ABSTRACT
Languagehas,ofcourse,alreadybeenstudiedformanycenturies fromanumberofpointsofview,inparticularbyphilosophers, bytraditionalgrammariansandbyliterarycritics.Ancient philosophers(theStoics,theAlexandrians,Plato,Aristotle)all discussedthenatureandoriginoflanguage.Althoughphilosophy hasattimestakenlanguageforgranted,thetwentiethcenturyhas seenphilosophersconcernthemselvesfundamentallywithsuch problemsasthoseofmeaning,referenceandtruth(cf.theworkof Russell,Ayer),andlinguisticphilosophyhasusedlanguageasakey forclearingupmisconceptionsabouttheoriesofknowledge,existence,goodandevil,andsoon(cf.theworkofWittgenstein,Ryle andAustin).
