Hockett's design features Flashcards
Vocal Auditory Channel
Sounds emitted from the mouth and perceived by the auditory system
Rapid Fading (transitoriness)
Signal last a short time. This is true of all systems involving sound
Interchangeability
All utterances that are understood can be produced
Total Feedback
The sender of a message also perceives the message. That is, you hear what you say
Specialization
The signal produced is specialized for communication and is not the
side effect of some other behavior
Semanticity
There is a fixed relationship between a signal and a meaning
Arbitrariness
There is an arbitrary relationship between a signal and its meaning. That is, the signal is related to the meaning by convention or by instinct but has no inherent relationship with the meaning. Only onomatopoeia is not arbitrary
Discreteness
Language can be said to be built up from discrete units (e.g., phonemes in human language). Exchanging such discrete units causes a change in the meaning of a signal. This is an abrupt change, rather than a continuous change of meaning. (adding an s to make something plural)
Displacement
Communicating about things or events that are distant in time or space
Productivity
Language is an open system. We can produce potentially an infinite number of different messages by combining the elements differently
Cultural transmission
Each generation needs to learn the system of communication from the preceding generation
Duality of patterning
Large numbers of meaningful signals (e.g., morphemes or words) produced from a small number of meaningless units (e.g., phonemes)
Prevarication
Linguistic messages can be false, deceptive, or meaningless
Reflexiveness
In a language, one can communicate about communication
Learnibility
A speaker of a language can learn another language
