Functions of language

The British linguist Halliday considers language as having three main functions:

(1)the ideational function

When we use language to identify things, to think, or to record information, we use language to represent our experience of the world around us. Language serves as a medium that links a person with the world.

This function of language brings the world into our mind.It is the function that language plays in human cognition, in our conceptualization of the world.

(2)the interpersonal function

We use language as a medium to get along in a community.

This function binds individuals together.With this function language is able to glue all members of a speech community.

(3)the textual function

The textual function is to create written or spoken texts which cohere within themselves and which fit the particular situation in which they are used.

The use of language as a system organizes messages in a unified manner so that chunks of messages fit logically with others around them.