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 

shroog Hussine Harise     43004289

Duality “double articulation: ”

the organization of human language at two levels or layers simultaneously. In speech production, we

have two levels

shroog Hussine Harise     43004289

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.