The nature, purposes and uses of language are the most basic information that has to be learnt in order to understand language. Language consists of three aspects, namely ‘sounds’, ‘meaning’ and ‘grammar’ (Bates, 2003). These three components work together to form language as a whole. ‘Sounds’ refer to how words are pronounced, which is studied in Linguistics in its subtopic, phonetics and phonology. ‘Meaning’ refers to how words are given meaning or description, explained in the subtopics semantics and lexicon while ‘grammar’ refers to the rules in which meaning and sounds come together, further explained by morphology and syntax, also subtopics of Linguistics. The three main purpose of language are called the expressive purpose, the informative purpose and the …show more content…
The Great Vowel Shift which Fromkin, Rodman & Hyams (2007) explained in their textbook, ‘An Introduction to Language’ as ‘a major change in English that resulted in new phonemic representations of words and morphemes took place between 1400 and 1600’. In simple words, the Great Vowel Shift is a period in which the sounds of words are changed. Words like ‘mouse’ and ‘house’ were sounded differently than they are now. However, there are still a few words and sounds that still survives from both Old English and Middle English. The last category is developing by borrowing from other languages. Over centuries, this has been done by various languages, some more than others. When a language does not have a word to describe something, they tend to borrow words from other languages that can describe that particular object or subject with alterations to its spelling and pronunciation. English has about three-fifths loanwords, words that are borrowed from other languages (Fromkin, Rodman & Hyams, 2007). Some languages borrow too frequently that only few native words remain while others refrain from borrowing too much to maintain their native
Language is often seen as relatively stable; like a pillar of stone it stands the test of time. However, language is like a sapling bending and swaying under wind and the rain. Words often transform over time transforming meaning. Since the first word was uttered thousands of years ago to now, countless words have been lost and thousands have changed their meaning. The word “treadmill” is an example of a word that once stood for something completely different than what it now does.
Starting with what some people think is grunts to going ancient languages like Greek and Latin to the languages we have available to us today, English, Spanish, French, to our modern version of language, of emotions and condensed words like lol, btw, tbh,
In like manner to the local lexicon of Spanish, words like bildin and lonch are very common among
Language has been evolving for many centuries and there are many words that have come into existence recently. Every year there are many new words that get added to dictionaries and individuals gradually adjust to them without
The most famous, probably, are “tomahawk” and “moccasin”. However, there are some words that we commonly use which we do not know what their origin is. An example is the word ‘woodchuck’, ”which looks like a typical English compound incorporating the word wood, is actually a folk-etymological simplification of an Algonquian word”.
We discussed the different components of language including phonology, morphology, and syntax. Phonology is the sound system of language. Morphology is the structure of words. Syntax is the set of grammar rules to make sentences. I found the different forms of non-verbal communication very interesting.
The United States is a place of freedom. We are a mixing pot that unifies as one. Many religions, cultures, and languages make their home in the Unites States. Many foreigners see the U.S. as an opportunity to seek better lives and education, but when it comes to foreigners and native-born non-English speakers that do not yet know English, it becomes a little more difficult to go about an average day let alone make a better future. Children in school often become English Language Learners, or ELL, to assimilate to the American standards.
As a result language has changed over the years, there is a whole range of different words. Even modern slang
This research explores the historical, and the importance and influences French has had on Social and Linguistic forms on Modern day English. The Influences of the French Language on the English Language Old English period begins around the 5th Century with the first Germanic tribes known as the Jutes, Angles and Saxons. The Germanic tribes came mainly from Denmark, Sweden, Finland and the Netherlands. The Anglo Saxon language was uncomplicated and contained roughly 50000 to 60000 words. Old English grammar is very similar in intonation, word order and forms to modern day German, for instance, the use of pronouns, nouns, adjectives and verbs (Baugh and Cable, 2002).
The English language had around 50-6000 words, compared to nowadays where there are around 1,000,000 words, so writers didn’t have as much vocabulary to use as they do today. These writers wanted to express themselves more and so during this time a number of new words were created and added to the English language. Shakespeare created around 1700 words in his works. An example of a slang word he created is “Fustilarian”, which was an insult meaning a “smelly old woman”. Another example of
Introduction There are roughly 6500 spoken language in the world today. People mostly spend their life talking and destining and advanced society reading and writing. The use of language is an intrinsic part of being human. It is clear that language and abstract thought are very close to each other but many people think that these two characteristic distinguish human being from animals.
TITLE: Each student should learn foreign language. GENERAL PURPOSE: To persuade SPECIFIC PURPOSE: To persuade people that each of student should learn foreign language MAIN IDEA: - learning foreign language enhance communication skills. - learning foreign language enhance job and career opportunities.
The vocabulary of Old English is completely different from the vocabulary of Modern English. Its all vocabulary was completely Germanic. It had some word of Celtic origin too. The research on this language has proved that 85 percent of that vocabulary has been extinct now.
Learning a second language at a younger age is beneficial Most little kids first day of school is when they are approximately five years old, and about to enter kindergarten. Kids go to school from about age five till graduation from high school at about age eighteen. Most schools focus on the basic core subjects, such as math, reading, science and history. Until junior high or high school, foreign language is not even offered.
“You can’t see other people’s point of view when you have only one language,” declared psycholinguist, Frank Smith. Just as it is mentioned in this quote, foreign language is important; therefore, people should learn a foreign language at an early age. When learning a foreign language at an early age, it helps people to concentrate and increase comprehension skills. Also, at a young age, the mind is fresh, so the person can take in more information and can easily master a foreign language. In addition, most secondary schools, universities, and jobs require a foreign language to be known.