The Language Game
Steve Dodson,
Languagehat,
Aug 31, 2022
It is well worth the time for any educator to become familiar with Wittgenstein's concept of the 'language game' - that is, the idea that language is not a set of rules, meanings and syntax but rather a "community-wide game of charades, where each new game builds on those that have gone before." This is important because "it is constantly re-contrived generation after generation." Indeed, "we talk without knowing the rules of our language just as we play tennis without knowing the laws of physics, or sing without knowing music theory. In this very real sense, we speak, and do so skillfully and effectively, without knowing our language at all."
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