INTRODUCTION TO LANGUAGE BY APRILIANA HAPSARI ENGLISH DEPARTMENT OF UNRIYO 2015

MATERIALS WHAT IS LANGUAGE? CHARACTERS OF LANGUAGE FUNCTIONS OF LANGUAGE HUMAN LANGUAGE VS ANIMAL LANGUAGE THE ORIGIN OF LANGUAGE

Language defines us as human It is the most important tool for human being for living. All of humanity’s greatest cultural accomplishments either out of language or rely on language for their dissemination. When someone achieve something great in art or athletics or music or technology or math, they immediately turn to languge to tell other.

IN FACT We, as human being, love to talk We just can not stop talking There are massive proliferation of cellphone, instant messaging, podcast, and simply voice mails that we use everyday. Even, right now most of us can not live without our smartphone, tab, or laptop. We need to keep in touch with others, we need to update our informations, and we need and entertainment.

Therefore.... We need language. Language is our medium of communication But sometimes, language can also a barrier to understanding.

There are more than 6000 languages in the world. Each language needs a dictionary and a grammar in terms every other language: a book that teaches Japanese in Korea is no use to a speaker of English or German or Indonesia who wants to learn Japanese.

Every human being can be mastering at least one language. Human beings also can be mastering the first language they hear from their mom so easily without learning, without thinking, just like breathing. A child who was born and grows up in Paris can speak France so easily. A child who was born and grows up in Chinese family but live in America can speak English and Mandarin well. She/He can switch the language so easily without confusing. Yet, Adults can study languges for decades but still can not achieve perfect pronunciation.

How does this all work? Actually, where does language come from? If language is a natural phenomenon, why do we have over 6000 languages? If language is cultural phenomenon, why is it the common capability of every human? Why can even people who are unable to hear or speak develop complex language? Why do we speak language different from that of our ancestors? Why do some people, even within America, speaking English, use different words for the same things?

LANGUAGE Language: 1. set of signs signs combine an exponent (a sequence of letters or sounds) with meaning. 2. a means to communicate, it is a semiotic system. Language theory of Sausser 3. a social fact, a kind of social contract. It exists not in an individual, but in community. 4. a mental reality. 5. a system of speech sounds used by human beings for communication.

CHARACTERS OF LANGUAGE Yule: Displacement Animal communication seems to be designed exclusively for this moment, here and now. It cannot effectively be used to relate events that are far removed in time and place. Humans can refer to past and future time. Diplacement allows language users to talk about things and events not present in the immediate environment. Indeed, it allows us to talk about things and places (e.g. angels, fairies, Santa Claus, Superman, heaven, hell) whose existence we cannot even be sure of. Arbitrariness It is generally the case that there is no ‘natural’ connection between a linguistic form and its meaning. The connection is quite arbitrary. Productivity Humans are continually creating new expressions and novel utterances by manipulating their linguistic resources to describe new objects and situations. This property is described as productivity (or ‘creativity’ or ‘open-endedness’) and it is linked to the fact that the potential number of utterances in any human language is infinite.

CHARACTERS OF LANGUAGE Cultural Transmision While we may inherit physical features such as brown eyes and dark hair from our parents, we do not inherit their language. We acquire a language in a culture with other speakers and not from parental genes. This process whereby a language is passed on from one generation to the next is described as cultural transmission. It is clear that humans are born with some kind of predisposition to acquire language in a general sense. However, we are not born with the ability to produce utterances in a specific language such as English. We acquire our first language as children in a culture. Duality Human language is organized at two levels or layers simultaneously. This property is called duality (or ‘double articulation’). At one level, we have distinct sounds, and, at another level, we have distinct meanings. This duality of levels is, in fact, one of the most economical features of human language because, with a limited set of discrete sounds, we are capable of producing a very large number of sound combinations (e.g. words) which are distinct in meaning.

FUNCTION OF LANGUAGE Secara tradisional, bahasa berfungsi sebagai alat untuk berinteraksi atau alat untuk berkomunikasi, dalam arti, alat untuk menyampaikan pikiran, gagasan, konsep, atau juga perasaan. Fungsi bahasa adalah alat komunikasi manusia baik tertulis maupun lisan. Fungsi bahasa mencakup lima fungsi dasar; expression, information, exploration, persuasion and entertainment.

HUMAN LANGUAGE VS NON-HUMAN LANGUAGE Bahasa manusia menggunakan jalur vokal auditif. Bahasa dapat tersiar ke segala arah, tapi penerimaannya terarah. Lambang bahasa yang berupa bunyi bahasa cepat hilang setelah diucapkan. Partisipan dalam komunikasi bahasa dapat saling berkomunikasi (interchangeability). Lambang bahasa dapat menjadi umpan balik lengkap. Komunikasi bahasa mempunyai spesialisasi, manusia dapat berbicara tanpa harus mengeluarkan gerakan-gerakan fisik yang mendukung proses komunikasi. Lambang-lambang bunyi dalam komunikasi bahasa manusia adalah bermakna atau merujuk pada hal-hal tertentu. Hubungan antara lambang bahasa dengan maknanya bukan ditentukan oleh adanya suatu ikatan antara keduanya, tetapi ditentukan oleh suatu persetujuan atau konvensi di antara para penutur bahasa.

HUMAN LANGUAGE VS NON-HUMAN LANGUAGE 9. Bahasa sebagai alat komunikasi manusia dapat dipisahkan menjadi satuan-satuan; kalimat, frasa, kata, morfem, dan fonem. 10. Rujukan atau yang sedang dibicarakan dalam bahasa tidak harus selalu ada pada tempat dan waktu kini. 11. Bahasa bersifat terbuka; lambang-lambang ujaran baru dapat dibuat sesuai keperluan manusia. 12. Kepandaian dan kemahiran untuk menguasai aturan-aturan dan kebiasaan-kebiasaan berbahasa manusia diperoleh dari belajar bukan melalui gen-gen yang dibawa sejak lahir. 13. Bahasa dapat dipelajari; seseorang bisa mempelajari bahasa lain yang bukan bahasa dalam lingkungannya (bahasa asing). 14. Bahasa dapat digunakan untuk menyatakan yang benar dan yang tidak benar atau yang tidak bermakna secara logika. 15. Bahasa memiliki dua subsistem; bunyi dan makna, yang memungkinkan bahasa memiliki keekonomisan fungsi. 16. Bahasa dapat digunakan untuk membicarakan bahasa itu sendiri.

THE ORIGIN OF LANGUAGE Language begins in our brain; in Broca and Wernick’s area. In our brain we have language organ that is called LAD (Language Acquisition Device). We can produce words by using our organs of speech; throat, larynx, pharynx, tongue, teeth, palate, mouth, lips, and nose.