--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: There is undoubtedly much to learn about…" description: "\"There is undoubtedly much to learn about the social uses of language, for communication or for other purposes. But at present there is not much in the ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/868/noam-chomsky-42_communication_there-is-undoubtedly-much-to-learn-about_351766.jpg" --- # There is undoubtedly much to learn about the social uses… ![“There is undoubtedly much to learn about the social uses of language, for communication or for other purposes. But at present there is not much in the way of a theory of sociolinguistics, of social uses of languages, as far as I am aware.” quote by Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/868/noam-chomsky-42_communication_there-is-undoubtedly-much-to-learn-about_351766.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/868/noam-chomsky-42_communication_there-is-undoubtedly-much-to-learn-about_351766.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/868/noam-chomsky-42_communication_there-is-undoubtedly-much-to-learn-about_351766.jpg) > “There is undoubtedly much to learn about the social uses of language, for communication or for other purposes. But at present there is not much in the way of a theory of sociolinguistics, of social uses of languages, as far as I am aware.” [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. We lack a comprehensive theory explaining how language functions socially beyond basic communication. **In simple terms:** Social language theory is missing. Key Takeaway Study language use in context. Themes language society theory Mood analytical curious Type academic inquisitive When to use this quote - education - policy making - media analysis - cross‑cultural interaction Key Concepts sociolinguistics communication social constructs Questions to Reflect On - What social factors shape language most? - How can we develop a robust sociolinguistic framework? A Different Perspective Existing models may oversimplify complex social dynamics. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Communication](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/communication/) [Language](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/language/) [Purpose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/purpose/) [Social](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/social/) [Use of language](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/use-of-language/) ## Related quotes > [There is a narrow class of uses of language where you intend to communicate. Communication refers to an effort to get people to understand…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/there-is-a-narrow-class-of-uses-of-language-where-you-intend-to/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) > [There is no reason to believe ... that the "essential purpose" of language is "communication". ... Language can be used to transmit information, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/there-is-no-reason-to-believe-that-the-essential-purpose-of-language/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) > [With sociolinguistics, after covering the basics of the field, I focused on discourse analysis.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carrie-brownstein/with-sociolinguistics-after-covering-the-basics-of-the-field-i/) [Carrie Brownstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carrie-brownstein/) > [I have resisted the term sociolinguistics for many years, since it implies that there can be a successful linguistic theory or practice which is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-labov/i-have-resisted-the-term-sociolinguistics-for-many-years-since-it/) [William Labov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-labov/) > [I think the use of language is a very important means by which this species, because of its biological nature, creates a kind of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/i-think-the-use-of-language-is-a-very-important-means-by-which-this/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) > [Language as a communication tool is the primary element from which literature is created. Even in pre-literate societies, it exists as songs, riddles, or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/f-sionil-jos/language-as-a-communication-tool-is-the-primary-element-from-which/) [F. Sionil Jose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/f-sionil-jos/) > [God doesn't need verbal language for communication.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-c-neal/god-doesn-t-need-verbal-language-for-communication/) [Mary C. Neal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-c-neal/) > [There's something in music which is obviously beyond language itself. It's communication in its purest form.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-bellamy/there-s-something-in-music-which-is-obviously-beyond-language-itself/) [Matthew Bellamy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-bellamy/) > [I did not experience language deprivation. I did have access to language and communication, ever since I was a little kid.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lauren-ridloff/i-did-not-experience-language-deprivation-i-did-have-access-to/) [Lauren Ridloff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lauren-ridloff/) > [“Just because everybody uses language, that doesn't mean that they can write even tolerable prose.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-jones/just-because-everybody-uses-language-that-doesn-t-mean-that-they-can/) [Stephen Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-jones/) > [Poetry uses language to create a music borne inside human experiences and emotions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pattiann-rogers/poetry-uses-language-to-create-a-music-borne-inside-human-experiences/) [Pattiann Rogers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pattiann-rogers/) > [The poet, by composing poems, uses a language that is neither dead nor living, that few people speak, and few people understand We are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-cocteau/the-poet-by-composing-poems-uses-a-language-that-is-neither-dead-nor/) [Jean Cocteau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-cocteau/) > [As the base rhetorician uses language to increase his own power, to produce converts to his own cause, and to create loyal followers of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-szasz/as-the-base-rhetorician-uses-language-to-increase-his-own-power-to/) [Thomas Szasz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-szasz/) > [“Comfort with an art form that uses language comes because we all own it, to one degree or another. Words come from flesh and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-fox/comfort-with-an-art-form-that-uses-language-comes-because-we-all-own/) [Dan Fox](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-fox/) > [Because everyone uses language to talk, everyone thinks he can talk about language.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/because-everyone-uses-language-to-talk-everyone-thinks-he-can-talk/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) ## More by Noam Chomsky > [The costs of the Bush-Obama wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are now estimated to run as high as $4.4 trillion - a major victory…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/the-costs-of-the-bush-obama-wars-in-iraq-and-afghanistan-are-now/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) > [If you believe in democracy, why shouldn't you know what the government is doing?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/if-you-believe-in-democracy-why-shouldn-t-you-know-what-the/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) > [It’s a shameful moment for U.S. media when it insists on being subservient to the grotesque propaganda agencies of a violent, aggressive state.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/it-s-a-shameful-moment-for-u-s-media-when-it-insists-on-being/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) > [There are questions as to whether it should even exist. Who should corporations be responsive to, the management of a corporation? Theoretically they are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/there-are-questions-as-to-whether-it-should-even-exist-who-should/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) > [Governments regard their own citizens as their main enemy, and they have to be - protect themselves. That's why you have state secret laws.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/governments-regard-their-own-citizens-as-their-main-enemy-and-they/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) > [I don't join the New Atheists. So, for example, I wouldn't have the arrogance to lecture some mother who hopes to see her dying…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/i-don-t-join-the-new-atheists-so-for-example-i-wouldn-t-have-the/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) > [The first thing you ought to do is verify what I present. Just because I say it doesn't make it true. So check it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/the-first-thing-you-ought-to-do-is-verify-what-i-present-just-because/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) > [ I wrote an article about the marine landing \[in Haiti\] right away, but barely mentioned the oil, because my article would come out two… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/i-wrote-an-article-about-the-marine-landing-in-haiti-right-away-but/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) > [American society is now remarkably atomized. Political organizations have collapsed. In fact, it seems like even bowling leagues are collapsing. The left has a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/american-society-is-now-remarkably-atomized-political-organizations/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) > [Discovery is the ability to be puzzled by simple things. Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/discovery-is-the-ability-to-be-puzzled-by-simple-things-noam-chomsky/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) > [There's an interesting book about that called The Third Reich and the Ivory Tower, written by Stephen H. Norwood. It has a long discussion…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/there-s-an-interesting-book-about-that-called-the-third-reich-and-the/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) > [This is class war on an international scale, and power is in the hands of those who control the international economic system.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/this-is-class-war-on-an-international-scale-and-power-is-in-the-hands/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) > [There are big, extremely irrational parts of the society, and they have now been mobilized politically by the Republican establishment, hoping that these people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/there-are-big-extremely-irrational-parts-of-the-society-and-they-have/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) > [There's plenty to criticize about the mass media, but they are the source of regular information about a wide range of topics. You can't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/there-s-plenty-to-criticize-about-the-mass-media-but-they-are-the/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) > [The 50,000 Korean mercenaries we had in Vietnam were professional killers and just massacred people outright. And the American army did plenty of that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/the-50-000-korean-mercenaries-we-had-in-vietnam-were-professional/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) [Explore all 2,129 Noam Chomsky quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) ## More Communication quotes > [Some people still believe you should just fall in line with what's going on - and that's scary. 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The bad poet harangues at the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-r-delany/a-poet-is-wounded-into-speech-and-he-examines-these-wounds/) [Samuel R. Delany](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-r-delany/) > [“To engage in dialogue is to serve others via whatever is real inside you; to engage in debate is to ultimately serve the illusions…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oli-anderson/to-engage-in-dialogue-is-to-serve-others-via-whatever-is-real-inside/) [Oli Anderson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oli-anderson/) > [What it comes down to for me is this: Will the technologies of communication in our culture, serve to enlighten us and help us…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-waters/what-it-comes-down-to-for-me-is-this-will-the-technologies-of/) [Roger Waters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-waters/) > [In dialogue, there is opposition, yes, but no head-on collision. Smashing heads does not open minds.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deborah-tannen/in-dialogue-there-is-opposition-yes-but-no-head-on-collision-smashing/) [Deborah Tannen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deborah-tannen/) > [A dialogue is very important. It is a form of communication in which question and answer continue till a question is left without an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jiddu-krishnamurti/a-dialogue-is-very-important-it-is-a-form-of-communication-in-which/) [Jiddu Krishnamurti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jiddu-krishnamurti/) > [I get afraid of the dark if I'm in a great deal of dark, and I have to move around inside of that fear...…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emil-ferris/i-get-afraid-of-the-dark-if-i-m-in-a-great-deal-of-dark-and-i-have-to/) [Emil Ferris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emil-ferris/) > [I've been in a serious conversation with one of my children, and a fan has come up. 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