Preface
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 June 2012
Summary
All normal human beings talk. Many find it hard to imagine living without language, so much so that they sometimes fantasize about a world in which animals can speak, as when a character in a children's storybook encountered a chattering toad:
‘Can you really talk?’ she whispered. The toad raised his drooping head a little. ‘I have been talking since I was a mere tadpole,’ he said huffily.
Language, then, is taken for granted. But its nearness and naturalness cause two problems. First, people do not usually spend time observing it. The situation is somewhat like that in a Sherlock Holmes story, in which the fictional detective questioned a visitor about a flight of stairs:
‘You have frequently seen the steps which lead up from the hall to this room… how many are there?’
‘How many! I don't know.’
‘Quite so!’ said Sherlock. ‘You have not observed. And yet you have seen. That is just my point. Now, I know that there are seventeen steps, because I have both seen and observed.’
Similarly, language speakers see, but they do not observe. More accurately, they hear, but they do not perceive. Language is all around them, but most are unable to answer even straightforward questions, such as ‘When do children become competent speakers?’ ‘How do language changes happen?’, and so on.
The second problem overlaps with the first. Because everyone talks, many confidently assume that they can therefore pronounce authoritatively on their language.
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- The Language WebThe Power and Problem of Words - The 1996 BBC Reith Lectures, pp. ix - xiiiPublisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 1996