The Nature and power of Language

Language Defined: : A set of symbols that expresses ideas and allows people to think and communicate with each other. 

Language is symbolic

The words like virtually all language are symbols.Symbols are more than  just labels. They are the way experience the word. The naming process operates in virtually every situation. We are ususally react to a stranger will depend on the symbols we can to categorize them as christian, jew, Hindu or Islam and so on.
• Symbol - something that is intended to stand for something else other than itself. – e.g. Words. The relationship between words and their meanings is (mostly) arbitrary. –

Language  is Rule governed

 Languages contain several types of rules
Phonological Rules: govern how words sound when pronounced.
Syntactic (sɪnˈtaktɪk) Rule: govern the structure of language the way symbols can be arranged
Semantic (sɪˈmæn.tɪk/)Rules: deal with the meaning of specific words.Without semantic rules communication would be impossible, because each of us would use symbols in unique ways unintelligible to one another.
Pragmatic Rule: govern how people use language in everyday interaction.


Power of Language : 
Language shape attitudes,

• Naming: Names are one way to shape and reinforce a child 's personal identity. Name choice cal also be a powerful way to make a statement about cultural identity.


• Credibility:An apparently legitimate speaker who utters an unintelligible message will be judged competent by an audience .
• status: Several factors combine  to create  positive or negative impressions they are accent, choice of words, speech rate and even the age of a speaker. In most of cases speaker of standard dialect are rated as higher than non standard speaker in variety of ways.
• Racism: The power of language to shape attitudes goes beyond individual cases and influences how we perceive entire groups of people.

Language reflect attitude: 
Language reflects our attitudes feeling of control, attraction, commitment, responsibility. All these are reflected in the way we use language.

• Power: Powerful speeches gets the desired results in mainstream.Powerful language always enhance friendly relationship, sharing power with others
• Affiliation:Language can also be a way of building and demonstrating solidarity with others.
• Attraction and Interest:The language they can use suggest their  degree of interest and attraction towards a person, object or idea.
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• Trouble some Language :Slang and Jargon

1. Slang is a language used by a group of people whose members belong to a similar co culture or other group. Slang consists of regionalisms terms that are understood by people who live in one geographic area but that are incomprehensible to outsiders.  dog of china.Slang can be age related also

1. Jargon: The specialised vocabulary that functions as a kind of shorthand for people with common backgrounds and experience.Jargon can be a valuable kind of shorthand for people who understand its use. 

• Source: Understanding Human Communication, Tenth Indian Edition, Ronald B Adler, George Rodman, page no 72-78