23.0k views
2 votes
In what way is language arbitrary?

2 Answers

1 vote

Answer:

This might depend, you see other regions use language by their judgment on what they think it should be called. For example, we call our ducks; ducks, but say in Mexico they call the duck's el pato, so we differ by our judgment so Yes, language is arbitrary.

Step-by-step explanation:

User Peter Lewis
by
7.2k points
4 votes
The primary meaning of the "arbitrariness of language" is that for the vast majority of words, there is no relationship between the sounds associated with the word and the physical object or action that the word signifies. For example, there is no natural reason why a TABLE should be associated with [tebl] in English or [mesa] in Spanish or [astal] in Hungarian, etc.

In terms of grammar, there are many different strategies possible for marking the relationship between the different nouns of a sentence. Why languages follow one or another strategy is also arbitrary, based not on any natural reasoning, but on the accidents of historical variation.
User Ben Curthoys
by
7.6k points