UGC NET ENGLISH UNIT 5 LANGUAGE - Basic Concepts of Language

Basic Concepts of Language for UGC NET Aspirants

Language: A system of conventional spoken, manual (signed), or written symbols by means of which human beings, as members of a social group and participants in its culture, express themselves.

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1. Characteristics of Human Language

Design Features of Language (Hockett, 1960)

• Vocal-auditory channel: Language is primarily spoken and heard (except for sign languages)
• Arbitrariness: No natural connection between linguistic form and its meaning
• Semanticity: Language conveys meaning through symbols
• Cultural transmission: Language is learned through cultural interaction
• Discreteness: Language is composed of distinct, separable units
• Displacement: Ability to talk about things not present in space or time
• Productivity: Capacity to create novel utterances
• Duality of patterning: Meaningless units (sounds) combine to form meaningful units (words)

UGC NET Focus Area

Questions often ask about these design features, particularly displacement, arbitrariness, and duality of patterning. Be prepared to identify examples of each.

2. Functions of Language

Function	Description	Example
Referential	Conveys information about the world	"The sky is blue."
Emotive/Expressive	Expresses speaker's feelings or attitudes	"I'm so excited!"
Conative	Attempts to influence the listener's behavior	"Please close the door."
Phatic	Establishes or maintains social contact	"How are you?" (as greeting)
Metalingual	Talks about language itself	"What does 'ephemeral' mean?"
Poetic	Focuses on the aesthetic qualities of language	Poetry, wordplay, rhymes

Roman Jakobson's Model of Communication (1960): Expanded on Karl Bühler's organon model to identify six functions of language, each associated with a component of the communication process.

3. Language vs. Communication

Aspect	Language	Communication
Definition	A system of symbols and rules for meaningful communication	The process of exchanging information
Scope	Specific to humans (with complex features)	Exists in all living organisms
Features	Has design features like displacement, productivity	May lack these sophisticated features
Structure	Has grammar, syntax, morphology	May not have formal structure
Examples	English, Hindi, Sign languages	Bee dances, animal calls, traffic signals

4. Properties of Language

a) Creativity/Productivity

The ability to produce and understand novel utterances that have never been spoken before.

Example: You can understand this sentence even if you've never encountered it before: "The purple unicorn ate a taco on Mars while singing opera."

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b) Arbitrariness

No inherent connection between the sound of a word and its meaning (except for onomatopoeia).

Example: There's no natural reason why a small furry pet is called "dog" in English, "chien" in French, or "perro" in Spanish.

c) Displacement

Ability to talk about things not present in the immediate environment (past, future, hypotheticals).

Example: "Next summer, I might visit the pyramids in Egypt if I save enough money."

d) Duality of Patterning

Language operates at two levels: meaningless sounds combine to form meaningful units.

Example: The sounds /k/, /æ/, /t/ are meaningless alone but combine to form "cat" which has meaning.

e) Cultural Transmission

Language is learned through interaction with other language users, not genetically inherited.

Example: A child born to Korean parents but raised in France will speak French, not Korean.

5. Components of Language

[Diagram: Components of Language with arrows connecting Phonetics, Phonology, Morphology, Syntax, Semantics, Pragmatics]

Component	Focus	Example
Phonetics	Physical production and perception of speech sounds	How /p/ is produced with bilabial closure
Phonology	Sound systems and patterns in a language	Why "ng" can't start words in English
Morphology	Structure of words and word formation	"Unhappiness" = un + happy + ness
Syntax	Sentence structure and grammar rules	Why "Dog the bites man" is incorrect
Semantics	Meaning of words and sentences	Difference between "house" and "home"
Pragmatics	Language use in context	How "It's cold here" can be a request

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6. Major Theories of Language Origin

Bow-wow Theory (Max Müller): Language began with imitations of natural sounds (onomatopoeia).

Pooh-pooh Theory: Language originated from instinctive emotional cries (pain, surprise, joy).

Yo-he-ho Theory: Language developed from rhythmic grunts during collective labor.

Gesture Theory: Language evolved from manual gestures (supported by mirror neuron research).

Social Interaction Theory: Language developed to strengthen social bonds in early human groups.

Note: All these theories are speculative. The true origin of language remains unknown (the "mystery of mysteries" according to Darwin).

7. Language and Thought

Linguistic Relativity (Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis)

The structure of a language influences its speakers' worldview or cognition.

• Strong version (determinism): Language determines thought
• Weak version (influence): Language influences thought

Example: The Hopi language's treatment of time is fundamentally different from English, which may lead to different conceptions of time.

Universalism (Chomsky)

All human languages share a common underlying structure (Universal Grammar), and thought is independent of language.

8. Language Acquisition

Theory	Proponent	Key Idea
Behaviorist	Skinner	Language learned through imitation and reinforcement
Innateness	Chomsky	Language acquisition device (LAD) enables learning
Interactionist	Bruner, Vygotsky	Social interaction crucial for language development
Cognitive	Piaget	Language develops as cognitive abilities mature

UGC NET Focus Area

Be familiar with stages of child language acquisition (cooing, babbling, one-word, two-word, telegraphic stages) and key milestones.

9. Sign Languages

Sign languages are complete, natural languages with their own grammar and syntax, not merely gestures or visual representations of spoken languages.

• Have all design features of spoken languages
• Use space and movement instead of sound
• Examples: American Sign Language (ASL), British Sign Language (BSL), Indian Sign Language (ISL)
• Different sign languages are not mutually intelligible

10. Animal Communication vs. Human Language

Feature	Animal Communication	Human Language
Displacement	Very limited (mostly here-and-now)	Extensive (past, future, hypotheticals)
Productivity	Limited set of signals	Infinite possible utterances
Cultural Transmission	Mostly instinctive	Must be learned culturally
Arbitrariness	Often iconic (form resembles meaning)	Mostly arbitrary
Duality of Patterning	Generally absent	Present (sounds → words → sentences)

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UGC NET Focus Area

Questions often compare human language with animal communication systems (bee dances, vervet monkey alarm calls, dolphin communication, etc.). Focus on how human language is qualitatively different.

Conclusion

Understanding these basic concepts of language is fundamental for UGC NET aspirants, particularly for Paper II (English) and Education papers. These concepts form the foundation for more advanced topics in linguistics, language teaching, and communication studies.

Revision Tip: Create flashcards with each concept on one side and examples/explanations on the other. Regularly test yourself on the design features, functions, and components of language.