What is the purpose of language?
I am a bit of a purist when it comes to language and prefer that it has rules and structure (even if I still struggle with learning and applying all of them in Spanish).
On this site it appears that most people (in general) agree with that stance. Since this is a learning site, it only makes sense that we learn the rules and structure of language in order to communicate effectively.
My real question lies in this. What is the purpose of language? I propose that it is to convey meaning. In saying that, would it be necessary to follow the rules and structures (syntax, grammar, semantics, etc.) in order to convey meaning?
The argument against a 'static' language is 'Ebonics' (inner city African American vernacular) where rappers and other musicians can make a very good living without using a 'standard' or 'rules based' language in order to communicate meaning.
What do you think?
7 Answers
Communication, no doubt, is the purpose of any human language, but languages belong to the people who use them, and like in societies, languages are subject to conventions without which it would be very difficult for people to communicate effectively. Conventions dictate that you normally use the subjunctive in "Quiero que vengas", but also that you don't shout or insult the other person. You are free to shout, insult, and ignore subjunctive rules altogether, but you are going against the norm. Of course, I am not saying that choosing the wrong mood is as bad as insulting someone, for one thing is due to lack of knowledge and the other one is done on purpose, but there are languages where people say "I am going to shit" even in very formal circumstances, for it is normal in their language. If people from these countries learnt another language -say, English- without being warned about this point, they would be insulting a lot of people (the first time, at least) without intending to do so, and surely they wouldn't fail in communicating their "intentions", hehe.
We know that if an English native speaker makes a subjunctive mistake it is because they find it difficult, and not because they can't be bothered using our rules, but when people break all rules on purpose, it can be quite annoying sometimes, and sooner or later, miscommunication will take place.
And like Alicia said, breaking the rules can be fine when you know what you are doing. In poetry, rules are being broken all the time to achieve stylistic effects, but what they are trying to communicate in poems (and other literature) cannot be expressed without breaking those rules, because it transcends normal daily communication.
Bravo, Lazarus! Grammar is extremely important in any language if the goal is to communicate meaning. I believe that a person should know the rules before he or she attempts to break them. Yet would you agree that sometimes grammar can be compromised in favor of style? For example, some writers use occasional fragmented sentences as a stylistic element to convey a sense of tension or incompleteness. What do you think?
Rules are rules and serve the purpose of letting us know when we are breaking them. However they should not, in my opinion, get in the way of creativity. For example. putting too much emphasis as a teacher on correct spelling when writing English will only prevent the learner from using a great many words.The great artists of all types have broken the rules to create works of art (language is an art form) and in some cases created new norms in so doing.
adéndum: ...to several responses here:
with regard to grammar (and grammar's purpose, even, although I am on rocky grounds here), you all may find reading a bit about Noam Chomsky interesting. (I am on solid grounds there!)
You're right. Language is meant for communicating meaning, but yet too many people think grammar rules are so important when learning a language when it shouldn't be.
the point is because some people dont know how to speak one lanuange they probably would have to speak another lanuage.k because i know how to speak english and im learning how to speak spanish. like if you wanted to go to a different country than you would want to know how to speak that lanuage
I both agree and disagree. Language is meant to communicate emotions and meanings, but without grammatical structure, meaning would be lost because everyone would have their own way of speaking every language. The only way for language to be successful in communicating meaning is when the people you are speaking to agree on a dialect, even if that dialect is a mixture of slang and made up words, there still has to be some grammatical guidlines in order for people to communitcate at all, much less in complex ways.
