On the functionality of language
| Autor: | Jan Nuyts |
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| Rok vydání: | 2022 |
| Předmět: | |
| Zdroj: | IPrA Papers in Pragmatics. :88-128 |
| ISSN: | 2406-4246 2406-419X |
| DOI: | 10.1075/iprapip.3.1.03nuy |
| Popis: | Functionalism in the language sciences basically claims that language is instrumental, i.e. that it fulfills certain functions for its user. But there is much confusion and little agreement about what the functionality of language involves. Yet, this is a matter of the uttermost importance for theory formation in the functionalist framework, since one's conception of language function will (or should) crucially determine the way one goes about in analyzing language structure and developing a grammar or, more generally, a model of human language processing and behavior. Hence, the purpose of this paper is to contribute to the clarification of how to understand the functions of language. I will first explicate the basic structure of the concept of function as such (1.). This provides the elements for making more precise the problem we are dealing with with respect to language (2.). Then I will discuss some of the most prominent proposals for function typologies in the literature (3.). On that basis, and through an analysis of the basic factors in communicative interaction, I will suggest a 'functional scheme' for human natural language (4.). Finally, I will discuss the relationship between communicative and other usages of language (5.). |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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