Definitions of Language

doi:10.16382/j.cnki.1000-5579.2001.01.014

Abstract

Abstract:

A proper definition is of vital importance in the study of languages, which leads to the solution of such important issues as theory, target, scope, way to pursue, methodology, emphasis, result, and even adoption of language policy. However, for the past two centuries there has been a surprisingly great diversity among linguists as to what language is. This paper collects more than 60 definitions since the early 19^th century, analyzes four different attitudes of the linguists towards the divergence, and finally proposes a new and tentative definition for further discussion.

Key words: language, definition, view of language

Wen-guo PAN. Definitions of Language[J]. J. East China Norm. Univ. Philos. Soc. Sci, 2001, 33(1): 97-108.

References

	Anderson Wallace L. , Stageberg Norman C. . 1962, Introductory Readings on Language. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, Inc.
	Asher, R. E., 1994, (editor-in-chief) The Encyclopedia of Language and Linguistics, Vol. 4, Oxford, New York, Seoul, Tokyo: Pergamon Press.
	Benveniste, Emile, 1966, Problems in General Linguistics, translated by Mary Elizabeth Meek, Coral Gables: University of Miami Press, 1971.
	Bloch, Bemard & George. L. Trager, 1942, Outline of Linguistic Analysis, Baltimore, Md, By Linguistic Society of America at the Waverly Press, Inc.
	Bloomfield, Lenonard, 1942, 'Philosophical Aspects of Language', in Charles F. Hockett(ed.) A Leonard Bloomfield Anthology, abridged edition, Chicago and London: The University of Chicago Press, 1970, 1987.
	Boas, Franz, 1911, (ed.)Handbook of American Indian Languages, Washington D.C. : Smithsonian Institution.
	Bolinger, Dwight & Donald A. Sears, 1981, Aspects of Language, Third edition, New York: Harcourt Bruce Jovanovich Inc. (first edition: 1968).
	Bussmann, Hadumod, 1996, Routledge Dictionary of Language and Linguistics, translated by Gregory Trauth and Keratin Kazzazi, London and New York: Routeledge.
	Carrell John . 1961, The Study of Language: A Survey of Linguistics and Related Disciplines in America. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
	CE, 1991, Collier's Encyclopaedia, Vol. 14, William D. Halsey(Editorial director), New York: Macmillan Educational Company.
	Chao Yuen Ren . 1968, Language and Symbolic System. London: Cambridge University Press.
	Chomsky Noam . 1957, Syntactic Structure. The Hague: Mouton & Co. Publishers.
	Chomsky Noam . 1996, Powers & Prospects: Reflections on Human Nature and the Social Order. Boston, MA: South End Press.
	Copi, Irving M., 1953, Introduction to Logic, The Macmillan Company.
	Crystal David . 1992, An Encyclopedia Dictionary of Language and Linguistics. Oxford(UK), Cambridge(USA): Blackwell.
	Crystal David . 1997, The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Language. Second edition, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
	Dinneen Francis P. . 1967, An Introduction to General Linguistics. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, Inc.
	Dauzat Albert . 1912, La Philosophie du Langage. Paris: Earnest Flammarion.
	EA, 1996, The Encyclopedia Americana: International Edition, (First edition: 1829) Vol. 16, Grolier Inc., USA.
	EB, 1997, Encyclopaedia Britannica, 15^th edition, 1997 printing, Vols Ⅲ & Ⅶ, Encyclopaedia Britannica Inc.
	EL, 1984, Grand Dictionaire Encyclopedique Larousse, Tome 6, Paris: Librairie Larousse.
	Firth R.J . 1937, Tongues of Man. London: Watts & Co.
	Fromkin, Victoria et al, 1999, An Introduction to Language, Sidney: Harcourt Australia Pty Ltd. (first edition: 1984).
	Goodenough, Ward H., 1957, 'Cultural Anthropology and Linguisties', in Paul L, . Garvin (ed.) Report of the Seventh Annual Round Table Meeting in Linguistics and Language Study, Washington D. C. : Georgetown University.
	Halliday M. A. K. , McIntosh Angus , Strevens Peter . 1964, The Linguistic Sciences and Language Teaching. London: Longmans.
	Halliday M. A. K. . 1985, An Introduction to Functional Grammar. London: Edward Amaold.
	Hartmann R. R. K. , Stork F. C. . 1972, Dictionary of Language and Linguistics. London: Applied Science publishers.
	Hjelmslev, Louis, 1961, Prolegomena to a Theory of Language, translated by J. Whitefield, Madison: The University of Wisconsin Press.
	Humboldt, Wilhelm Von, 1820, 'On the Comparative Study of Language and its Relation to the Different Periods of Language Development', in T. Harden and D. Farrelly(eds.) Wilhelm Von Humboldt: Essays on Language, Frankfurt am Main, Berlin, Bern, New York, Paris: Peter Lang GmbH, 1997.
	Humboldt, Wilhelm Von, 1836, On Language: The Diversity of Human Language-structure and its Influence on the Mental Development of Mankind, translated by Peter Heath, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1988.
	Hymes, Dell, 1964, Language in Culture and Society, jointly published by Harper & Row, New York, Evanston & London and John Weatherhill, Inc., Tokyo.
	Jespersen Otto . 1946, Mankind, Nation and the Individual: from a Linguistic Point of View. London: George Allen & Unwin Ltd..
	Kluckhohm, Clyde, 1949, Mirror for Man, McGraw-Hill Book Co., Inc. Lewis, M. M., 1936, Infant Speech: a Study of the Beginnings of Language, London: Kegan Paul.
	Lewis M. M. . 1936, Infant Speech: a Study of the Beginnings of Language. London: Kegan Paul.
	Lieberban, Philip, 1998, Eve Spoke: Human Language and Human Euolution, W.W. Norton, & Company, Inc.
	McArthur, Tom, 1992, (edi.) The Oxford Companion to the English Language, Oxford, New York: Oxford University Press.
	Málinowsky, Bronislaw, 1923, "The Problem of Meaning in Primitive Language", supplement 1 in Ogden, C. K. and I. A. Richards: The Meaning of Meaning: A Study of the Influence of Language upon Thought and of the Science of Symbolism, 1960, London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, pp. 296-336.
	Martinet André . 1962, A Functional View of Language. Oxford: Oxford Univertity Press.
	Matthews Peter H. . 1997, The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Linguistics. Oxford, New York: Oxford University Press.
	Müller, Friedrich Max, 1861, Lectures on the Science of Language, in Roy Harris (ed.) The Origin of Language, Bristol (England): Thoemmes Press, 1996, 7-14.
	NE, 1975, The New Columbia Encyclopaedia, Vol. 2, William H. Harris & Judith S. Levey edit, New York and London: Columbia University Press.
	OED, 1989, The Oxford English Dictionary, 2^th edition, Vols, Ⅲ & Ⅷ, prepared by J. A. Simpson and E. S. C. Weiner, Oxford: Clarendres Press.
	Pinker Steven . 1994, The Language Instinct. New York: William Morrow and Company, Inc.
	Potter, Simeon, 1960, Language in the Modern World, revised edition 1975, London: Andre Deutsch Limited.
	Robins R. H. . 1964, General Linguistics. Longmans, London: Green and Co. Ltd.
	Roussear, Jean-Jacques, 1772, Essai sur l'origine des langues, translated into English by John H. Moran, in Peter H. Salus(ed.)On language (1969).
	Salus, Peter H., (ed.) 1969, On Language: Plato to von Humboldt, New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, Inc.
	Sapir Edward . 1921, Language. New York: Harcourt Bruce & World Inc.
	Saussure, Ferdinand de, 1922, Cours de Lingustique Générale, edited by Charles Bally and Albert Sechehaye, Paris: Payot & C~(ie).
	Sayce, A. H., 1880, Introduction to the Science of Language, London: C. Kegan Paul & Co.
	Schleicher, A, 1863, Die Darwinische Theorie und Sprachwissenschaft, translated as Darwinism Tested by the Science of Language (1869), London: Hotten.
	Sween Henry . 1892, A New English Grammar: Logical and Historical, Part Ⅰ. Oxford: Clarendon.
	Vendryes, J., 1925, Lunguage, translated by Paul Radin, Kegan London: Paul, Trench, Trubner & Co. Ltd.
	Vološinov, Valentin Nikolaevič, 1929, Marxism and the Philosophy of Language, translated into English by Ladislav Matejka and I. R. Titunik, New York and London: Seminar Press, 1973.
	WD, 1993, Webster's Third New International Dictionary, Editor-in-chief: Philip Babcock Gove, Springfield, Massachusetts: Merriam-Webster Inc.
	Whorf, Benjamin Lee, 1941, 'Language, Mind, and Reality', in Whorf's Language, Thought, and Reality, edited by John Carroll. Massachusetts: The MIT Press, 1956, 246-270.
	Whitney, W. D., 1875, Nature and Origin of Language, in Roy Harris(ed.) The Origin of Language, Bristol, England: Thoemmes Press, 1996, 291-313.
	陈新雄、等. 1989, 语言学辞典. 三民书局.
	陈原 1984, 社会语言学. 商务印书馆香港分馆.
	方光焘, 1958, '一般语言学的对象与任务', 载王希杰等编《方光焘语言学论文集》, 江苏教育出版社, 1986年, 38-50页。
	高名凯、石安石 1963, 语言学概论. 中华书局.
	胡附、文炼 1955, 现代汉语语法探索. 东方书店.
	胡明扬 1985, 语言和语言学. 湖北教育出版社.
	简明不列颠, 1986, 《简明不列颠百科全书》, 第九卷, 中美联合编审委员会, 中国大百科全书出版社。
	列宁, 1916, 《论民族自决权》, 见《列宁文选》两卷本, 第一卷, 北京: 人民出版社。
	刘伶、等. 1984, 语言学概要. 北京师范大学出版社.
	吕叔湘, 1941, 《中国文法要略》, 商务印书馆, 1982年。
	吕叔湘, 1956, 《语言和语言学》, 载《吕叔湘语文论集》, 商务印书馆, 1983年, 34-56页。
	吕叔湘, 1977, 《通过对比研究语法》, 载《吕叔湘语文论集》, 商务印书馆, 1983年, 137-152页。
	倪海曙 1948, 中国拼音文字概论. 时代书报出版社.
	潘文国 1997, 汉英语对比纲要. 北京语言文化大学出版社.
	戚雨村、等. 1993, 语言学百科词典. 上海辞书出版社.
	申小龙 1990, 中国文化语言学. 吉林教育出版社.
	斯大林 1953, 马克思主义与语言学问题. 人民出版社.
	王今铮、等. 1984, 简明语言学词典. 内蒙古人民出版社.
	王力, 1943, 《中国现代语法》, 《王力文集》第二卷, 山东教育出版社, 1985年。
	王希杰, 1983, 《语言是什么?》, 载王希杰编《语言学百题》, 上海教育出版社, 1983年, 115-118页。
	徐通锵 1997, 语言论——语义型语言的结构原理和研究方法. 东北师范大学出版社.
	姚小平 1995, 洪堡特——人文研究和语言研究. 外语教学与研究出版社.
	叶蜚声、徐通锵 1981, 语言学纲要. 北京大学出版社.
	张静 1985, 语言简论. 河南人民出版社.
	张世禄, 1930, 《语言学原理》, 台湾商务印书馆, 1970年。
	赵元任 1968, 语言问题. 台湾商务印书馆.

[1]	Yonghua Tang. Returning to Hybridity：Reexamining the Consistency between Language and Writing in Kojin Karatani’s Landscape Theory [J]. Journal of East China Normal University (Philosophy and Social Sciences), 2024, 56(4): 56-68.
[2]	Lihao Gan. Opensource Knowledge Production in the Age of Large Language Models：Opportunities，Challenges，and the Future [J]. Journal of East China Normal University (Philosophy and Social Sciences), 2024, 56(2): 31-41.
[3]	Fan-zhu HU. Concepts，Objectives，Issues，and Methods：Rethinking the Study of “National Language Ability” [J]. Journal of East China Normal University (Philosophy and Social Sciences), 2023, 55(6): 1-14.
[4]	Qi SHEN, Jun-yi GU. Language Planning for an Age-friendly Society in the Construction of Information Accessibility Society [J]. Journal of East China Normal University (Philosophy and Social Sciences), 2023, 55(4): 54-62.
[5]	Yang LIU. Vacuous-Potential Poetics：A New Interpretation of the Occurrence of Artistic Language [J]. Journal of East China Normal University (Philosophy and Social Sciences), 2023, 55(4): 77-85.
[6]	Xiao-hui WANG. The Inheritance and Transformation of ZHANG Tai-yan’s View of Literary Language by the May 4^th Literary Revolution [J]. Journal of East China Normal University (Philosophy and Social Sciences), 2023, 55(3): 61-73.
[7]	Kai-bao HU, Wen-bo SHANG. Linguistics and Language Intelligence [J]. Journal of East China Normal University (Philosophy and Social Sciences), 2022, 54(2): 103-109.
[8]	Wei ZHENG, Jia-yi YIN. Thoughts and Approaches of Linguistics Research at the Age of Artificial Intelligence [J]. Journal of East China Normal University (Philosophy and Social Sciences), 2022, 54(2): 93-102.
[9]	Yao-zhong YAN. The Relationship between the Written Law and Juridical Practice in the Northern Wei Dynasty [J]. Journal of East China Normal University (Philosophy and Social Sciences), 2021, 53(6): 3-11.
[10]	Jian-hua HU. A Syntactic and Semantic Analysis of “Wuyi ”，a Poem in The Book of Songs：A Case Study of a Verby Language with Conjoin as the Main Sentence-making Strategy [J]. Journal of East China Normal University (Philosophy and Social Sciences), 2021, 53(6): 60-76.
[11]	Jian HU. Language，Discourse and the Dissemination of Chinese Culture [J]. Journal of East China Normal University (Philosophy and Social Sciences), 2021, 53(2): 74-83.
[12]	ZHU Xiao-nong. Language as the Criterion for the Division of a Cultural History: Five Breakthroughs in Human Beings' Language-thinking [J]. Journal of East China Normal University (Philosophy and Social Sciences), 2020, 52(6): 76-90.
[13]	DU Min, LIU Zhi-gang. The Goals and Achievements of the Creation of Minority Characters in New China: A Case Study of Monguor Characters [J]. Journal of East China Normal University (Philosophy and Social Sciences), 2020, 52(3): 25-34.
[14]	WANG Qing-hua. On the Contemporary Scholars' Confusion about the Scope Definition of the Legends in the Tang Dynasty [J]. Journal of East China Normal University (Philosophy and Social Sciences), 2020, 52(1): 89-96.
[15]	HONG Li-jian. Rights and Language: An Inquiry into the Theories and Practices of Indigenous Languages Protection Policies in Australia [J]. Journal of East China Normal University (Philosoph, 2019, 51(6): 107-119.