the properties of language. introduction all creatures are capable of communicating with other...
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The properties of language
Introduction
All creatures are capable of communicating with other members of their species. However, only the human creature has the capacity for speech. We will concentrate on the properties which differentiate human language from all other forms of signaling and which make it a unique type of communication system.
Communicative vs. informative
Communicative signals refer to what you intentionally communicate (e.g. “I want to apply for this job”).
Informative signals refer to what you unintentionally communicate (e.g. when a person listening to you becomes informed about you via a number of signals such as you have a cold, you are untidy etc.)
Displacement
Human language-users can produce message to refer to past and future time and to other location. This property is called ‘displacement’. It allows human to talk about things and events not present in the immediate environment.
Animal communication lacks this property. However, bee communication has at least some degree of displacement as a feature.(cf. the difference between human and bee displacement)
Arbitrariness
A property of linguistic signs is their arbitrary relationship with the objects they are used to indicate. There is no natural connection between a linguistic form and its meaning.
However, there are some words in language which echo the sounds of objects or activities. These onomatopoeic words are relatively rare.
For the majority of animal signals there appears to be a clear connection between the conveyed message and the signal used to convey it. This non-arbitrariness of animal signaling may be connected with the fact that the set of signals used in communication is finite.
By: Ashjan Ahmed Alhindi
• It is a feature of all languages that novel utterances are continually being CREATED.
• A child learning language is especially active in forming and producing utterances which he or she has never heard before.
• Adults make new words for new inventions and events.
• This property of human language has been termed Productivity or Creativity or Open-endedness. It is linked to the fact that the potential number of utterances in any human language is infinite.
• Animals have fixed reference. Each signal refers to something, but these signals can not be manipulated. (closed communication systems).
For Example: Ten Bees were taken to the top, shown the food source, and sent off to tell the rest of the hive about their find. They flew around in all directions, but couldn’t locate the food.The bee cannot manipulate its communication system to create a ‘new’ message indicate vertical distance. (the bees have no word for up in their language. Moreover, they cannot invent one).
Cultural Transmission
We inherit Genetic Traits such as: ( skin, hair
and eye color, body shape, diseases….est.)
What about language, is it inherited?
No, it’s not. Language is acquired in a culture
with other speakers.
This process is called Cultural Transmission
Cultural Transmission is also called
Cultural Learning.
What does cultural transmission mean?
It means passing the language from one
generation to the next.
It is the way a group of people or animals
within a society or culture tend to learn and
pass on new information (Wikipedia.)
Humans are not born with the ability to
produce utterances in a specific language.
Cultural transmission of a specific language is
crucial in the human acquisition process.
In the case of animals, the signals that
they are communicating is instinctive. So,
the general pattern of their
communication is instinctive and not
learned. Unlike human infants.
If a human infant grows up in isolation, he
will not produce an “instinctive”
language.
Dalal Ahmad Amer.
Discreteness
By: Mashael Talal Al-ThaQafy
Discreteness Definition:
*The state or quality of
being discrete, separated or
distinct
*The quality of being
individual
The sounds
used in language
are meaningfully
distinct
Each sound in the
language is treated as
discrete
These different sounds could be
imagined as of the spoken language have
the same difference in the written set
such as :
Pack Back
Different in meaning
The conclusion is:
Two distinct levels:
The level of distinct
sounds e.g.
P , b
The level of distinct
meanings e.g.
Pack , Back
By: Shroog Hussine Harise
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Duality “double articulation: ”
the organization of human language at two levels or layers simultaneously. In speech production, we
have two levels
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1 -A physical level (distinct sounds): at
which we can produce individual sounds, like
n, b and i. As individual sounds,
none of these discrete forms has any
intrinsic meaningshroog Hussine Harise 43004289
2 -Producing a meaning level (distinct
meanings): In a particular combination such as bin, we have
another level producing a meaning that is different from the
meaning of the combination in nib.
shroog Hussine Harise 43004289
This duality of levels is one of the most economical features of human language because, with a limited set of discrete sounds, we are capable of producing a
very large number of sound combinations (e.g. words) which
are distinct in meaning.
By: Bashayer Al-malki
Other properties of language
Reflexivity –Displacement-Arbitrariness
Productivity -Cultural Transmission – Duality
*These six properties may be taken as the core features of human language .
*Human language does of course have many other properties, but these are not uniquely
human characteristic.
Vocal-auditory channel
Human linguistic communication is typically generated via the vocal organs and perceived via ears.
However linguistic communication can also be transmitted without sound ,via writing or via the sign language of the deaf.
Many other species (e.g. dolphins) use the vocal-auditory channel.
Reciprocity:
Any speaker –sender of a linguistic signal
can also be a listener- receiver.
Specialization:
Linguistic signals do not normally serve any
other type of purpose, such as breathing or
feeding.
Non-directionality:
Linguistic signals can be picked up by
anyone within hearing, even unseen.
Rapid fade:
Linguistic signals are produced and
disappear quickly.
These are properties of the spoken language
but not of the written language.
They are also not present in many animal
communication systems .
Such properties are best treated as ways of
describing human language ,but not as a means
of distinguishing it from other systems of
communication.
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