The Various Principles of Language Feature - Essay Example

Principles in language Registration number: Introduction Language is an instrument used by man to express thoughts, feelings, moodand aspirations. Human beings are able to sustain their living through language. There are various principles that govern each language in its totality. We are going to look at how the various principles of language feature in Brown/Attord’s report. We will compare the findings of the study with the findings in Bloom’s and Hjelmslev’s studies. According to Hjelmslev, language has been defined as a tool used by man to express thoughts, feelings, mood and aspirations.

In this study, competence is defined as what speakers are aware of by knowing how to speak a certain language. This study goes further and defines performance as the actions of a speaker. Performance is the situation where a speaker is able to convey information through actions. In Brown’s report, competence has been referred to as i-language, which is the language in the brain. This is similar to the earlier definition of competence. Bloom also defines performance as e-language. This refers to language that is externalized.

According to the three perspectives, performance is the actual saying of a word or a sentence. This is the sound that is articulated and made. Competence is the ability of a speaker to produce a word or a sentence. It is what is known about a word or a sentence. Linguistics has been described as the science that study language. This is because Linguists carry out experiments to obtain results that act as a basis for the various conclusions made about different aspects of language. The difference between descriptive and prescriptive approaches to language has also been brought out clearly.

We see that the descriptive strategy normally has its basis on the past. It makes conclusions about a certain language depending on past state of issues. On the other hand the prescriptive strategy puts all factors into consideration while analyzing various criteria. The prescriptive strategy takes the second best option in choosing the strategy that could be applied realistically. A synchronic view to linguistics has been explained as a view that analyses a linguistic phenomenon at a given time (Aitchison,j.1992). On the other hand, diachronic analysis considers a certain phenomenon in terms of changes that have taken place over a given time duration.

These definitions appear to be almost similar in the three cases that have been presented. Reference Aitchison,j.(1992). Linguistics (4th Ed.). Lincolnwood, Ill.: NTC Pub. Group.