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Logic

This document discusses the different functions of language: informative, expressive, and directive. The informative function communicates facts and information objectively. The expressive function expresses emotions, feelings, or attitudes to either the speaker or the listener. The directive function causes or prevents actions through commands, requests, and other imperative statements. Most language serves multiple functions simultaneously. Discourse can have informative, expressive, and directive elements. The functions are communicated through different grammatical forms like declarative, interrogative, imperative, and exclamatory sentences. Understanding language functions helps analyze disagreements and determine how to best resolve them.

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Regina Mueller
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124 views

Logic

This document discusses the different functions of language: informative, expressive, and directive. The informative function communicates facts and information objectively. The expressive function expresses emotions, feelings, or attitudes to either the speaker or the listener. The directive function causes or prevents actions through commands, requests, and other imperative statements. Most language serves multiple functions simultaneously. Discourse can have informative, expressive, and directive elements. The functions are communicated through different grammatical forms like declarative, interrogative, imperative, and exclamatory sentences. Understanding language functions helps analyze disagreements and determine how to best resolve them.

Uploaded by

Regina Mueller
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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INTRODUCTION TO

LOGIC

FUNCTIONS OF LANGUAGE

INFORMATIVE FUNCTION

PURPOSE: To communicate information.


The informative function affirms or denies
propositions, as in science or the statement of a
fact.

EXAMPLES:
HUNDREDS of athletes and sport enthusiasts are
expected to take part in the benefit run hosted by
the Integrated Bar of the Philippines in partnership
with Cool City Running on November 24, 2013 in
Baguio City.
Dubbed as Takbo Para Sa Tacloban, the event aims
to help typhoon Yolanda victims in Tacloban City.ity.

These sentences have a truth value; that


is, the sentences are either true or false
(recognizing, of course, that we might not
know what that truth value is). Hence,
they are important for logic.

EXAMPLE:

Coconuts kill more people in


the world than sharks do.
Approximately 150 people are
killed each year by coconuts.

This function is used to describe the


world or reason about it (e.g..,
whether a state of affairs has
occurred or not or what might have
led to it).

Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago on


Friday branded Senate Minority Leader
Juan Ponce-Enrile as a super bully and
likened his involvement in the pork
barrel scam to the sequel of Hunger
Games movie: Catching Fire.

EXPRESSIVE FUNCTION

Purpose:
1. To manifest feelings,emotions or attitudes
of the writer or of the subject or
2. To evoke feelings in the reader or listener

EXAMPLES OF THE FIRST COMPONENT:


A prayer in solitude
Writing poems shown to no one
Cursing while alone
They are not intended to invoke feelings to anyone else.

EXAMPLES OF THE SECOND COMPONENT:


When a lover uses poetic language in courtship
When orators seek to move others
When the crowd cheers its athletic team
They do not only express the feelings of the speakers but also
evoke similar feelings in the hearer.

He was my North, my South, my East and West


My working week and my Sunday rest
My noon, my midnight, my talk, my song
I thought that love would last for ever: I was wrong."
Stop All The Clocks, WH Auden

Poetry and literature are among the best examples, but much of, perhaps
most of, ordinary language discourse is the expression of emotions,
feelings or attitudes.
Examples:
Thats too bad!
What a pity!
Terrific! Fantastic!

Expressive discourse is neither true or false. To apply such criteria


would render it pointless and value less.

EXAMPLES:
Shakespeare's King Lear's lament, "Ripeness is all!" or
Dickens' "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times; it
was the age of wisdom; it was the age of foolishness
Even so, the "logic" of "fictional statements" is an interesting area of
inquiry.

DIRECTIVE FUNCTION

Purpose: To cause or prevent overt action


The directive function is most commonly found in
commands and requests.
Directive language is neither considered true or false.
We may disagree about whether a command has been obeyed or
disobeyed but we never disagree whether a command is true or false

It is intended to get results or to produce actions.


Thin line between commands and request through
change in the tone of voice or through adding the
word please

DISCOURSE SERVING MULTIPLE FUNCTIONS


Most ordinary kinds of discourse is mixed.
Suppose you want to solicit contributions
for a charitable organization. What you can
do is:

Explain the good works done by the charitable institution


(informative) then ask for contribution. ( directive)

1.

2.Make a moving appeal (expressive) then ask for


contribution. (directive)
3. Explain the good works done by the charitable institution
(informative), make a moving appeal (expressive), and then
ask for contribution (directive)
4. Command for contribution (Directive)

OTHER USES OF LANGUAGE


The ceremonial(also ritual language use)
-mixture of expressive and directive language
functions

Example: "Dearly beloved, we are gathered here


together to witness the holy matrimony of ."
The language is intended to emphasize the
solemnity of the occasion (an expressive
function) and to cause the bride and groom to
perform in their new roles with appreciation of
the seriousness of their marriage vows

Performative use of languageperforms the action it reports or


describes

For example:

"I do" in the marriage ceremony and the


use of performative verbs such as "accept,"
"apologize," "congratulate," and "promise."
These words denote an action which is performed by
using the verb in the first personnothing more is
needed be done to accomplish the action.

Phatic use of language-Small talk: the


nonreferential use of language to share feelings
or establish a mood of sociability rather than to
communicate information or ideas.
Example:
Hi or How are you to a nod a wave of a hand

APPLICATION IN LAW
Crime Charged: Inciting to Sedition
The prosecution must maintain he was using the
directive language function while the defense will
probably argue that the speaker was only expressing
his feelings.

FORMS OF DISCOURSE/LANGUAGE
Form often gives an indication of functionbut there is no sure connection between
the grammatical form and the use and the
uses intended. Language serving any of
three principal functions may take any of
the four grammatical forms.

Principal Uses of
Language
INFORMATIVE
EXPRESSIVE
DIRECTIVE

Grammatical Forms
of Language
DECLARATIVE
INTERROGATIVE
IMPERATIVE
EXCLAMATORY

Form of
Sentence
DECLARATIVE

INTERROGATIV
E
IMPERATIVE

EXCLAMATORY

Informati
ve
The room
is cool.

Expressi Directive
ve
I would like
I had a
nice time. some

Isnt this
room
6003?
Read
Chapter 1
and 2.

Isnt that
amazing?

coffee.

Dont you
want to help
me?

Have a nice Close the


day.
windows.

It is important to be able to differentiate the


discourses or languages that functions informatively
from discourses that are not.
To do this disentangling of informative function
that a given sentence serves from whatever other
functions it may also be serving, we must know the
different functions language can serve and must be
able to tell them apart.

A person who says to the waiter, "I


would like a cup of coffee," is not just
reporting a psychological state of affairs.
Therefore it would be inappropriate for
the waiter to respond with, "Speaking of
things one would like, I'd rather have a
BMW."

HOW CAN LANGUAGE BE ANALYZED?

Language can be analyzed into


the two aspects of literal
meaning and emotional
meaning.

Two or more different words or phrases


can have literal (or denotative) meanings
which are similar, but differ significantly
in their emotive significance.
Example:
Bureaucrat
Public Servant
Government Official

The words we use to refer to things have a marked


effect upon our attitudes towards those things
Emotively neutral language is preferable when we
are trying to get to the facts or follow an argument;
our emotions often cloud our reasoning.

. When our purpose in language use is to


communicate (i.e., the informative use), then, if we
wish to avoid being misunderstood, language having
the least emotive impact is the most useful.
2. When resolving disputes or disagreements
between persons, it is usually best to try to
reformulate the disagreement in neutral language.

NEGATIVE
WORDY
,LONG
WINDED
UNCOMMUNI
CATIVE,
SUBMISSIVE
EGG HEAD,
NERD

NEUTRAL
TALKATIVE

POSITIVE
FLUENT

SHY

MODEST,
HUMBLE

INTELLIGENT SMART,
BRIGHT,
CLEVER
UNIMAGINATI PRACTICAL
EFFICIENT,
VE,
SENSIBLE,

KINDS OF AGREEMENT AND


DISAGREEMENT
1.Disagreement in Attitude
-happens when the statement of one person is
positively slanted and the statement of another person
is negatively slanted. In other words, there is an
emotional difference between the disputants.
Generally disagreements in attitude come about by
our approval or disapproval about the matter at issue.

2. Disagreement in Belief
-happens when statements have a different
literal significance or a different denotative
significance, a disagreement about the facts of
the matter.

EXAMPLE:
ANALYSIS OF DISTANCE TO THE SUN
Situation 1:
Lawyer 1: The sun is incredibly far from the
earth; its 60 million miles away.
Lawyer 2: Yes, the sun is extremely far from
the earth, but its 90 million miles away.

Belief

Attitude

How the
dispute might
be resolved

Disagree (90
mm vs. 60
mm)

Agree
("incredibly"
and
"extremely")

Find the facts:


use a
reference
book, an
authority, or
do an
experiment to
determine the

Situation 2:
Lawyer 1: The sun is not so far; its only 93
million miles away.
Lawyer 2: The sun is, indeed, very far since
its 93 million miles away.

Belief

Attitude

How the
dispute might
be resolved

Agree
(93 mm)

Disagree ("not Use rhetoric


so far" and
and
"very far")
persuasion,
comparative
arguments,
relative terms.

Situation 3
Lawyer 1: The sun is very far since its 90
million miles away.
Lawyer 2: Yes that is very far, indeed.

Belief

Attitude

How the
dispute might
be resolved

Agree
(90 mm)

Agree

No resolution
necessary.

Situation 4:
Lawyer 1: The sun is really very close to earth,
only 60 million miles.
Lawyer 2: No, the sun is incredibly far away;
its over 93 million miles from earth.

Belief

Attitude

How the
dispute might
be resolved

Disagree (60
mm vs. 90
mm)

Disagree
("very close"
vs. very far")

1) Find the
facts.
(2) Methods of
rhetoric and
persuasion.

The distinction between disagreement of attitude and


disagreement in belief is very useful. The awareness of the
different uses of language helps us to understand the kinds
of disagreements we may be confronting. The more fully
we understand the nature of a disagreement, the better
able we will be resolve it.

EXERCISE:
John: Mr. Smith is a tenacious bureaucrat
who does not have the tact to know when
to give up.
Mary: No, Mr. Smith is an enthusiastic
public servant who always goes the extra
mile.

Fact at Issue:
Does Mr. Smith do more than
what is required?

John emotive significance:


bureaucrat and does not have the
tact

Marys emotive significance:


enthusiastic and public servant

Belief:
Both parties believe that Mr. smith
does more than required

Belief:
Both parties believe that Mr. smith
does more than required

How best resolved:


Since both parties agree on the facts,
only various modes of rhetoric and
persuation would be of use

HAPPY WEEKEND!!!!

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