Properties of human language Flashcards
Define duality or double articulation
Two layers of language, one of meaningless sounds and one of combined meaningful sounds
Define arbitrariness
No necessary connection between word and meaning
Define creativity or productivity
Allows users to create/produce new expressions
Define displacement
The ability to talk about things which are not present, either temporarily or spacially
Define reflexivity
Allows language to be used to
think and talk about language itself
Define rapid fading/transitoriness
The idea surrounding temporary quality of language and that the sounds only exist for a brief period of time
Define broadcast transmission and directional reception
When humans speak the sounds are dispersed in all directions, but listeners perceive the direction in which the sounds come from
Define vocal-auditory channel
The idea that hearing/speaking is the mode that humans use for language
Define interchangeability
Refers to the idea that humans can give and receive identical linguistic signals and aren’t limited in the messages that they can hear or say
Define total feedback
Speakers of a language can hear their own speech and can control and modify what they are saying as they say it
Define specialization
The idea that language has a purpose as a type of communication and is generally intentional
Define semanticity
Specific sound signals are directly tied to certain meanings
Define cultural/traditional transmission
The idea that language is learnt through generations teaching other generations in a social setting
Define learnability
The idea that language is learnable and teachable
Define prevarication
The ability to use language to lie or deceive
