LANGUAGE

• A vocal symbolism of speech with its related bodily gestures and mechanical
signals which give precision and finesse to communication. (Keesing)

• Any set or system of symbols used in a more or less uniform fashion by a

number of people who are thus enabled to communicate intelligently with one
another. (American College Dictionary)

CHARACTERISTICS OF LANGUAGE

1. Age

2. How language came to be

3. A part of culture

4. Growth and development

5. Symbolism

6. Elements

ELEMENTS OF LANGUAGE

1. Phonology (Phonemic, Phonetic) – a system consisting of sounds in human

speech with significant meanings.

2. Grammar (Morphology) – way of putting together words into a sentence

according to definite rules.

3. Vocabulary (Lexicon) – the meaning system of language

FUNCTIONS OF LANGUAGE

1. Communication

- it enables men to communicate with one another.

2. Enculturation

- culture is easily transmitted through language.

3. Promotion of Nationalism – people or nation who speak one language have a
sense of oneness or unity.

4. Promotion of Cooperation – different groups who can speak and understand

one and the same language can unite in pushing through trade, commercial,
cultural and even military cooperation.

5. Promotion of Peace - when individuals, groups, or nations speak and

understand the same language, this is a big factor in the promotion of peace
in a round table conference and discuss and solve their problems.

6. Accumulation of Knowledge – language makes the accumulation of knowledge:

the experiences of the race.

MECHANICAL AIDS OF LANGUAGE

1. Telephone
-Alexander Graham Bell (1876)
-a person can communicate with another even if he is thousands of miles
away.

2. Radio
-Heinrich Rudolf Hertz (discovery of the electromagnetic wave that
transmits sound)
-Guglielmo Marconi (forerunner of the radio)

3. Television
-Karl Ferdinand Braun (1987) introduced his first commercial cathodeltube.
This was connected with electric vision of 1907 by Boris Rosing of Russia.
- A.A Campbell Swinton published the fundamentals of television
transmission in 1908.

4. Video Tape Recording

-was first demonstrated by Alexander Poniatoff
-an important instrument in recording songs
5. Motion Picture
-Thomas Alva Edison who did pioneering work on motion picture
-earliest motion picture was taken by Louis Aime Augustine Le Prince (1885-
1887)
-Eugene Augustine Lauste (1906) achieved the earliest sound-on-film motion

6. Sound System
-composed of amplifier and a loud speaker
-the amplifier makes larger the sound waves of the voice with the use of
speaker or microphone.

WRITING
- representing meaningful sounds in a language by conventionalized graphic
symbols.

DEVELOPMENT OF WRITING
1. PICTURE WRITING
- earliest form of writing
- a form of drawing pictures called pictograms
2. HIEROGLYPHICS
-kind of writing the early Egyptians invented
-The earliest form of writing dating back about 2000 years before
Christian era.

3. CUNEIFORM
-Invented by the Sumerians (2000 B.C)
-The system consisted of wedge-shaped characters which were pressed
or scratched into soft clay and baked in the sun if worth keeping as a
record.
4. LOGOGRAMS
-Logo (word element denoting speech)
-The symbols that represented words were called logograms and
logograph.

5. IDEOGRAPHIC WRITING
-An outgrowth of the logographic writing.
-This form of writing is adaptable to the Chinese language the words
which are monosyllabic, but not to languages the words of which contain
many syllable.
6. PHONETIC WRITING
-Assigning a symbol for a phonetic sound called phonograph or phonogram.
-Phonograms are associated with syllables instead of words

7. ALPHABETIC WRITING
-Developed about 1800 B.C when Semites took the Egyptians syllabary of
24 letters and substituted their own.
-Phoenician alphabet consisted of twenty-two (22) letters made from
hieroglyphics.
-Became the basis of the Greek and the Latin alphabets.
 MECHANICAL AIDS TO WRITING
1. TYPEWRITER
- Henry Mill (1714)
- the earliest working machine was made by Pellegrine Turri of Italy.

2. TELEGRAPH
- Samuel Morse (1844)
- Marconi (wireless telegraph)

3. PRINTING PRESS - Johann Gutenburg (Germany, 1450) . This is used

to print books of all kinds, newspapers, magazines, and other
publications.

4. PHOTOCOPYING MACHINE - can copy exactly any written material

5. COMPUTER - latest and most modern machine for printing or copying

FUNCTIONS AND IMPORTANCE OF WRITING

1. LONG DISTANCE COMMUNICATION

- can send message to another person anywhere in the world through mail

2. RECORDING AND PRESERVATION OF INFORMATION MATERALS

- possible to record and preserve very important information materials

3. MASS PRODUCTION OF INFORMATION MATERIALS

- possible to produce books of all kinds, newspapers, magazines, and other

publications

4. FACILITATION OF LEARNING

- easier to learn by a written material, hand written or printed, than

listening to a lecture.
RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN LANGUAGE AND WRITING

*Language and writing are related to each other but they are not identical.

*Writing is a tool or instrument of language so that the latter can function

better, more effectively, and to a greater extent.

*Language can exist without writing but writing cannot exist without
language. When language functions, it is not because of writing but when
writing functions, it is because language.