BS English: Introduction to Linguistics
Teacher: Malik Rahmat Ullah
Definition of ‘Language’
1. Sapir: “Language is purely human and non-instinctive method of communicating
ideas, emotions and desires by means of voluntarily produced symbols.”
 Its human
 Non-instinctive
 It’s a method
2. Bloch and Trager [Outline of Linguistic Analysis]: “A language is a system of arbitrary
vocal symbols by means of which a social group co-operates.
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It’s a system
Arbitrariness
Deals with vocals: deals with spoken language
Written ignored
Refers about social group
Co-operate
3. Hall [Essay on Language]: “Language is the institution whereby humans
communicate and interact with each other by means of habitually used oralauditory arbitrary symbols.”
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It’s an institution
Focus on both communication and interaction (instead of co-operation)
A human institution (just like Sapir)
The word of Arbitrary
4. Robins: “Languages are symbol systems almost wholly based on pure or arbitrary
convention.”
 A less formal definition
 System
 Arbitrary or pure
5. Noam Chomsky [Syntactic Structures]: “Language is a set (finite or infinite) of
sentences, each finite in length and constructed out of a finite set of elements.”
 It’s a set –finite or infinite one
 Consists of sentences
Punjab Group of Colleges (Bhakkar Campus)
BS English: Introduction to Linguistics
Teacher: Malik Rahmat Ullah
 Every sentence has a finite word limit
 Applicable for both written and spoken
 Chomsky focused on structural properties
Reference:
1. ‘Language and Linguistics’ by John Lyons
Punjab Group of Colleges (Bhakkar Campus)