LESSON 2 - LINGUISTIC FEATURES IN COMMUNICATION

Linguistic Features

An architecture of human interaction, transforming chaotic concepts into structured, shared meanings

Grammaticality

It is when strings of words conforms or follow a structural rules internalized by native speakers of that language

Grammaticality according to Noam Chowsky in his 1957 Syntactic Structure

grammaticality is a purely structural property independent of meaning,

truth, or real-world probability. (Like as long as it is gramatically correct, the meaning can be non-sense?)

English phrase-structure rules:

Adjective + Adjective + Noun + Verb + Adverb

Ungramaticality

an utterance violates these structural rules, typically

marked in linguistics with an asterisk (*).

Descriptive Grammar

This approach observes, records, and analyzes how people

actually speak within living communities.

Prescriptive Grammar

This approach enforces rigid, institutional rules about how

people should speak or write, typically dictated by style guides and educational systems.

Language Ecology (or Ecolinguistics)

The study of the interactions between any given language and its environment.

Language Ecology (or Ecolinguistics) is introduced by?

by Norwegian-

American linguist Einar Haugen in 1972

Psychological Ecology

The cognitive mechanisms and personal identity driving a speaker's

language or dialect choices

Sociological Ecology

The structural, social, and political forces that dictate how languages

compete or coexist in a community.

Michael Halliday’s 1990 address New Ways of Meaning: The Challenge to Applied Linguistics,

language choices

directly influence environmental and socio-political sustainability.

Language as an apex predator

Occurs when a dominant global language like English spreads into indigenous regions,

code-switching

Happens when a speaker smoothly transitions between languages or dialects depending on their environment.

Formal and Informal Utterances

Formal utterance - expressions used in professional, academic, or respectful situations. They follow standard grammar, avoid slang, and sound polite.

Informal utterance - expressions used with friends, family, or people you know well. They are more relaxed, may include contractions, slang, or casual words.

Martin Joos’s

theory of linguistic registers (The Five Clocks, 1961), which outlines five distinct styles based on social distance:

Frozen - Things that can not be changed ( God’s word)

Formal - one-way informative speech

Consultative - standard professional dialogue

Casual - conversations between friends

Intimate - private jargon between lovers or family members).

Politeness Theory, developed by Penelope Brown and Stephen

Levinson

The choice between formal and informal language depends entirely on the social setting

Formal and Informal Utterances in People

Formal utterances protect a listener’s negative face—their desire to be autonomous, respected, and free from imposition—by using polite, indirect phrasing

Informal utterances cater to a listener’s positive face— their desire to be liked, included, and connected to others—by using warm, familiar language

communicative competence

a concept developed by sociolinguist Dell Hymes highlighting that speakers must not only know how to form grammatically correct sentences, but also know when, where, and with whom to use them appropriately.

Sentence

The grammatically correct pattern of words. It is the structure, not the actual act of saying it.

Expression

A word or group of words that carries meaning. It is a part of a sentence.

Utterance

The actual use of a sentence by someone in a real situation.

Gottlob Frege’s Principle of Compositionality,

the meaning of a complete sentence is determined by the literal meanings of these individual expressions and the structural rules used to combine them.

J.L. Austin and John Searle's Speech Act Theory,

Locutionary Act - The actual words spoken (the literal meaning).

Illocutionary Act: The speaker's real intention behind the words.

Perlocutionary Act: The effect the words have on the listener.