Language development, basic skill of language, features

 

Language to many people is in different sense, if one should ask what is language, a lay man will tell you “language is what we speak to one another or understanding purpose and interaction sake, the question now is, is that the real answer, no!

According to many scholars, language has been seen in different perspective and from different angle.

Language in another sense is the non-instinctive method of passing and conveying ideas, feeling, perception, conceptions of voluntarily produced sign, but to sociologist language is a means of socialization I.e means of interaction, the way the new child born into the family will be able to also comply with given rules, the family which serve as the agent of socialization for every being tends to first make the child understands the language that can give him higher chance in the society.

To sociologist language is a means of socialization, but linguistic opine that language is a systematic body of rules or rather a system of arbitrary symbols used in process of communication. It deals with all forms of rules and regulations that totally govern it into pattern used for communication. The only fault militating against language is that at different level or places the rules that govern it is not unitary but scattered I.e the lexis, syntax, phonology/phonetics, morphology, stylistic and semantics.

A philosopher define language as combination and recombination of signs, symbols and sounds used for expression of thought. It is a vehicle for transmission of social convections and technical convection within framework of culturally and linguistic possibilities.

Judging from diverse of definitions of many scholars it is obvious that language is certainty element in human society because without it there can’t be continuity in the society and we humans will be less or just like an animal who bleat, roar, mew and make other ridiculous sounds, but the superiority of human race on all other race has make it essential for humans to use languages to communicate ideas and feelings.

Every human language has some basic characteristics  which include the following:

 

1. Language is human: language in itself is human because out of all what God create the human race is the only one who can communicate vividly and correctly. Though it has been argued by some people that some other creatures do communicate through the use of sounds, but it is proper to say human being out of all race are the only one who can communicate using much word with and capable of making limitless number of sentences from a limited set of rules and regulation with which the language is govern.
2. Arbitrariness: language is arbitrary, yes! how! There is no one to one correspondence between a word and what it refers to in the real world. A name given to an object is is not suggestive by the object e.g Davina called her dog “lucky” while Ferdinand called is own “bingo”. There  is no relationship between the dogs and various names given to them by their owners, it is done arbitrary, this means language is arbitrary.
3. Language exist through understanding and oneness: in the history of mankind there is no society that existed laguageless but rather exist through the people inhabiting the society oneness and level of understanding, therefore language brings people together, be it a small society or a larger, there must be one thing that make them sticks together like broom called “language” and language can only exist when there is oneness and understanding
4. Language changes with time: language is very dynamic in that it changes nature every time the more the world becomes modern the more new rules are introduced into language which are to be apply for proper speaking and fluent sake, new slangs and expression with pecular meaning are also evolving.
5. Language is network of system: every has a way and structured pattern system to be followed which makes it easier for users to use. There is no language without its own codes and sounds from which users selects his/her choice, hence it cannot be done haphazardly e.g in vocabulary, we have sense relations: synonym, antonymy, homophone and homonyms.
6. Language is consesus: some argue that language is all about agreeing in the society before it could work which is a capital yes! It is based on the convention of the society. Language has to comply with the rules and regulation of a given society or a speech.
7. Language is ruled governed: any named language has rules that govern its proper usage, any deviation from this rules refers the language useless and constitute errors. We have syntactic, morphological, phonological, word formaton , sentense partner.
8. Language is an act of interaction: language make use of this to bind people of a given society together I.e the only way a communication will flow in order for perfect understanding is through the help of language.
9. Innateness– this can be said to be as ability endowned on every human being to naturally speak or lean at least 1(one) language. Language is something one acquires unlike genetics that is transmitted from parents, for this human can use the language acquire to communicate in his/her immediate society