Language is not just a symbolic system that symbolically denotes objects and phenomena. Language is also an instrument of human activity in which it performs a number of functions. The main functions of the language include communicative, cognitive, nominative and accumulative. There are also secondary functions (for example, the aesthetic function of a language). In this article we will consider the basic functions that a language performs and their essence.
The main functions of the language: communicative function
This function is related to the fact that language is a means of interpersonal communication, which allows one person to express his thoughts and transfer them to another, and to another, in turn, to understand them and react. In fact, the language arose specifically for communication, that is, communication, exchange of information. The communicative function is carried out thanks to the sign of the language.
Within a communicative function, one can distinguish an emotional function, explaining it by the fact that with the help of language one can convey feelings, desires, and states. Animals that cannot pronounce words communicate precisely to convey emotions. The emotional function of our speech, of course, is more complex than that of animals.
Thus, a communicative function implies the implementation of communication through communication, communication, exposure and expression of emotions, states and feelings.
The main functions of the language: cognitive function
The cognitive function is connected with the fact that in linguistic signs there is a human consciousness. Language is an instrument of consciousness, reflecting the result of a person’s cognitive activity. The debate of linguists about what comes before, language or thinking, it seems, has never stopped. The only opinion that is unmistakable: language is inextricably linked with thinking, because we not only express our thoughts with words, but thoughts themselves are presented in the form of words; man thinks in words.
Cognitive function allows you to capture the results of thinking and use them in communication. This function helps to cognize the world and verbalize it.
The main functions of the language: nominative function
It is known that a person thinks in categories, and in the process of cognition, he names new concepts and phenomena. Such a language function is called nominative.
It is closely related to cognitive, since everything that is known should have its own name. It is also related to the ability of a linguistic sign to denote things. It was this ability that helped a person create a symbolic world. Nevertheless, in our world there are a lot of things that have no names. What is interesting to name a pin on a belt buckle? In fact, despite the absence of a name, the nominative function is implemented through the description.
The main functions of the language: accumulative function
The accumulative function is associated with the collection and storage of information. It is no secret that language lives much longer than people, people. A vivid example is the dead languages that survived their native speakers. Whatever the language, living or dead, it preserves the memory of entire generations, the centuries-old history of mankind. Even in the case of loss of oral tradition, one can study the ancient writings and draw certain conclusions about the past of the nation.
Recently, the process of accumulating information has been accelerating, and the amount of information that people produce these days is increasing by 30% per year.
Many linguists distinguish other functions of the language. Among them, for example, contact installation, aesthetic and others. If you carefully look at the additional functions, we can conclude that they are all in one way or another connected with the above. The study of the secondary functions of the language does not stop and provides very interesting data for further scientific research. It is safe to say that language and its functions will always be relevant to humans.