individual from his elders, and is transmitted from one generation to
another. Thus using J. Firth’s term, language is a ‘poly systametic’. It is also open
to be studied from multifaceted angles.

C. Linguistic
Linguistics is the science that studies language, both in terms of structure,
function and use in human communication. The term “linguistics” comes from the
Latin word “lingua,” which means “language.” This scientific discipline involves
the analysis and research of various aspects of language, including phonology
(sounds), morphology (word structure), syntax (sentence structure), semantics
(meaning of words and sentences), and pragmatics (use of language in social
contexts).
The main goal of linguistics is to understand how language is used, how
language develops, how language is learned and taught, and how language
influences human thought and communication. Linguistics includes various
branches, such as descriptive linguistics, theoretical linguistics, historical
linguistics, etc., each of which focuses on a particular aspect of the study of
language.

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 By understanding the basics of linguistics, linguists and researchers can
analyze and understand the world's various languages, solve communication
problems, and develop more effective language teaching strategies.

D. Linguistic characteristics
Linguistic characteristics refer to the basic characteristics or properties inherent in
the study and analysis of language in the discipline of linguistics. Following are
some important linguistic characteristics:
1. Descriptive
Linguistics is descriptive, meaning that it focuses on the description and
analysis of language as it exists in real use by language speakers. The main
goal is to document how language is used and how it is structured.
2. Scientific
Linguistics is a science, which means research and analysis carried out
based on systematic scientific methods. Data is collected, analyzed and
interpreted objectively.
3. Interdisciplinary
Linguistics involves various other branches of science, such as
psychology, anthropology, sociology, neuroscience, statistics, and many
more. It helps in understanding the complexity and relationship of
language with other aspects of human life.
4. Universality
Although there is a variety of languages in the world, linguistics looks for
common or universal aspects in the structure of human language. It
includes the idea that all languages have phonology, morphology, syntax,
and semantics.
5. Arbitrary System
Linguistics recognizes that the relationship between sound and meaning in
language is arbitrary. This means that there is no natural relationship
between the sounds of language and the meaning of words or sentences.
6. Productive and Creative

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 Linguistics understands that language is productive and creative, where
language speakers can produce infinite combinations of new words and
sentences to convey different ideas and information.
7. Change and Develop
Language is a dynamic entity that continually changes and develops over
time. Linguistics studies language change and the social and cultural
factors that influence it.
8. Functional
Linguistics seeks an understanding of how language functions in social
and communicative contexts. The purpose of language is to convey
meaning and interact with other people.
a. Creation of Identity: Language plays a role in forming the identity of
certain cultures, ethnicities and social groups. Linguistics understands
the role of language in shaping individual and group identity.
b. Structural Complexity: Linguistics recognizes the structural
complexity of language, including hierarchical sentence structures,
complex morphology, and structured sound systems.
The above characteristics help form a solid framework for understanding language
as an object of research in linguistics and reveal various aspects of diversity and
similarities between existing languages.

E. Language as an Object of Linguistic Study

Language and Linguistics are two different words that have to be used
differently. A language is a mode of expression of thought by means of articulate
sounds. Thoughts alone are not sufficient to express yourself. You need to do it by
means of articulate sounds too. Articulation brings life to a language. On the other
hand linguistics is a branch of study that deals with languages. It is a comparative
study of languages. Linguistics is a branch of study wherein you make a historical
study of languages. It is otherwise called as comparative philology. but language
and linguistics are two things that cannot be separated

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 Language is often defined as a communication tool. This definition is not
wrong, but it is also not completely correct, because the definition places more
emphasis on the function of language, namely language is a tool, not an
explanation of the language itself. According to Chaer (1994), this definition is a
natural thing that happens because language is a social phenomenon there are
many aspects, while the aspect of language function seems to be the lowest aspect
stands out among the other aspects.
Furthermore, Chaer (1994) also explains that another problem regarding
the definition of language is when a speech is called a language that is different
from
another language and when is it only considered a variant of a language?
Linguistically two utterances are considered two different languages if the
members of the two speaking communities do not understand each other. For
example, a native of Mount Slamet, Central Java, does not understand the stories
of native people who come from the slopes of Mount Gelunggung, Java West
because the languages spoken on the two mountain slopes are very different, both
in terms of words and phonological systems. Now, what about Indonesian and
Malaysian which both come from the same language, namely Malay and It is also
clear that Indonesian speakers will easily understand Malaysian. So, Are
Indonesian and Malaysian two different languages or just two dialects of the same
language. Linguistically speaking Indonesian and Malaysian are two dialects of
the same language, namely Melayu, but politically Indonesian and Malay are two
different languages. Indonesian is the national language of the Indonesian people
while Malaysian is the national language of the Malaysian people.
Language as an object of linguistic study must be understood from
language images. So in this case the main question that must be answered is what
is language? not what is the function of language? Regarding the question about
this figure of language, Kridalaksana (1983) provides a definition
straightforwardly about the nature of language. Language is a system of arbitrary
sound symbols used by members of a social group to collaborate, communicate,
and identify yourself.

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 CHAPTER III
CLOSING
A. Conclusion
Language is a part of human life in a society with different customs and
cultural characteristics. Language becomes a real cultural practice of a society or
individual which is implemented as a means, idea, concept and social behavior of
that individual. In other words, every individual has a language that reflects
differences in their cultural characteristics, including the way that individual
communicates in society. In this case, the speech activity of the individual is
stimulated by what is behind the speech he produces (Kristanto, 2015: 101).
On the other hand linguistics is a branch of study that deals with
languages. It is a comparative study of languages. Linguistics is a branch of study
wherein you make a historical study of languages. Linguistics is the science that
studies language, both in terms of structure, function and use in human
communication.

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 REFERENCES

Alwasilah, A. Chaedar. 1990. Linguistik Suatu Pengantar. Bandung: Angkasa.

Chaer, Abdul. 1994. Linguistik Umum. Jakarta: PT Rineka Cipta.

Chaika, Elaine. 1982. Language the Social Mirror. London: Newbury House
Publishers.

Crane, L. Ben et. al. (1981). An Introduction to Lingusitics. USA: Harcourt Brace
Jovanovich, Inc.