CHAPTER I:
LINGUISTICS FORMS AND FUNCTIONS
A. The
functions of language
The
analysis of discourse is, necessarily, the analysis of language in use. As
such, it cannot be restricted to the description of linguistic forms
independent of the purposes or functions which those forms are designed to
serve in human affairs. While some linguists may concentrate on determining the
formal properties of a language, the discourse analyst is committed to an
investigation of what that language is used for. While the formal approach has
a long tradition, manifested in innumerable volumes of grammar, the functional
approach is less well documented. Attempts to provide even a general set of
labels for the principal functions of language have resulted in vague, and often
confusing, terminology. We will adopt only two terms to describe the major
functions of language and emphasise that this division is an analytic
convenience. It would be unlikely that, on any occasion, a natural language
utterance would be used to fulfil only one function, to the total exclusion of
the other. That function which language serves in the expression of ‘content’
we will describe as transactional, and that function involved in expressing
social relations and personal attitudes we will describe as interactional. Our
distinction, ‘transactional / interactional’, stands in general correspondence
to the functional dichotomies – ‘representative / expressive’, found in Bühler
(1934), ‘referential / emotive’ (Jakobson, 1960), ‘ideational / interpersonal’
(Halliday, 1970b) and ‘descriptive / social-expressive’ (Lyons, 1977).
Within
discourse analysis it is often the case that the functions of linguistic items
in both spoken and written text are not predictable simply from a consideration
of their forms. Chaudron (1988: 39) states that although many verbal behaviours
can be quickly and confidently identified, there are “frequently finer nuances
of meaning and tacit rules of discourse implicit in even the simplest expression…”
This can result in the conversion of linguistic items from one function to another
relative to the overall proceedings of the discourse. Nunan (1991: 42) adds that
in terms of the discourse we are engaged in, “predictability will depend on
whether the discourse or text type contain predictable patterns, and also the
extent to which we are familiar with these patterns…” Therefore, the contextual
environment in which items appear in either a descriptive, expressive or social
role has to be considered in order for their function to be accurately evaluated.
A detailed summary of the approaches to the analysis of discourse on this issue
appears below. In addition, a review of a spoken text in which linguistic items
whose functions are not predictable merely from their forms is highlighted. It
will be argued that much of the text under examination involves dialogue that
is discourse internal and largely interpretable only with reference to the
background information the speakers share or from a close evaluation of tone choices
each make. In many cases utterances are made under circumstances where the
respondent assumes certain background knowledge already ‘in play’ in the
discourse that an uninitiated listener might have difficulty interpreting. For
a complete version of the transcripts under discussion.
B.
Spoken and Written Language
Spoken
language is a vast subject, and little is known in hard statistical terms of
the distribution of different types of speech in people’s everyday lives. If we
list at random a number of different types of speech and consider how much of
each day or weak we spend engaged in each one, we can only roughly guess at
some sort of frequency ranking other than to say that casual conversation is
almost certainly the most frequent for most people. The rest will depend on our
daily occupation and what sorts of contacts we have with others. Some different
types of speech might be:
1. Telephone
calls (business or private)
2. Service
counters (shops, tickets, offices)
3. Interviews
(jobs, journalistic in official setting etc.)
Advantage
of Spoken Language:
1. Spoken
language takes in some context of situation and hence is supported by
extra-linguistic elements including all in the surrounding.
2. In
a face to face interaction, the interlocutor can reformulate his/her language
according to the situation or taking into consideration the reaction shown by
the other interlocutor.
3. While
speaking, the speaker has available to him/her the full range of ‘voice
quality’ efforts as well as paralinguistic expressions.
4. In
a conversation, non-linguistic events naturally contribute to spoken language
and make it lively.
5. Spoken
language is only interactional.
6. Finally,
spoken language contains interactive markers and planning ‘filers’ and thus
makes communication effective.
Disadvantage
of Spoken Language:
1. It
does not maintain strict grammatical rules. So, grammatical mistakes are
occurred often.
2. It
is devoid of the transactional function of the language.
3. Spoken
language cannot express emotions, sentiments and feelings.
4. Spoken
language cannot be checked, changed or reformulated if it is once uttered.
5. It
is the primary form of language. So, it is non-visible and it has no written
document to prove.
6. Spoken
language is less planned rather than written language. So it would be affected
on listeners if it is badly uttered.
Written
language is the secondary form of a language. It is visible, written or printed
and hence more permanent. Features of Written Language are:
1. Written
language is more structured.
2. In
written language, heavily pre-modified noun phrases are quite common, for
example-a man who turned into a human torch ten days ago after snoozing in his
locked car while smoking has pipe has died in hospital
3. Written
language sentences are generally structured in subject.
4. The
use of passive is found in written language.
5. In
written language, vocabulary for example-a lot of; thing, nice, do, stuff etc.
is not taken generally.
6. In
written language, the some syntactic form is not repeated.
Advantage
of Written Language:
1. Written
language is the secondary form of language.
2. As
written language is strictly governed by grammatical rules, non-native users
are usually more aware of the rules of written language.
3. We
can express our feelings, ideas, emotions, sentiments, and so forth more freely
in spoken language because the reader cannot show direct and immediate
reaction.
4. It
may be checked, changed or reformulated if necessary grammatically and
pragmatically.
5. It
performs both transactional and interactional functions of language.
Disadvantage
of Written Language:
1. It
fails to establish and maintain direct role of relationships with the reader.
2. In
written language there is no proximity between the writer and reader.
3. Written
language does not take place in some context of situations. So it is not
supported by extra linguistics elements including all is the surrounded.
4. Written
language does not contain interactive markers and planning filler and thus
makes the communication less effective.
5. It
misses the para-linguistic expression and immediate reaction of the situation.
So its effect is slow.
C.
Sentence and Utterance
Main difference between sentence and utterance
is that the sentence coveys a complete meaning, either spoken or written,
whereas utterance usually does not necessarily convey a complete meaning. Communication
is the only way two human beings can interact and share their thoughts and
sentiments with each other. There are two major means of communication as
verbal and non-verbal communication. Sentences, therefore, belong to both
verbal and non-verbal types of communication since they can either be spoken or
written. Yet an utterance is typically a sound or incomplete spoken group of
words that belong to the verbal type of communication.
A
sentence is a group of words that conveys a complete meaning or thought. A
sentence at least contains a subject and verb that highlights that a sentence
conveys a complete meaning because it is a combination of words. For example,
when we say ‘she left,’ even though it has just the subject and verb it conveys
a meaning. However, sentences are not always simple in structure. There are a
number of categories in sentences such as simple sentences, compound sentences,
complex sentences, and also compound-complex sentences. Here are some examples
that will highlight the nature of different types of sentences.
The
word utterance can simply be understood as a unit of speech. Utterance can be
defined as a part of speech between pauses and silence. This usually applies to
spoken language and not for written language. This feature can be considered as
a difference that exists between a sentence and an utterance. An utterance can
be a single word, a group of words, a clause or even a complete sentence. Let
us try to understand this a bit further. Unlike in written language, in spoken
language, there are more pauses and silence.
REFERENCES
1983.
Discourse Analysis. Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press
Introduction Linguistics Forms and
Function. Accessed on 25 March 2019 from https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/discourse-analysis/introduction-linguistic-forms-and-functions/BF9737B0F33BDD66847A84470EB3BAE8
Difference between Sentence and
Utterance. Accessed on 25 March 2019 from
http://pediaa.com/difference-between-sentence-and-utterance/
Difference between Sentence and Utterance.
Accessed on 25 March 2019 from https://keydifferences.com/difference-between-rules-and-regulations.html
Language Forms and Functions.
Accessed on 25 March 2019 http://www.englicious.org/lesson/form-and-function
No comments:
Post a Comment