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l Study Guide
Definition of Language

1.Noam Chomsky (Language = Finite/Infinite Sentences & Grammar)

"Language is a set of (finite or infinite) sentences, each of which is grammatically correct."
Example: Humans can form unlimited sentences by following grammatical rules.

2. Ferdinand de Saussure (Language = System of Signs & Meaning)

"Language is a system of signs that express ideas."
Example: The word “tree” is just a sign; its meaning comes from how people agree to use it.

3. Edward Sapir (Language = Human & Non-Instinctive Communication)

"Language is a purely human and non-instinctive method of communicating ideas, emotions,
and desires by means of voluntarily produced symbols."
Example: Unlike animal sounds, human language is flexible and learned, not instinctive.

4.B.F. Skinner (Language = Verbal Behavior & Learning)

"Language is verbal behavior."
Example: A baby learns to say “mama” through reinforcement and imitation.

5. Lev Vygotsky (Language = Thinking & Social Interaction Tool)

"Language is a tool of thought and a means of social interaction."
Example: Children develop reasoning and understanding through conversations with adults.

6. Wilhelm von Humboldt (Language = Thought Made Visible)

"Language is the external manifestation of internal thought."
Example: Writing or speaking allows us to express what’s in our minds.

7.Charles Hockett (Language = Structured Symbols & Rules)

"Language is a system of communication based on the use of symbols that are organized
according to certain rules."
Example: Different languages follow specific grammatical structures, like Subject-Verb-Object in
English.

8.Roman Jakobson (Language = Communication for Messages)

"Language is a system of communication that functions as a tool for conveying messages from
one person to another."
Example: A phone call, a written letter, or a speech all use language to transfer information.

9.Michael Halliday (Language = Social Meaning System)

"Language is a social semiotic system."
Example: The same phrase, like “What’s up?”, can mean different things depending on context
and culture.

10.John Searle (Language = Symbols Representing Concepts)

"Language is a system of communication that is composed of symbols that represent concepts."
Example: The word "justice" is a symbol for a larger idea, not a physical object.

🔴 Characteristics of Language
1. Arbitrariness (Language = No Natural Connection Between Words & Meaning)

"Language arbitrariness refers to the idea that there is no inherent connection between
the sounds of words and their meanings. The relationship between a word's form
(pronunciation or written representation) and its meaning is based purely on social
convention and agreement among speakers

✅ Words do not have an inherent connection to their meaning.

✅ Meaning is established through social agreement.
✅ Different languages use different words for the same object.
Example:
The word “dog” in English = “chien” in French = “perro” in Spanish.
The object remains the same, but the names differ across languages.
Words have no inherent connection to their meaning.

2. Duality of Patterning (Language = Meaningful Communication from Sound Patterns)

"Language duality of patterning refers to the property of human languages where

meaningful communication is built upon two levels of structure: phonemes (smallest
units of sound) and morphemes (smallest units of meaning).”

Language has two levels:

A.Phonemes (smallest sounds) – They don’t have meaning alone.
(basic sounds, e.g., /b/, /a/, /t/)
B.Morphemes (smallest units of meaning) – Created by combining
phonemes.
(smallest meaning units, e.g., "cat," "un-")

3. Creativity (Productivity) (Language = Infinite Sentence Formation)

"Language creativity refers to the ability of speakers to produce and understand an

infinite number of novel sentences and expressions, even those they have never
encountered before.”
✅ Language allows for new sentence creation using grammar rules.
✅ Even if a sentence has never been heard before, it can be understood.
✅ Essential for human communication and literature
Humans can create new sentences never heard before.
Example: "The purple elephant danced in my dream."

4. Displacement (Language = Communicating Beyond the Present)

"Language displacement refers to the ability of language to communicate about things

that are not present in the immediate environment—things that are distant in time,
space, or even abstract concepts.”

✅ Language allows us to talk about the past, future, and abstract ideas.
✅ Unlike animal communication, human language is not limited to the present.
✅ Helps in storytelling, planning, and hypothetical thinking.
Example:
"Yesterday, it rained in Manila." → Talking about the past.
"I will travel to Japan next year." → Talking about the future.
"Justice is important for society." → Discussing an abstract concept.
.

🟢 Evolution of Language (Timeline)

1.Pre-Linguistic Communication (Before 100,000 BCE)
-​ Early humans used gestures & sounds.
●​ Early humans used gestures, facial expressions, and simple vocalizations.
●​ Communication was rudimentary, serving basic survival needs and emotions.
●​ Likely used by early hominids such as Homo habilis and Homo erectus.

2.Emergence of Language (100,000–50,000 BCE)

-​ Brain & vocal tract evolved → symbolic thinking began.
●​ Anatomical changes in the brain and vocal tract allowed for a wider range of sounds.
●​ Development of symbolic thinking enabled early humans to assign sounds to objects
and ideas.
●​ Marked the beginning of basic word formation

3.Proto-Languages (50,000–10,000 BCE)

-​ Early humans used simple words & basic grammar.
●​ Early humans developed rudimentary languages with simple vocabulary and grammar.
●​ These proto-languages provided the foundation for more advanced languages.
●​ Introduction of basic syntax and structured word formation.
4.The Rise of Writing (3,500 BCE)
-​ Sumerians (cuneiform) & Egyptians (hieroglyphs) developed writing
●​ Invention of writing systems in Sumer (cuneiform) and Egypt (hieroglyphs).
●​ Early writing was logographic, where each symbol represented a word or concept.
●​ Writing enabled record-keeping, governance, and cultural expression.

5.Spread of Indo-European Languages (2,000 BCE – 500 BCE)

-​ Proto-Indo-European gave rise to languages like Latin, Sanskrit, Greek
●​ Originated from a common ancestral language, Proto-Indo-European (PIE).
●​ Evolved into various language families such as Romance, Germanic, Slavic, and Indic.
●​ Spread occurred through migration, trade, and cultural exchange.

6.Classical and Medieval Languages (500 BCE – 1500 CE)

●​ Dominance of Latin, Ancient Greek, Sanskrit, and Classical Chinese as literary and
intellectual languages.
●​ These languages were used for philosophy, religion, science, and literature.
●​ Transition period where Latin evolved into vernacular languages during the medieval
era.

7.Evolution of Vernaculars and Modern Languages (1500 CE – Present)

-​ Literacy spread, languages standardized, globalization influenced language.
●​ The Renaissance spurred a move towards using local, or vernacular, languages in
literature, science, and politics.
●​ The printing press standardized written language and boosted literacy.
●​ Colonial expansion spread European languages (e.g., English, Spanish, French)
globally.

8.Contemporary Language (19th Century – Present)

Internet slang, English as a global language, endangered language revival.
●​ Globalization, migration, and technology (internet, social media) have significantly
influenced language.
●​ Emergence of new language forms such as internet slang, emojis, and hybrid
languages.
●​ English has become a global lingua franca in business, science, and technology.
●​ Ongoing efforts in language preservation and revitalization for minority languages.
🟡 Components of Language
1.Phonology: (Sounds of Language)
-​ "Phonology is the branch of linguistics that deals with the study of sounds in
language, specifically how they function, pattern, and are organized within a
particular language."

A.​ Phonemes – Smallest unit of sound that distinguishes meaning (e.g., /p/
vs. /b/ in pat vs. bat).
B.​ Allophones – Variations of a phoneme that do not change meaning (e.g.,
[p] in spin vs. [pʰ] in pin).
C.​ Syllable Structure – Organization of sounds in syllables (onset, nucleus,
coda).
D.​ Phonological Rules – Patterns in how sounds interact (e.g., assimilation
– sounds become more similar).
Example:
The English phoneme /t/ sounds different in top and butter due to phonological rules

2.Morphology: Study of word structure (morphemes)

-​ Morphology is the branch of linguistics that studies the structure and formation
of words, focusing on morphemes—the smallest units of meaning."

A.​ Morphemes – Smallest meaningful units in a language.

B.​ Free morphemes – Can stand alone as words (book, run).
C.​ Bound morphemes – Cannot stand alone, must attach to other
morphemes (un-, -ed).
D.​ Derivation – Creating new words by adding prefixes/suffixes (happy →
happiness).
E.​ Inflection – Modifying words to indicate tense, number, etc. (cat → cats).
Example:
The word unhappiness consists of three morphemes: un- (prefix), happy (root), and
-ness (suffix)..

3.Syntax: (Rules for structuring sentences and word order.)

-​ "Syntax is the branch of linguistics that studies the rules and principles governing
the structure of sentences in a language."

A.​ Sentence Structure – How words and phrases are arranged to form
sentences.
B.​ Phrase Structure Rules – Define how different types of words combine
to form phrases (noun phrases, verb phrases).
C.​ Word Order – English follows SVO (Subject-Verb-Object) order (The cat
chased the mouse).
 D.​ Grammatical Relations – Roles of words in sentences (e.g., subject,
object, complement).
E.​ Transformations – How sentences can be rearranged (The cat chased
the mouse → Did the cat chase the mouse?).
Example:
Changing "She is reading a book." into a question → "Is she reading a book?" follows
syntax rules.

4.Semantics:(Meaning of Words & Sentences)

-​ "Semantics is the branch of linguistics that studies meaning in language,
focusing on words, phrases, and sentences."

A.​ Lexical Semantics – Meaning of individual words (dog = a four-legged

pet).
B.​ Sense & Reference – Sense refers to the concept behind a word, while
reference points to a real-world entity.
C.​ Ambiguity – Words/sentences with multiple meanings (bank = financial
institution or riverbank).
D.​ Truth Conditions – When a statement is considered true or false ("The
sky is blue." is true if the sky is actually blue).
Example:
The sentence “I saw a bat.” → Bat could mean an animal or a sports equipment
(semantic ambiguity).

5.Pragmatics:(Context & Social Meaning in Language)

-​ "Pragmatics is the branch of linguistics that studies how context influences the
interpretation of meaning in language."

A.​ Context – Meaning changes based on physical setting, speaker relationships,

and background knowledge.
B.​ Speech Acts – Language is used to perform actions ("I promise" → an actual
commitment).
C.​ Implicature – Speakers imply more than they explicitly say ("It’s cold in here."
might mean "Close the window.").
D.​ Deixis – Words like this, that, here, there, I, you depend on context.
E.​ Politeness Strategies – Socially acceptable ways of speaking ("Could you
please close the door?" vs. "Close the door!").
Example:
If a teacher asks, “Can you pass the salt?”, they’re not asking about your ability but making a
request.
🟠 Theories of Language Acquisition
1.Nativist Theory (Noam Chomsky)
Born with Grammar
-​ "Language is innate; humans are born with a universal grammar."
-​ Language is hardwired into the human brain

2.Learning Theory (B.F. Skinner - Behaviorism)

Imitate & Repeat
-​ "Language is learned through imitation, reinforcement, and conditioning."
-​ Language develops through experience, not innate ability.

3.Interactionist Theory (Social Learning - Vygotsky, Bruner, Piaget)

Learn by Talking
-​ "Language acquisition is a combination of innate abilities and social interaction."
-​ Language develops through interaction between biological abilities and social
environment.

🟣 How Language Shapes Thought

1. Linguistic Relativity Hypothesis
-​ "Language shapes the way we think (e.g., different languages have different concepts or
distinctions)."

2.Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis
-​ "The structure of a language affects its speakers' worldview."
-​ People who speak different languages think differently because their language
shapes their worldview.

3.Cognition and Language (Independent but Connected)

-​ "Language and thought are interconnected but can also develop independently."
-​ Language and thought influence each other but are not the same thing
🟤LANGUAGE AND CULTURE
1.Cultural Influence on Language
-​ "Language reflects cultural values, norms, and identity."
-​ Culture shapes language and influences how people communicate.
e.g. Filipino words like “po” and “opo” show politeness and respect for elders.

2.Language Variations
-​ "Dialects, slang, and jargon are influenced by culture."
-​ Language changes based on region, profession, and social groups.
e.g. American English vs. British English (apartment vs. flat).

3.Language as a Cultural Tool

-​ "Language shapes and is shaped by social interactions, traditions, and worldviews."
-​ Language is a tool for expressing cultural identity and preserving traditions.
e.g. Indigenous languages preserve traditional knowledge and oral history.