The Nature of Language — David Adger / Serious Science

Linguist David Adger on the similarities between all the languages, creation of the new grammatical rules and how social factors affect your word choice.

'We don't use language just to say literal things: you don't just say 'I am sitting on a chair', that would be pretty boring. What we do is we use language to express ourselves, we use it to express our thoughts, we use it to express how we're feeling, we use it to express what kind of a person we are. That, I think, is another aspect of the nature of language that quite often gets lost from the perspective of people like me who focus very much on the theory of what human language really is as far as syntax and grammar and things like that go.'

David Adger, Professor of Linguistics, Queen Mary University of London

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[BridgetRichmond]

This video was certainly very insightful and interesting as David Adger talked about the nature of language, describing it as something very dynamic, and my take-aways is that language is much more than syntax which is just the organization of words since language is also part of our identity. The things we say with our language is, most of the time, not direct as we use it to express our thoughts and feelings, revealing and reflecting who we are on the inside, and in relation to language being abstract and influenced by our identity, it is also influenced by our social factors or the people that we surround ourselves with through different grammatical rules than usual.

[lian]

After watching this video, what I find most valuable is that how language is very important in our lives because it is the primary tool that we use to convey our thoughts, ideas and emotions to others. It enables us to communicate, share experiences and connect with one another.

[RoffamaeAregadas-yxve]

As a student I realized after i watch this video is the importance of nature language, specially to know how we used it and delivered by communication. It is the way by which people communicate with one another, build relationships and also in understanding with one another. I know myself that I'm not good in English but i considered that studying is the way to make me better soon.

[hannahflores]

I really appreciated what linguist said, "We don't use language just to say literal things." From what I've learned, language is used to express our sentiments and who we are as people, as well as to shout out what we want to say. Language is not only a tool for communication; it also allows us to be ourselves.

[vargasvheajoy]

After watching this video, I realized that language is really important to people because we can't communicate and we can't understand others if we don't know what language we're going to use. Language is a system for communicating, as Mr. David said. We can now express what we feel or what's going on in our minds by communicating it with others.

[jerminecorpuz]

Corpuz, Jermine Asia A.
104TM

The speaker, named David Adger, said in the video that we use language to express ourselves, our thoughts, our feelings, and the kind of person we are. Which I personally agree with. We express ourselves in a way that other people might not understand because of how they use language on their own. Which is totally okay as language, specifically how we understand the composed sentences, is growing over time.

Another thing is about the relative clauses. What I understand about what he said is that there were different types of clauses in how we structure our sentences, but the thought is the same. An example that he has also mentioned is the phrases "the woman who I saw", "the woman that I saw", and "the woman I saw". All of these have the same thoughts but are constructed into different phrases.

[hersheycea]

The phrase that I valued the most of what David Adger said is that " We don't use language just to say literal things." we use language to express our feelings and use what we have learned from the beginning since we were born. We start learning language from our parents or family and then know how to use the second language from school which is english that has many rules.

[LohanYauder]

The one that I valued the most of the information said by the linguist David Adger is we don't use language just to say literal things. That gives me an understanding about his point that we don’t use language just to say things that are literally. However, we used it to express our feelings and also to express what kind of person we are. That gives the nature of language a different kind of perspective not just by talking and communicating with each other. In this way I learn that we not only have a language for communication but also for us to express our feelings towards each other.

[KlareMamoso-huwx]

The beauty of language is more than what meets the eye, every language has its own creative structure and function to the society that really brings the entire system together in a way nothing else could and what more is that learning it from a non-native perspective makes it even more precious with the amount of mental work that it takes for it to work and I believe one could say the nature of language surpasses fashion and time itself.

[ChristineMargaritteSolis-ikku]

We can express ourselves by using language, it is so valuable that we can speak to each other to understand and communicate really well. Having an effective conversation is how the speaker delivers the message and how the receiver will comprehend it.

[briangutierrez]

What I value most after viewing this movie is how language is crucial to our life because it is the main means through which we communicate our thoughts, ideas, and feelings to others. The use of language allows us to communicate with others in a variety of languages as well as express ourselves and share our expertise.

[paulgabrielfajardo]

I find the speaker's insights into the nature of language intriguing. Especially the idea that language is not just a fixed set of rules but is constantly evolving through social interactions and reflects the identity of its users is thought-provoking. I realized and reflected that it emphasizes the dynamic and adaptive nature of language, which is not always apparent when we think about grammar and syntax. The example of Hackney teenagers developing a new grammatical rule based on their multilingual and multi-ethnic interactions is a testament to the richness of linguistic diversity and the role of language in shaping our social identities.

[lovelymaepajar]

after i watched this video, I now recognize the important nature of language. I value the aspect of communication and language because I like to share my emotions, thoughts, feelings with other people.

Recently came to the realization that speaking another language is incredibly fantastic and helpful, not just for myself but for all of us.

[ErickaJaynePicarzo]

For me the sentence that stood out to me is: "We human beings have a capacity to take discrete units like words or sounds, and we put them together in hierarchical ways." It highlights the fundamental nature of language as a system of combining smaller units to create meaning.

[rhiannamikylaelomina]

The difference between the languages that people are using makes it more interesting. With the use of language, we can express ourselves and spread our knowledge not just with one language but with the different languages that people are using. I value those things because that’s what makes people connect and understand each other.

[kyzel_balisacan]

Having watched this video, I now recognize the important nature of language. Speaking is only one aspect of language; another is the ability to communicate in both our native tongue and in other languages. Individuals are capable of freely expressing their thoughts, ideas, opinions, and emotions in order to communicate with others in a way that they can easily understand. We are able to comprehend and communicate many things through the use of language.

[KeyzelMae_Fusin]

As a student, I am mindful that languages are one of the most important components of any cultural develpment, and not only for ourselves. It helps to communicate to each other, build relationships, enable us to communicate with others about our thoughts, ideas and feelings.

[EstarlynSuriaga]

After watching and listening carefully to this video, I realized one thing, as David Adger said "We don't just use language just to say literal things", honestly speaking, I agree to this though because we use language to express ourselves, thoughts, express how we feel, use to express what kind of person we are, these aspects of the Nature of language gives us our uniqueness as a human being.

[neolegaspi]

After watching this video. David Adger explained that language is not just used to communicate information; it is also a means by which we express our thoughts, feelings, and even the characteristics that make us who we are. As a result, when we communicate, we do more than only communicate facts; we truly allow others an insight into our own inner world.

[inyafionnaelumba]

What I find most valuable in the information provided is the acknowledgment that language goes beyond mere factual communication. The important idea here is that language isn't only about stating information; it's how we express our feelings, thoughts, and who we are as individuals. This often gets overlooked when we only focus on the technical parts of language. - elumba BSA 102A