Project about the properties of English language

1. Properties of Language
University of Mohamed Boudiaf
MSILA
Department of English
1st
year LMD
Name: Kheniche Abdelhakim
Group: 06
E-mail: Abdelhakim.kheniche@univ-msila.dz
Title:
Teacher :Dr. Guermi Nor Elhouda

2. 1. Introduction
Because language is multifaceted and complex, many attempts to define it are simplified to the
construction of lists of language characteristics. This approach is not without its difficulties,
however. For example, how many characteristics are minimally sufficient to describe language?
Two? Four? Twenty? Having said this, an outline of essential properties can still be helpful in
gaining an overview of the so-called key properties of language. I will discuss just thirteen of
these, as follows.
2.Selected key properties
2.1. Arbitrariness
means that human languages use neutral symbols. There is no connection between the word
DOG and the four-legged animal it symbolizes. It can equally be called UN CHIEN (French),
EIN HUND (German), or CANIS (Latin). GÜL (Turkish) and RHODON (Greek) are equally
satisfactory names for a ‘rose’. As Juliet famously
What’s in a name? that which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet.
(Shakespeare)
Onomatopoeic words such as CUCKOO, POP, BANG, SLURP and SQUISH are exceptions to
this. But there are relatively few of these in any language. On the other hand, it is normal for
animals to have a strong link between the message they are sending and the signal they use to
convey it. A crab that wishes to convey extreme aggression will extend a large claw. A less
angry crab will merely raise a leg:‘Extending a major chaliped is more effective than raising a
single ambulatory leg in causing the second crab to retreat or duck back into its shell’ (Marshall
1970: 231). However, arbitrary symbols are not unique to humans. Gulls, for example,
sometimes indicate aggression by turning away from their opponent and uprooting beakfuls of
grass. So, we conclude that arbitrariness cannot be regarded as a critical distinction between
human and animal communication.
2.2. Cultural transmission or tradition
indicates that human beings hand their languages down from one generation to another. The
role played by teaching in animal communication is unclear and varies from animal to animal
and even with species. Among birds, it is claimed that the song thrush’s song is largely innate,

3. but can be slightly modified by learning, whereas the skylark’s song is almost wholly learned.
Birds such as the chaffinch are particularly interesting: the basic pattern of the song seems to
be innate, but all the finer detail and much of the pitch and rhythm have to be acquired by
learning (Thorpe 1961,
1963). However, although the distinction between humans and animals is not clear-cut as
regards this feature, it seems that a far great
2.3. Arbitrariness
Essentially, language is a symbol system. In broad terms, the symbols of language are words.
By constructing words and stringing them together according to a set of rules – the grammar of
the language – we are able to construct meaningful utterances.
The choice of symbols used by a language is, however, said to be arbitrary. This is because
there is no direct relationship (connection) between a particular word (linguistic form) and its
meaning. The words or symbols used to make the right perception about the object are not
inherently interconnected to those objects they symbolise. Because the relationship between
speech sounds and what they
represent is arbitrary, different languages have different speech sounds to represent the same
thing:
English:
Korean:
Swahili:
The rice is burning!
Pap thanda!
Wali inaunguwu!
Different sounds, same message.
For example, in English we use the word cup to represent a physical object capable of holding
liquids, which usually has a handle, and which humans use to drink from. Of course, there is
no particular reason why we should use the word-symbol cup. We could just as easily choose
to use the word form zarg, or pinkt, or any other word form we might think of. The point is that
words are just an arbitrary set of symbols used to represent various meanings. In summary, if
we know the form of a word it is impossible to predict the meaning and if we know the meaning
it is impossible to predict the form.

4. Each particular language (English, French, Russian, Chinese, and so on) uses a different set of
symbols. So, for example, the word-symbol for cup in French is tasse but in Portuguese it is
copo.
Arbitrariness is a useful property because it increases the flexibility of language. The flexibility
arises because language is not constrained by the need to match the form of a word and its
meaning. Because of this it is possible to construct an almost infinite number of words from a
limited set of speech sounds.
Having made the point that linguistic symbols are arbitrary, there are some English words that
appear to be less arbitrary than others. These are onomatopoeic words: words that imitate the
sound associated with an object or an action. For example, in the utterance the bees were
buzzing the word buzzing sounds similar to the noise bees make. Other examples include hiss
and rasp. The features of such words are often exploited in the writing of poetry.
2.4. Duality
Language seems to be organized at least at two levels:
1. the primary level consisting of the units
2. the secondary level consisting of the elements
The elements of the secondary level combine to form the units of the primary level. For our
purposes, we can consider the elements of verbal language to be speech sounds, i.e. consonants
and vowels. These speech sounds then combine to form units at the primary level, i.e. words.
Consider, for example, how the word cat is formed by the combination of three speech sounds:
the consonant ‘c’, the vowel ‘a’ and the consonant ‘t’. These speech sounds at the primary level
are meaningless if they are uttered in isolation. For example, if I just say the sound ‘c’ this has
no meaning. Similarly, ‘a’ and ‘t’ spoken on their own are meaningless. It is only when these
secondary level elements are combined in a systematic way that they have the possibility of
conveying meaning. Consequently, cat is meaningful, whereas ‘c’, ‘a’, and ‘t’ are not.
2.5. Systematicity
Language is an orderly method of communicating ideas, thoughts, emotions, and so on. If
language were random then there would be no way of ensuring that the intended meaning was
conveyed. Regularity and order (i.e. systematicity) are essential for language to work properly.

5. We have already seen an example of this above when considering duality. We noted that the
combination of the secondary level elements ‘c’, ‘a’, and ‘t’ may combine to form the primary
level unit cat. These three elements may also be recombined to form the word act. However,
the combination ‘a’ + ‘t’ + ‘c’ to form atc is meaningless (in English).
What this demonstrates is that language is governed by rules that define which combinations of
elements are acceptable and which are not. There are also rules that govern the combination of
primary level units. So, for example, we realize that the utterance the first snows of winter is
appropriate, whereas the combination snows winter first the of is not.
2.6.Structure-dependence
Language appears to have an underlying patterned structure and humans appear to intuitively
recognize these patterns. Consider the following utterance:
We intuitively realize that this utterance patterns into coherent segments. This is demonstrated
by the fact that we are able to easily remove one segment and replace it with another, e.g.
As well as recognizing that we can substitute one segment with another, further evidence that
we intuitively recognize patterns in language is demonstrated by our ability to readily rearrange
segments. Consider again our opening utterance:
This utterance could be rearranged as follows.
Of course, the patterned structure of language allows us to both rearrange and substitute
segments simultaneously, e.g.

6. 2.7. Productivity
Productivity is also called openness or creativity. It entails reflexiveness, the ability of
language to be used to talk about language. Humans can use language to understand and
produce an indefinite number of novel utterances. Many animals respond to stimuli in their
environment in predictable ways. For example, the stimulus of seeing a collection of shiny
objects in front of a small grass covert will stimulate a female Bowerbird to mate with the male
bird who prepared the display. The sight of the objects stimulates the female to perform a
particular behavior, in this case pairing and mating. These behaviors, and others like them, are
said to be stimulus bound. In other words, if we know what the stimulus is then we can predict
the subsequent behavior. The behavior is invariant and always follows a specific stimulus.
If language were stimulus bound, we would expect that each time a human was presented
with the same stimulus he or she would utter exactly the same words. Clearly this is not so. If
three people were all shown the painting of the Mona Lisa there is no guarantee that each would
utter the same words. A variety of responses are available to these people. There is no sure way
of predicting what they may say: ‘What a beautiful picture’, ‘That reminds me of my sister’,
‘Oh, I’ve forgotten to put the kettle on!’
The salient point is that it is not possible to predict that a particular stimulus will cause a human
to use one, and only one, particular language construction. In this sense, language is said to be
stimulus free and this explains why humans are able to use language creatively. Language is,
therefore, flexible.
The fact that language is stimulus-free and that it is flexible leads to the notion of productivity,
i.e. that language can be used to construct an infinite set of new and meaningful utterances.
These utterances are novel in that they may never have been spoken before and yet they are
meaningful and readily interpretable by other people.
2.8. Displacement
Language also allows us to think of, and communicate about, something or someone that is not
immediately present. So, for example, we can refer to our new car even though it is not actually

7. in front of us. Similarly, we can discuss last night’s football game even though it has passed.
This property of language is known as displacement.
2.9. Specialization
This key property refers to the fact that language allows us to substitute an arbitrary word for a
physical action. An example might be a child who instructs their friend to ‘Stay away!’ This
utterance means that the child does not then have to act out his or her message: for example, by
physically pushing the friend away. Similarly, the police officer who instructs a crowd to ‘Move
along!’ has used language to substitute for the physical action of driving the crowd forwards.
In both instances the language has substituted for a physical action.
2.10. Cultural transmission
Language is the means by which humans are able to teach the upcoming generation all that they
have learnt to date. If we did not have the ability to use language then it would be largely
impossible to transmit our knowledge and experiences to the next generation of humans and
each successive generation would have to start afresh. However, because we have language we
are able to communicate necessary knowledge and social norms of behaviour to the upcoming
generation.
One of the most obvious examples of this is the formal teaching in our schools, the majority of
which is undertaken using spoken language. The child who sits on a parent’s lap and listens to
stories of family traditions and events is also learning through language. This property of
language is referred to as cultural transmission. The language of a particular society, therefore,
forms part of the culture of that society.
2.11. Modularity
refers to the concept of making multiple modules first and then linking and combining them to
form a complete system. Modularity is the degree to which a system's components are made
up of relatively independent components or parts which can be combined. the existence of
separate language faculty and different components of language in distinct cognitive modules
each differing in the nature of its representations
Gregg (2003) believes that, there are two levels of analysis for the concept of modularity
in second language:

8. • Anatomical modularity: which claims that L2 knowledge is localized in a specific well-
defined area of brain. Based on anatomical modularity, second language module is different
from first language module; that is, there are two separate cognitive modules for the first and
second language.
• Cognitive modularity: which claims that L2 knowledge is a module within a larger system
of knowledge.
Putting aside anatomical modularity, as argued by Trask (1999), we can distinguish
between two types of cognitive modularity which since the early 1980s, has become prominent
in linguistics and cognitive science in at least two ways.
First, the American philosopher Jerry Fodor has been arguing that human mind is itself
modular, that is, it consists of a number of specialized subcomponents for handling different
tasks, such as speaking and seeing. Second, the American linguist Noam Chomsky has been
arguing that the human language faculty is modular, that is, it must consist of a fairly large
number of semi-autonomous units, each of which responsible for certain particular aspects of
our linguistic competence.
2.12. Discreteness
The idea of “discreteness” in linguistics basically means that even though language is produced
as a “stream” (as in “stream of speech”), it can be broken down into meaningful units (such
as discrete sounds), and those units can be combined in various ways to form larger units (such
as discrete sounds like [p], [I] and [t] combining to make the word “pit” or “tip”).
You can best understand the “stream of speech” when you listen to someone speaking a
language that you don’t know. If you think about it, this is the natural situation for a baby when
he/she hears language being spoken by his/her mother, father, siblings, etc. in the weeks and
months after birth. However, from this “stream of speech” the infant is able to gradually abstract
the sounds in that language and from there combine those sounds to form words (as described
above)
You can also understand this if you think about a dog’s bark or a cat’s meow. These animal
sounds are not discrete—they are basically whole. One bark may mean “feed me” while
another may mean something like “I need to go out.” However, the barks cannot be broken

9. down into smaller units that can then be recombined into more complex barks with other
meanings.
That fact that a language has a small set of discrete sounds (usually between 20 and 50 or so)
that can be recombined to produce thousands upon thousands of words shows how discreteness
is one of the most basic characteristics of human languages, without which human language
would not be possible.
2.13. Interchangeability
People can receive and at the same time transmit identical signals to pass a message that would
be understood by the other party. In this case, the speaker and the listener can take turns in
communication. This ensures that everyone is in a position to perform their interlocutory roles
appropriately.