Is there an aesthetic component of language?

02/19/2022

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by   Harshit Parmar, et al.

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Speakers of all human languages make use of grammatical devices to express attributional qualities, feelings, and opinions as well as to provide meta-commentary on topics in discourse. In general, linguists refer to this category as 'expressives'in spite of the fact that defining exactly what 'expressives' are remains elusive. The elusiveness of expressives has given rise to considerable speculation about the nature of expressivity as a linguistic principle. Specifically, several scholars have pointed out the 'special' or 'unusual' nature of expressives vis-a-vis 'normal' or 'natural' morpho-syntax.