Rethinking arbitrariness of language and its implication in language use

Abstract

Language is said to be the arbitrary vocal symbol. This implies that language consists of speech sounds (e.g., sounds produced by using speech organs) based on the social agreement or convention. A certain word has a meaning because of the language users have given it. A word and its meaning are the results of social agreement or convention. This article is an attempt to develop the coverage of arbitrariness of a language relating to the concept provided by Ferdinand de Saussure, namely: the relationship between the signifiant and the signifie. The arbitrariness (1) might extend to linguistic features belonging to the particular language, (2) might be examined in the naming of a thing, an animal, or any object and what it symbolizes, (3) lies in the use of the same thing with different words to refer to, (4) might extend to the creation of terms to refer to the same thing, (5) is associated with the grammatical features of languages, (6) is related to creating a “new language’ based on the existing language. This arbitrariness of a language has implications on the language use that relies on relationships of word denotations based on socio-cultural agreements. A language-use is controlled by linguistic etiquette. Linguistic etiquette is something like guidance for language use in a socio-cultural setting. Linguistic principles cover politeness principles and euphemism. These are meant to make the utterances used in social communication and interaction socially polite and acceptable.