The Art of Language

Abstract

The paper proposes to view languages as a form of primordial oral human art form, with each member language, both present and past, representing variations on an art movement with changes throughout time. It is further proposed that many languages are identified with second or graphical art form for the graphical representation of the oral form. Both forms are the product of the human mind and use different mental abilities and time frames. The oral component is considered dominate and is acquired during a child’s language acquisition stage of human development which is also responsible for new languages. Graphical representation forms, however, were designed by adult scholars and others to expand and make permanent the aspects of oral language for transactions and other record keeping. Additionally, it is proposed that most aspects of the oral component (phones, lexicon and syntax) are arbitrary but controlled by a language coherence which functions almost automatically in the wider aspects using syntax, grammatical gender and one’s mental lexicon. It is axiomatic that meaning is conveyed not only by dictionary (lexical) descriptions, but also by suprasegmental aspects, and arrangements of syntactic elements. Coherence breaks down when human awareness or thought process is evoked in an ever increasing awareness and ambiguity in thought. But some aspects of syntax such as misplaced modifiers and phrases but can still be useful in some forms of poetry unthinkingly and drama. Wars have been ended, careers have been ruined and hearts have been broken because of what was said or written. Some people are granted particular, specific power by their society to do things with words. The formal cultural acts of marrying, naming, inaugurating and condemning to death are achieved through the use of language. (Mercer 2000:11)