Form, meaning, and use

Why do people talk? What is language for? One common answer to this question is that language is a complex form of communication, and that people talk in order to share or request information. That is certainly a very important use of language, but clearly it is not the only use.

For example, what is the meaning of the word hello? What information does it convey? It is a very difficult word to define, but every speaker of English knows how to use it: for greeting an acquaintance, answering the telephone, etc. We might say that hello conveys the information that the speaker wishes to acknowledge the presence of, or initiate a conversation with, the hearer. But it would be very strange to answer the phone or greet your best friend by saying “I wish to acknowledge your presence” or “I wish to initiate a conversation with you.” What is important about the word hello is not its information content (if any) but its use in social interaction.

In the Teochew language (a “dialect” of Chinese), there is no word for ‘hello’. The normal way for one friend to greet another is to ask: “Have you already eaten or not?” The expected reply is: “I have eaten,” even if this is not in fact true.