Re: I need help explaining basic linguistic concepts to a lay person

Franz Gnaedinger wrote:

> Either you give me a better definition of language, or you tell
> me an example of language that is not carried by a need or
> wish. My definition of language goes well along with Charles
> F. Hockett's understanding. He said that language always
> serves a purpose, only that one can't always easily find out
> which one.

Bull***, Franz.

For my teacher Charles F. Hockett, the primary defining characteristic
of human language is "duality of patterning." This has not been observed
in _any_ non-human communication system.

Don't you DARE make up lies about him.

Continuing to retype your bull*** does not make it any more true.

If this offends you and you stop posting here, so much the better.
--
Peter T. Daniels grammatim@xxxxxxx
.

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