Did you know that words dialogue with each other? Well, this curious phenomenon is called metalanguage. The metalinguistic function, as it is also called, is among the six language functions and it happens when we use the code, which is the language, to explain the language itself. Got confused? Don't worry, with our examples you will understand this story well!
A young child, when he has learned to speak and enters the stage of questioning the meaning and concepts of words, performs the metalinguistic function all the time. She frequently asks about the code itself, with expressions such as “what is this” or “I didn't quite understand”, among other sentences that reveal the process of language acquisition. She is learning the meaning of the words, so this kind of question becomes commonplace.
In dictionaries we also find the metalinguistic function in action: it is a compendium of words that are explained through the entries. Grammars also make use of this function, as they use words to explain other words. When you analyze and interpret a text, you are also using metalanguage, even if unconsciously. But it is not just with words that the phenomenon happens, it is present when a film has cinema as its own theme, a play that has the theater as its theme and in a poem that uses words to explain the process of literary creation. Look at just one example of metalanguage:
In Carlos Drummond de Andrade's poem, we can observe the existence of the metalinguistic function, as the poet talks about his own poetic making
Did you notice that the poem of Carlos Drummond de Andrade does it have as its theme the very act of writing poetry? In it, the poet tries to find the form and the verse, describing the literary creation to the reader. Also note the metalinguistic function in a cartoon by Bill Watterson, creator of Calvin and Haroldo:
The metalinguistic function is present in dictionaries, grammars, poems and even comic books
In the strip, the object of analysis is the comic, because Calvin reflects on the artist's work, weaving a comparison between the work of a draftsman of today and the work of a draftsman of yesteryear. Did you see? This is the metalinguistic function, which aims to analyze the code itself, that is, the language.
By Luana Castro
Graduated in Letters