Properties of Language Flashcards
Intentional communication means…
conscious, aware of its purpose and effect communication.
Unintentional communication means…
unconscious, with a lack of purpose communication.
The 7 properties of human language, that are human-only, include…
…displacement, arbitrariness, productivity, duality, discreteness, reflexivity, cultural transmission.
The 7 properties of human language, that are NOT human only, include…
…vocal-auditory channel, broadcast transmission and directional reception, rapid fading (transitoriness), interchangeability, total feedback, specialisation, semanticity.
Displacement
ability to refer to the past and future, things not present at the time or of doubtful existence (fe. mermaids).
Arbitrariness
no connection between linguistic form and meaning, as many languages there are as many ways to call a single object fe. a dog can be -> dog, perro, pies.
Productivity
manipulation of language to create new situations and objects, the possibility to create new words, sentences etc.
Duality
the existence of two levels to understanding a language - sound and meaning. Each word consists of sounds, each has its own rules of the organization.
Discreteness
sounds are distinctive from each other fe. “b” & “p” are not the same.
Reflexivity
ability to reflect on language and communication.
Cultural transmission
process of learning a language in a specific cultural environment.
Vocal-auditory channel
the sound emitted orally and received auditorily.
Broadcast transmission and directional reception
the recipient can tell the source of the sound.
Rapid fading
the signal lasts a short time.
Interchangeability
all understood signals can also be sent, there’s no limitation to who can use a sound (fe. male or female).
