【正确答案】Linguists talk about the functions of language in an abstract sense, that is, not in the terms of using language to chat, to think, to buy and sell, to read and write, to greet people, etc. Different linguists have different ways to emphasize on the importance of language. For example, for Jakobson, language is above all, as any semiotic system, for communication. They summarize these practical functions and attempt some broad classifications of the basic functions of language like the following:
Informative function: language serves for the expression of 'content': that is, of the speaker's experience of the real world, including the inner world of his own consciousness...
Interpersonal function: people use language to establish and maintain their status in a society.
Performative function: to change the social status of persons.
Emotive function: to change the emotional status of an audience for or against someone or something.
Phatic communion: expressions that help define and maintain interpersonal relations.
Recreational function: to create sheer joy.
Metalingual function: to use language to talk about language itself.

【答案解析】[解析] 本题考查语言的交际功能。在雅各布逊看来，语言就如其他任何符号系统一样，主要用于交际。韩礼德提出了语言的元功能理论。根据其早期的观点，语言具有七种功能，即：信息功能、人际功能、行事功能、表情功能、寒暄交谈、娱乐功能和元语言功能。