A: I lost my new pen.
B: Where did you lose it?
A: I don't know.
B: When did you lose it?
A: I think I lost it today. I used it yesterday.
B: Did you check all your pockets?
A: I checked all my pockets.
B: Did you look in your desk?
A: Yes. It isn't there, either.
B: It's probably around somewhere.
A: Oh, well, it only cost me 50 CFA Franc.
B: Only 50? Don't even look for it.
The purpose of language is to communicate information. And the information that language is useful for communicating is the type of information given in the above conversation.










