26th October 2023

Elemental Linguistics

‘A language is not just words. It’s a culture, a tradition, a unification of a community, a whole history that creates what a community is. It’s all embodied in a language.’ – Noam Chomsky

Functions of language

Elemental linguistics refers to the study of the building blocks of language, the relationships between language and other aspects of cognition like memory, perception and learning, and the evolution of language over time and across cultures.

British linguist Michael Halliday (1985) proposed seven key functions of language:

• Instrumental function – To fulfil one’s needs and desires.
• Regulatory function – To control the behaviour of others.
• Interactional function – To establish and maintain social relationships.
• Personal function – To express personal attitudes and feelings.
• Representational function – To convey information and knowledge about the world.
• Imaginative function – To create and appreciate aesthetic experiences.
• Heuristic function – To learn and discover new information.

Halliday expanded on his theory of language function with the exploration of three key components:

• Ideational – The use of language to capture experience.
• Interpersonal – The use of language to express social roles, attitudes, and emotions.
• Textual – The use of language to organise and create meaning through texts.

Linguistic terminology

The following table provides definitions for key linguistic terms:

Whorfian hypothesis

The Whorfian hypothesis is a much-debated idea in the field of linguistics. Also known as ‘linguistic relativity’, the Whorfian hypothesis proposes that language shapes our thoughts and perceptions. In its strong form, it suggests that language determines our thoughts and perceptions, while in its weaker form, it suggests that language can influence our thoughts and perceptions.

Language of persuasion

The following language persuasion techniques are often used in marketing and sales:

• Ingratiation – This technique involves trying to elicit positive feelings from the person you are trying to persuade, e.g., by giving compliments.
• Reciprocity – This technique involves doing a favour for someone before asking for something in return. This creates a sense of indebtedness in the person and increases the likelihood that they will comply with a request.
• Arousal of guilt – This technique involves making the person feel guilty to motivate them to comply with a request. This can be done by highlighting the negative consequences of not complying or by suggesting that compliance is the morally right thing to do.
• Scarcity – This technique involves emphasising that a product or service is only available for a limited time or in limited quantities. This creates a sense of urgency, which can increase the perceived value of the product or service and motivate people to act quickly.
• Social validation – This technique involves emphasising that many other people are already doing the desired behaviour or using the product or service. This creates a sense of social proof and can make people feel more comfortable with the idea of complying with your request.
• Multiple requests – This technique involves making multiple requests, with the first one being relatively small and easy to comply with, and then gradually increasing the size or difficulty of subsequent requests. This technique can increase compliance by building up a sense of commitment and making people feel like they have already invested in the desired behaviour or outcome.
• Social validation – This technique involves emphasising that many other people are already doing the desired behaviour or using the product or service. This creates a sense of social proof and can make people feel more comfortable with the idea of complying with your request.
• Multiple requests – This technique involves making multiple requests, with the first one being relatively small and easy to comply with, and then gradually increasing the size or difficulty of subsequent requests. This technique can increase compliance by building up a sense of commitment and making people feel like they have already invested in the desired behaviour or outcome.

References

• Cialdini, R. B. (2001). Influence: Science and practice. 4th ed. Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon.
• Halliday, M. A. K. (1975). Learning to mean—Explorations in the development of language. London: Edward Arnold.
• Lucy, J. A. (1992). Language diversity and thought: A reformulation of the linguistic relativity hypothesis. Cambridge University