Form and Meaning

This quotation (Mittins 1991:29) introduces an important concept in language study: the idea that language has two aspects or parts, namely form and meaning, which are linked and cannot be separated or divided. The physical forms of language may be spoken sounds (the ‘phonic’ form in the quotation above) or else visible marks, whether written, drawn or of some other kind (the ‘graphic’ form in the quotation). These forms are inseparably linked to the meanings that are expressed, understood or communicated through their use.

Without language, human beings would most probably experience their world as a continuous flow of impressions, with no boundaries and nothing to indicate differences between them. One experience or sensory impression would flow into the next, and there would be no clear beginning or end to them. It is language that ‘cuts up the continuous flowing of human experience into momentarily static segments’ (Mittins 1991:31).

Signs

A child who is unable to learn language is also unable to ‘cut experience up’ into ‘segments’ and to differentiate between impressions. Helen Keller was one such child. She was afflicted early in childhood by a serious illness that left her unable to see or hear. She could not hear the language used around her, and could not see the sign language that would have been used as a substitute for sound.

Her teacher, Annie Sullivan, introduced her to the world of signs. She would use Helen's sense of touch by holding her hand and running it over a familiar object. Then, on the palm of Helen's other hand, she would spell out the word associated with that object. Although Helen learnt to spell individual words, for a long time she was not able to make the connection between a particular concept and its unique sign. She could make and receive the form of the various signs, but she could not associate them with their unique meanings.