USE OF LANGUAGE

Ms. Amna Rafique

 Language can serve three basic functions;

Informative
Expressive
Directive

Informative function of language

The first use of language is to
communicate information. Ordinarily, this
is accomplished by formulating and
affirming (or denying) proposition.
Language used to affirm or deny
propositions, or to present arguments, is
said to be serving the informative function.

 Here the word "information" includes

misinformation, false as well as true
propositions, incorrect as well as correct
arguments.
Informative discourse is used to describe
the world, and to reason about it. Whether
the alleged facts are important or
unimportant, general or particular, does
not matter.

For example

Expressive function of language

Uses of language of this second type are
not intended to communicate information
but to express emotions, feelings, or
attitudes.
Just as the clearest examples of
informative discourse come from the
reports of courts or laboratories, the best
examples of language serving an
expressive function come from lyric poetry.

For example;

Match me such marvel, save in eastern

Clime_____
A rose red city___ "half as old as time"

 Expressive language is not intened to to

inform us of any facts or theories
concerning the world, but to manifest the
poet's feelings of admiration and awe.
With these lines, we are told something
about the scene before him, true, but their
cheif purpose was not to report information.
The lines express the emotions felt by the
writer and aim to evoke similar feelings in
the reader.

 Expression may be analyzed into two

components; when it is used to manifest
the speaker's feeling, e.g someone prays
in solitude, the language used functions to
express the feelings of the speaker or
writer, but it is not intended to evoke
similar feelings in anyone else.

 On the other hand, when orator seeks to

move others and when the crowd cheers
its athletic team, the language used not
only expresses the feeling of the speaker
but is intended to evoke similar feelings in
the hearers.

Directive function of language

Language serves the third, directive
function when it is intended to cause or
prevent overt action.
The clearest examples are commands
and requests.
When a parent teaches a child to wash up
for dinner, the intention is not to
communicate the information or to
express or evoke any particular emotion.
The language is intened to get results.

 Directive discourse in neither true nor false.

A command such as "close the window"
cannot be either true or false. We may
disagree about about whether a command
has been obeyed or disobeyed, but we
never disagree about whether a command
is true or false.

DISCOURSE SERVING MULTIPLE

FUNCTIONS
The examples of informative, expressive
and directive discourse offered in the
preceding sections were chemically pure
specimens, so to speak. But almost any
ordinary communication will probably
exhibit all three uses of language.
Thus a poem, which may be primarily
expressive discourse, also may have a
moral and thus also direct the reader.

 When languge serves mixed or multiple

functions the writer or poet is not confused
but effective communication demands
certain combinations on functions.

For example;

THE FORMS OF DISCOURSE

A setence is defined as the unit of
language that expresses a complete
thought.
Setences are commonly divided into four
categories;
declarative
interrogative
imperative and
exclamatory

DECLARATIVE SENTENCES
Declarative sentences make up most of
what you read. They are setting the scene,
giving the background, telling what is
going on in plain, simple facts. If the
sentence doesnt involve asking a
question, telling someone to do something
or someones excited, emotional
statements then it is a declarative
statement.

INTERROGATIVE
SENTENCES
The interrogative sentence is one that
ends in a question mark and is always
asking a question.
For example, an interrogative sentence is,
How are you?

Imperative Sentences
The imperative sentence is one that gives
a command to someone or something. If
someone walks into your office and you
tell them, Please, sit down. That is an
imperative sentence.

EXCLAMATORY SENTENCES
This sentence always ends in an
exclamation point and it is said when a
whole lot of excitement is going on. If you
walk into the kitchen and find your child
setting the curtains on fire then you are
probably going to use a few exclamatory
sentences.

 Form often gives an indication of

function__ but there is no sure connection
between the grammatical form and the
use or uses intended. Language serving
any one of three principal functions may
take any one of the four grammatical
forms.

EMOTIVE WORDS
A single sentence can serve an
informative and an expressive function
simultaneously. To do this, its words must
have literal and descriptive meaning,
referring to objects or events, and to their
attributes or relations.
When the sentence expresses an attitude
or feeling, it may also have emotional
suggestions or impact.

 The literal and emotive meaning of a word

are independent of each other.
For example the terms "bureaucrat"
"government official" and "public servant
have almost identical literal meaning but
their emotive meanings are very different.

 "Bureaucrat" tends to express resentment

and disapproval while public servant
expresses respect and approval.
"Government official" is more nearly
neutral than either of the others.

 It is clear that the words we use to refer to

things have a marked effect upon our
attitudes toward those things.

KINDS OF AGREEMENT AND

DISAGREEMENT
To the extent that anything or some
activity can be described by using
alternative phrases__ one conveying
approval, another disapproval, still another
neutrality__ different kinds of agreement
and of disagreement may be
communicated about anything.

 Disagreement in belief
Two people may disagree about whether something has
in fact taken place, and when they do, they may be said
to have "disagreement in belief" (disagreement about
the facts of the matter, different literal significance).
Disagreement in attitude
On the other hand, they may agree that an event has
actually occured, thus agreeing in belief, and yet they
may have different or even opposite attitudes towards
an event, this is known as disagreement in attitude
(there is an emotional difference between the
disputants.).


Since the degrees of agreement in belief
and attitude are independent of each
other, there are four possible
combinations at work here:

 Agreement in belief and agreement in

attitude:
There aren't any problems in this instance, since
both parties hold the same positions and have
the same feelings about them.

Agreement in belief but disagreement

in attitude:
This case, if unnoticed, may become the cause
of endless (but pointless) shouting between
people whose feelings differ sharply about some
fact upon which they are in total agreement.

 Disagreement in belief but agreement

in attitude:
In this situation, parties may never recognize,
much less resolve, their fundamental difference
of opinion, since their attitude is same.

Disagreement in belief and

disagreement in attitude:
Here the parties have so little in common that
communication between them often breaks
down entirely.

Consider the following four situations

concerning "The Distance to the Sun."