ABSTRACT
Ask the next person you meet what they think language is. The chances are they will say ‘It’s how we communicate’ or ‘It’s a means of communication’. This typical person-in-the-street notion of language focuses on one function of language: that it enables us to transmit what we have in mind to the mind of another person. A bit more reflection on language tends to elicit other, less practical functions. Language is a vehicle for acquiring information and knowledge, for thinking through ideas and problems, for expressing our cultural and individual identity, for establishing and maintaining social contact, for expressing our relationship to other people, for creative self-expression or for enjoying others’ creativity, and more.
