Language and its components, Reference from T.A. Subba Rao

Communication, speech, language, Language and its Components Such as form, use, content subcomponents such as Phonology, morphology, syntax, prosody, semantics, pragmatics.

1. Language and its Components Emmanuel BASLP

2. Introduction Language : Language is the main vehicle for communication. Language is a set of arbitrary symbols (mainly conventional) used by a group of people for the purpose of communication. Understanding of language requires the explanation of terms symbol and arbitrary .

3. Symbol : Symbol is a code that stands for or represents an object, an action or a person. Examples of symbols are words and hand gestures . Symbols are arranged in an order making use of a set of rules. These rules are shared by the community and are arbitrary.  Arbitrary : The symbols of language are arbitrary, i.e., there is no inherent one to one relationship between the particular spoken, written or signed word and the corresponding object, idea or class of objects it symbolizes.  Eg : Symbol : Apple  Object :

4. As language is the main vehicle for communication, language essentially has same functions as that of communication. Just like communication which has different modes, the language has different parts. These parts deal with what to say( Content ) , when to say ( use ), and how to say a word or a sentence ( form ). These parts are called as components of language. We will be able to communicate efficiently by making use of these components . Form - deals with the structure of language -how to form words and sentences grammatically. Content - deals with the meaning part of language - What to say or the content of the message. Use - deals with the usage of language - where, when, with whom and for what purpose language 

5. Example: I am Munawar.

6. Sub-components Of language

7. Phonology: Example: English language - 44 speech sounds . Telugu language - 47 speech sounds .  Speech sounds can be further sub-divided depending on their nature and production as consonants and vowels. Phonology studies the range of speech sounds a native speaker uses while speaking and how they are produced. In addition it also studies the rules that are used while combining speech sounds. Although some speech sounds are common across languages, different languages have different number of speech sounds.  The smallest units of sound that make up a language are called phonemes. For example, the word “that” contains three phonemes the “th” represents one phoneme /th/, the “a” maps to the short a sound /ă/, and the “t” to its basic sound /t/.

8. English

9. Telugu

10. Morphology: Pstklr is not a word in English language Kapaka is not a word in Telugu language , as these combination of speech sounds is not meaningful.  Morphemes like chair, table, boy, etc. can be used independently. Morphemes like un_, _ful, _ness (in English) are not meaningful on their own, but when attached to words they become meaningful, (e.g., unlike, useful). These part words like un_, _ful, etc., are known as grammatical morphemes.  Morphology deals with the rules for combining speech sounds to form words, i.e., it is concerned with internal structure of words. It studies the rules governing creation of words from roots, prefixes, suffixes, etc. 

11. Syntax: For example: Hurricanes are scary is a Syntactically acceptable sentence. Where as scary a are Hurricanes is not an acceptable sentence.   Syntax refers to the grammatical aspects of a language. It deals with word order, inflections and relationships between words. Syntax describes the rules that speakers use in forming and in understanding sentences. Syntactic rules specify which strings of words are acceptable and which are not. Without syntactic organisation, language would be an incoherent jumble of words.

12. Prosody: Example: " Yeah , that was a great movie,"  Studies the impact of speech melody i.e., Intonation, tone, rhythm, stress, etc.., on the words of sentence.

13. Semantics: For example, the word lion in a language refers to a wild animal which roar s . It is study of language meaning and how it is acquired. The semantic component of language includes meanings as well as rules for linking meaning with words and word sequences (Phrases and sentences). Semantics is particularly concerned with the relationships between language and knowledge of the real world of objects and events. The most important point to remember about language meaning is that words do not represent things, they represent ideas about things. It is possible to have a grammatically correct sentence which semantically may not be acceptable, for example, / eat sky. 

14. Pragmatics: Pragmatics - Rules for using language in a social context with a `purpose  Pragmatics deals with the language from the point  of view of users. It deals with the set of rules that determine who says what to whom in which circumstances, i.e., pragmatics deals with the study of use of language. For example, a request for water is carried out differently at home as compared to a hotel. Different sets of words and styles are used.  Some of the pragmatic rules that govern a social interaction include preparing for and maintaining conversation, correcting errors made, giving and taking information, opening and closing a conversation, changing topics, turn taking, understanding the listener and the context, etc.  Reference: T A Subba Rao

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