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11 The Nature of Language 15 (6b) She ：d in her talk. 2. Paraphrasing Paraphrase the following sentences. You may need to refer to the context in which they are used. (l)This ability to take familiar bits of language and to combine them to make new . words and sentences is what sets language apart from other ways that human beings use to communicate. (Text A, Para. 7) (2) We have to beware the word “language." Its often used in a vivid way to mean any kind of connection between people. (Text A, Para. 8) (3) We learn many rules of grammar in order to express different meanings, such as changing the order of words in a sentence (e.g.> "The boys saw the dog” vs. “The dog saw the boys"). But we dont have rules which change the order of our facial expressions to express different meanings. (Text A, Para. 10) (4) If I have the ability, I can paint them, draw them, sculpt them, dance them, compose them into a symphony or a ballet or a piece of jazz, and express myselfin all the ways that are called “arts and crafts.” (Text A, Para. 14) (5) In our everyday lives we produce and comprehend language with such apparent ease that we take it for granted. Yet the ease with which we use language belies a level of complexity ofimmense proportions. (Text B, Para. 1) 3. Translation Translate the following sentences. Use the expressions in brackets to help you if you like. (1) Once weve learned a few thousand words, and learned the ways our language allows us to put them together into sentences, we can say things that nobody has ever said before. (Text A, Para. 4) (2) When people use their faces or hands to show their feelings, they're doing something that is very different from what they do when they speak, write, or use a deafsign language. (Text A, Para. 9) (3) Language allows us to talk about our experience of the world in a way that no other means of communication can. (Text A, Para. 15) (4)她穿着鲜红色的大衣，这使她在姑娘们中间显得特别突出. ( 一)

17Unit 1 The Nature of LanguageTextBTaking Stock of LanguageVyvyanEvanBefore moving on, let's get a preliminary sense of what language is for, and howit is organised. Language is integral to our lives. We use it to buy groceries in thesupermarket, to get a job, to hire or fire an employee, to buy train tickets, and tocompose an e-mail. We use it to make a telephone call, to flirt, to invite someoneout on a date, to propose marriage, to get married, to quarrel, and to make upafterwards. Language allows us to make friends, and enemies, to pass the timeof day,and so on.In our everyday lives, we produce and comprehend languagewith such apparent ease that we take it for granted. Yet the ease with which weuse language belies a level of complexity of immense proportions.You might notknowapreposition from an adverb,orthedifferencebetween thepassivevoiceand the indicative, nor what the double object construction is. You might also beat a loss if I asked you how to conjugate the copula in English,or what perfectiveaspect is.Yet like around 400million other native speakers of English around theworld, you and I deploythe copula and successfully conjugate it countless timesevery day. In other words, our knowledge of language is implicit rather thanexplicit. While you might not be able to explain to a foreigner, should they ask,how to conjugate the copula without the aid of a book of English grammar,youcan do it with your hands tied behind your back. Each of us carries around inour heads a "mental grammar"far more impressive than any written grammar.In short, you or I don't have to know that the verb“be"is the copula to knowhowto useit.Another sobering fact about spoken-and indeed signedlanguage isthis: Unlike other forms of cultural behaviour, it is blind to demographics,socioeconomics and ethnic difference.I,you and every other cognitively normalhuman being in the world uses (or comes to use)language with the apparent easethat we take for granted. Put another way, it doesn't matter whether you are richor poor, black or white or what the colour of your eyes are. You are destined toacquire at least one language-although the majority of the world's nearly sevenbillion people grow up speaking two or more languages. In this, the pattern ofmonolingualism amongst English-speaking populations is not the norm.And,by around four years of age, each normally developing human child is a linguisticgenius. Nevertheless, we carry on"learning"our mother tongue, throughoutour lives.This is the case not least because the language we speak changes and

Unit 1 The Nature of Language 17 Text B Taking Stock of Language Vyvyan Evan Before moving on, lets get a preliminary sense of what language is for, and how it is organised. Language is integral to our lives. We use it to buy groceries in the supermarket, to get a job, to hire or fire an employee, to buy train tickets, and to compose an e-mail. We use it to make a telephone call, to flirt, to invite someone out on a date, to propose marriage, to get married, to quarrel, and to make up afterwards. Language allows us to make friends, and enemies, to pass the time of day, and so on. In our everyday lives, we produce and comprehend language with such apparent ease that we take it for granted. Yet the ease with which we use language belies a level of complexity of immense proportions. You might not know a preposition from an adverb, or the difference between the passive voice and the indicative, nor what the double object construction is. You might also be at a loss ifI asked you how to conjugate the copula in English, or what perfective aspect is. Yet like around 400 million other native speakers of English around the world, you and I deploy the copula and successfully conjugate it countless times every day. In other words, our knowledge of language is implicit rather than explicit. While you might not be able to explain to a foreigner, should they ask, how to conjugate the copula without the aid of a book of English grammar, you can do it with your hands tied behind your back. Each of us carries around in our heads a "mental grammar” far more impressive than any written grammar. In short, you or I dont have to know that the verb “be" is the copula to know how to use it. Another sobering fact about spoken—and indeed signed-language is this: Unlike other forms of cultural behaviour, it is blind to demographics, socioeconomics and ethnic difference. I, you and every other cognitively normal human being in the world uses (or comes to use) language with the apparent ease that we take for granted. Put another way, it doesnt matter whether you are rich or poor, black or white or what the colour of your eyes are. You are destined to acquire at least one language-although the majority of the worlds nearly seven billion people grow up speaking two or more languages. In this, the pattern of monolingualism amongst English-speaking populations is not the norm. And, by around four years of age, each normally developing human child is a linguistic genius. Nevertheless, we carry on “learning” our mother tongue, throughout our lives. This is the case not least because the language we speak changes and

18ReadingCritically1evolves,ofteninquiteshortperiodsoftime.In virtually all of the situations in which we find ourselves in our daily lives,languageallowsquick and effective expression,and provides awell-developedmeans of encoding and transmitting complex and subtle ideas.Languagedoes this by fulfilling two key functions, functions that underpin linguisticcommunicationThefirst is that language enables us to express our wishes,feelings, likes, dislikesand ideas.This language achieves by encoding and externalising our thoughts.Todo this, language uses symbols. Symbols are meaningful bits of language. Theseinclude sub-parts of words, such as"un-"and"-ed"in"uninterested,”wholewords like"walk,“yesterday"and“knickers"or groups of words which formclauses, such as"behind the sofa,and groups of clauses which form sentences,like"She left herknickers behind the sofa."The symbols that make up English,or any language, consist oftwo parts,aformand a meaning. Forms may be spoken, written or signed-as in British SignLanguage,the sign language of the British deaf community-while the meaningsare the ideas, or concepts, that are conventionally associated with them. Forinstance, in spoken English, the word"cat"is made up of the three distinctsoundsegments,technicallyknownasphonemes/k/,/ae/and/t/whichcombineto give the form /kaet/.The meaning unit conventionally paired with this formconstitutes the stable knowledge that you and I have relating to cats: that theyhave four legs, whiskers, a tail, make sounds of particular sorts, exhibit quirky,cat-like behaviour of particular kinds, and so on.However, for language to function effectively as a means of communication, it isnot enough that it employs symbols in order to associate forms and meaningsIn addition, theseform-meaning pairings mustbe recognised by,and accessibleto, others in our community. After all, we use language in order to get our ideasacross: to communicate.This involves a process of transmission by the speaker,and decoding and interpretation by the hearer. In short, language fulfils asymbolic or communicative function.But in addition, the messages we choose to encode symbolically in languageinvariably perform an interactive and hence social role-the second functionoflanguage.For instance,we can use languageto change the waythe worldis.When a member of the clergy makes the utterance:“I now pronounce youhusband and wife,”in an appropriate setting,and addressed to two consentingadults,theutterance changes an aspect of the world in a rather special way

18 Reading Critically 1 evolves, often in quite short periods oftime. In virtually all of the situations in which we find ourselves in our daily lives, language allows quick and effective expression, and provides a well-developed means of encoding and transmitting complex and subtle ideas. Language does this by fulfilling two key functions, functions that underpin linguistic communication. The first is that language enables us to express our wishes, feelings, likes, dislikes and ideas. This language achieves by encoding and externalising our thoughts. To do this, language uses symbols. Symbols are meaningful bits of language. These include sub-parts of words, such as and “-ed" in “uninterested," whole words like "walk： ”yesterday" and “knickers“ or groups of words which form clauses, such as "behind the sofar and groups of clauses which form sentences, like "She left her knickers behind the sofa：' The symbols that make up English, or any language, consist of two parts, a form and a meaning. Forms may be spoken, written or signed-as in British Sign Language, the sign language ofthe British deaf community—while the meanings are the ideas, or concepts, that are conventionally associated with them. For instance, in spoken English, the word “cat" is made up of the three distinct sound segments, technically known as phonemes /k/> /ae/ and /t/ which combine to give the form /kset/. The meaning unit conventionally paired with this form constitutes the stable knowledge that you and I have relating to cats: that they have four legs, whiskers, a tail, make sounds of particular sorts, exhibit quirky, cat-like behaviour ofparticular kinds, and so on. However, for language to function effectively as a means of communication, it is not enough that it employs symbols in order to associate forms and meanings. In addition, these form-meaning pairings must be recognised by, and accessible to, others in our community. After all, we use language in order to get our ideas across: to communicate. This involves a process of transmission by the speaker, and decoding and interpretation by the hearer. In short, language fulfils a symbolic or communicative function. But in addition, the messages we choose to encode symbolically in language invariably perform an interactive and hence social role—the second function of language. For instance, we can use language to change the way the world is. When a member of the clergy makes the utterance: "I now pronounce you husband and wife；' in an appropriate setting, and addressed to two consenting adults, the utterance changes an aspect of the world in a rather special way

19Unit1TheNatureofLanguageFrom the moment the utterance has been made, the legal, social and moralstatus holding between the two individuals is irrevocably altered. The newlycreated husband and wife have obligations and potential claims towards andagainst each other that they didn't have prior to the utterance of these words.Insome countries, even their tax status is altered. In short, language can be used toperform actions which have consequences in the real world.But one doesn't need the special status of a member of the clergy, a PrimeMinister or a sovereign to be able to alter aspects of the world throughlanguage.An everyday expression such as"Shut that door on the way out!"also representsan action performed through language--in this, language bestows completeequality: We can all do it.This expression is an attempt to have someone dosomething, thereby altering an aspect of the world to suit our own wishes ordesires.Another way in which language fulfls its interactive function is by enabling usto express our thoughts and feelings about the world. The expressions"terrorist"and“freedom fighter"might beused to describe the same individual by differentpeople with different perspectives, and different agendas.Using language tospeak of a “"war on terror"or describing the campaign to criminalise abortionas“"Pro-life"is more than mere wordplay. Language carries with it systems ofideas: Words have concepts attached to them, Language use helps to frame, orreframe particular issues, and this framing can be both positive and negative.Language has been described as a loaded weapon: It brings with it real-worldconsequences.Language also plays a role in how we affect other people, and how we make1Dothers feel, achieved just by our choice of words. Expressions such as "Shutup!"versus"I'm terribly sorry to interrupt you,”while ostensibly conveying thesame meaning, affect our addressee in very different ways.This is because theway in whichwe present our public selves is conveyed,in large part, throughlanguage.The nature of the language we choose to use signals informationabout our attitudes towards others, ourselves and the situations in which we findourselves.I've already intimated that a key function of language is social interaction.For instance, we use language to engage in gossip, to get to know someone, toconduct business, to make a purchase in a shop,to attract members of the sameor opposite sex,to declare undyinglove, and so forth.But how,exactly,do wemake use of language in order to facilitate these social functions? We do so byengaging in culturally recognised activities in order to achieve (what are at least

Unit 1 The Nature of Language 19 From the moment the utterance has been made, the legal, social and moral status holding between the two individuals is irrevocably altered. The newly created husband and wife have obligations and potential claims towards and against each other that they didnt have prior to the utterance of these words. In some countries, even their tax status is altered. In short, language can be used to perform actions which have consequences in the real world. But one doesnt need the special status of a member of the clergy, a Prime Minister or a sovereign to be able to alter aspects ofthe world through language. An everyday expression such as “Shut that door on the way out!” also represents an action performed through language—in this, language bestows complete equality: We can all do it. This expression is an attempt to have someone do something, thereby altering an aspect of the world to suit our own wishes or desires. Another way in which language fulfils its interactive function is by enabling us to express our thoughts and feelings about the world. The expressions “terrorist” and “freedom fighter“ might be used to describe the same individual by different people with different perspectives, and different agendas. Using language to speak of a “war on terror” or describing the campaign to criminalise abortion as "Pro-life“ is more than mere wordplay. Language carries with it systems of ideas: Words have concepts attached to them. Language use helps to frame, or reframe particular issues, and this framing can be both positive and negative. Language has been described as a loaded weapon: It brings with it real-world consequences. 10 Language also plays a role in how we affect other people, and how we make others feel, achieved just by our choice of words. Expressions such as “Shut up!” versus 'Tm terribly sorry to interrupt you；' while ostensibly conveying the same meaning, affect our addressee in very different ways. This is because the way in which we present our public selves is conveyed, in large part, through language. The nature of the language we choose to use signals information about our attitudes towards others, ourselves and the situations in which we find ourselves. fve already intimated that a key function of language is social interaction. For instance, we use language to engage in gossip, to get to know someone, to conduct business, to make a purchase in a shop, to attract members ofthe same or opposite sex, to declare undying love, and so forth. But how, exactly, do we make use of language in order to facilitate these social functions? We do so by engaging in culturally recognised activities in order to achieve (what are at least