Language In A Roman Catholic Mass

The capacity for acquiring and using complex systems of communication is a distinctly human characteristic which has prompted many linguistic studies to discover the origins and functions of language. Over the years many philosophers and grammarians have focused on the concrete and tangible aspects of language, analyzing domains such as syntax, morphology, and phonology. However, in recent years the focus has switched from the forms of language to the functions of language as performed in society. Language is not a monolithic, homogeneous entity and must be observed in society, in the terms of who uses it, when, where, and why, in order to determine it true value. This paper will demonstrate the range of functions that religious language can perform through the application of linguistic concepts such as identity, performance, frequency, tone and the conventional nature of the sign to a Roman Catholic Mass. In this way, it will be proven that the language used within a Roman Catholic Mass is both functional in its construction of a distinct Catholic identity, as well as, symbolic with the presence of sign-related behavior.

From the outside the building seems innocuous, the absence of the seemingly omnipresent spires and stained glass windows associated with the Roman Catholic church is at first surprising until one considers the fact that the building was once a movie theater. Converted to a church in the early seventies as one enters the chapel any doubts as to whether this is the right place are banished. The frescos on the ceiling are reminiscent of the Sistine Chapel. The room is large with over fifty rows of pews which fit easily twenty people on each side of the aisle. At five pm on a Sunday it is a high attendance Mass wi...

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...y is best defined at a deeper level which in turn determines one's identity. The level of sounds, words and sentence patterns should no longer be seen as the only level at which issues of language can be debated.

Despite the fact that there is a distinctly religious vocabulary associated with language during a Roman Catholic Mass when one delves further and examines the underlying function of language through the critical evaluation of concepts such as identity, frequency, tone, intonation, performance and the conventional nature of the sign, it can be proven that the language used within a Roman Catholic Mass is both functional in its construction of a distinct Catholic identity, as well as, symbolic with the presence of sign-related behavior. Therefore, the use of language as well as its absence can be said to accomplish a variety of tasks throughout the ritual.