Luoghi comuni: Le lingue servono per comunicare?

Qualche riga del noto linguista americano Noam Chomsky per rispondere al luogo comune per cui le lingue servono per comunicare.

"It also seems to me important to avoid a certain vulgarization with respect to the use of language. There is no reason to believe ... that language "essentially" serves instrumental ends, or that the "essential purpose" of language is "communication," as is often said, at least if we mean by "communication" something like transmitting information or inducing belief. Someone who claims that this is the essential purpose of language must explain just what he means by it, and why he believes this function, and no other, to be so uniquely significant.

Language is used in many different ways. Language can be used to transmit information, but it also serves many other purposes: to establish relations among people, to express or clarify thought, for play, for creative mental activity, to gain understanding, and so on. In my opinion, there is no reason to accord privileged status to one or the other of these modes. Forced to choose, I would have to say something quite classical and rather empty: language serves essentially for the expression of thought.

I know of no reason to suppose that instrumental ends, or transmission of information about one's beliefs, or other actions that might reasonably be called "communication" (unless, of course, the term is used quite vacuously), have some unique significance compared with other characteristic uses of language. In fact, what is meant by the assertion that such-and-such is the goal of language, or its essential purpose, is far from clear. ... this plurality of modes is characteristic of the most banal and normal use of language.

It is hard to know just what people mean when they say that language is "essentially" an instrument of communication. If you press them a bit and ask them to be more precise, you will often find, for example, that under "communication" they include communication with oneself. Once you admit that, the notion of communication loses all content; the expression of thought becomes a kind of communication. These proposals seem to be either false, or quite empty, depending on the interpretation that is given, even with the best of will. It is all so vague that discussion remains mystifying. I have no idea why such proposals are so often made, frequently with such fervor, or what on earth they are supposed to signify."

Il testo completo al link Empiricism and Rationalism.
Il sito di Chomsky, con articoli, saggi, video e interviste.