Language is very different from other forms of communication that range from gestures and symbols to animal sounds, grunts, etc.,. This is as a result of the unique features language possesses which the other forms of communication lack. This brings us to the study of the properties of language.
What are Properties of Language?
The properties of language refer to those unique and distinctive features that language possesses which set it apart from other forms of communication. It is because of these features that language is considered to be more advanced, and productive than the other communication methods that exist.
Reflexivity
This feature of language is based on the notion that you can use language to comment on language. That is, you can say something about language while using language, which many other forms of communication are incapable. Take for instance: when you tell somebody to speak slowly, or use words that are easier to understand, you are commenting on their use of language with language, and this unique feature separates language from other forms of communication.
Arbitrariness
This feature of language is based on the idea that there is no one-to-one correlation between words, and the objects or concepts they identify. Take for instance: there is nothing about the word: "dog", that reflects the domestic animal dog. We can only identify the animal as, "dog", because that is what we use to refer to it, and nothing about the animal warrants it earning the name, "dog". This means that language is not fixed, and can vary from individual to individual, or location to location. The animal, "dog", is identified as, "Nkita", in the Ibo language, and just like in the English language, there is nothing about the name that reflects the animal, rather than a conventional agreement to identify the animal by that name.
Displacement
This is another interesting feature of language. Displacement is based on the notion that we can talk about things that are not currently present. That is, with language, you can talk about things that happened an hour ago, thousands or millions of years ago and so on—basically, things that occurred in the past. You can even talk about things that can not be physically experienced like fairytales, action figures, etc.,. Take for instance: you can tell a friend about your experience on a field trip you went on last month, which is a past event not currently present and this feature distinguishes language from other forms of communication. Also, you can talk about future events or activities, as long as they are not currently present, they depict the displacement feature of language.
Productivity
This feature of language, also known as creativity or open-endedness, is based on the notion that you can use a limited set of letters to create an infinite number of expressions or sentences. The number of letters in a language is limited. For instance, there are only twenty four alphabets in the English language. However, this limited or finite set of letters can be used to generate an infinite amount of words, phrases, and sentences to capture different thoughts and concepts. For instance: "John is the prince". "The prince is John". This sentences show a fraction of the infinite possibilities of sentences that can be formed using language.
Duality
This feature is based on the notion that language operates at two levels. There is the level of sounds consisting of phonemes as in: /b/, /d/, /e/, etc., and the level of meaning where these sounds are combined according to the rules of a language to form meaningful expressions. The sounds cannot express meaning in isolation until they are properly combined. For instance: combining the phonemes: /b/, /e/, and /d/, will lead to the formation of the word, "bed", which is a meaningful expression referring to an object on which humans sleep.
Cultural Transmission
This feature is based on the notion that language is not a biological feature of human beings. What this implies is that human beings are not born with language. Even though it has been proven by the likes of Noam Chomsky that humans are born with a language acquisition device (LAD), the likes of Michael Halliday have also established that human beings are born tabularasa, with a clean slate, and it is from the society they find themselves in that they are able to acquire language. Language is culturally passed down from generation-to-generation, and the only way humans can acauire or learn language is through interaction with society. For instance: a child born to Ibo parents in the United States will most likely pick up the English language first, because it is the language of their immediate environment.
So properties of language are those special features language possesses that set it apart from other forms of communication like symbols, gestures, animal sounds, etc.,. Some of these features include: productivity, displacement, arbitrariness, cultural transmission, etc.,. Understanding the properties of language will better inform you on how language varies from the rest other forms of communication.
Read more:
- Lexicology in Linguistics: Understanding the Study of Lexis in Langue
- Unlocking the Meaning Behind Words: A Guide to Semantics in Linguistics
- Pragmatics: The Study of Meaning in Context Explained
- Morphology in Linguistics Explained: The Internal Structure of Words