ENG 102

Language, Culture and Society

Language and Humans

"Features of Human Language by Hockett"
"Halliday's Language Functions"
"Non-Human Communication"

 Language and Humans

Content
3 - Features of Human Language
by Hockett
19 - Halliday's Language
Functions
36 - Non-Human Communication
 Language and Humans

Features of Human
Language by Hockett
 Language and Humans

According to Charles Hockett 1960's

The features of human language by Hockett is

also known as ‘design features of human
language.’ These features help to
understand the essential ingredients of
human language.
The Human language is complex
phenomenon, especially when we try to
explore the amazing similarities that the
languages of the world display together.
 Features of Human Language

According to Charles Hockett 1960's

I) Vocal Auditory Channel

The standard human language occurs as a
vocal type of communication which is
perceived by hearing it.
 Features of Human Language

According to Charles Hockett 1960's

II) Broadcast Transmission and

Directional Reception
The human language signal is sent out in
all directions, while it is perceived in a limited
direction.
 Features of Human Language

According to Charles Hockett 1960's

III) Rapid Fading (Transitoriness)

The human language signal does not
persist over time. Speech waveforms fade
rapidly and cannot be heard or retrieved after
they fade.
 Features of Human Language

According to Charles Hockett 1960's

IV) Interchangeability
The speaker can both receive and
broadcast the same signal.
 Features of Human Language

According to Charles Hockett 1960's

V) Total feedback
The speaker can hear themselves speak and
can monitor their language performance as
they go.
 Features of Human Language

According to Charles Hockett 1960's

VI) Specialization
The organs used for producing speech are
specially adapted to that task.
 Features of Human Language

According to Charles Hockett 1960's

VII) Semanticity
Specific signals can be matched with
specific meanings.
 Features of Human Language

According to Charles Hockett 1960's

VIII) Arbitrariness
There is no necessary connection between
the form of the signal and the thing being
referred to.
 Features of Human Language

According to Charles Hockett 1960's

IX) Discreteness
The basic units of speech (such as sounds)
can be categorized as belonging to distinct
categories.
 Features of Human Language

According to Charles Hockett 1960's

X) Displacement
The speaker can talk about things which
are not present, either spatially or temporally.
 Features of Human Language

According to Charles Hockett 1960's

XI) Productivity
Human languages allow speakers to create
novel, never-before-heard utterances that
others can understand.
 Features of Human Language

According to Charles Hockett 1960's

XII) Traditional Transmission

Human language is not something inborn.
 Features of Human Language

According to Charles Hockett 1960's

XIII) Duality of Patterning

The discrete parts of a language can be
recombined in a systematic way to create new
forms.
Language and Humans
 Language and Humans

Halliday's Language
Functions
 Language Functions

Michael Halliday's Functions of Language

In 1975, Halliday published his 'seven

functions of language', which describes the
way children use language. He refers to
these as 'developmental functions' or
'micro functions.'
 Language Functions

Michael Halliday's Functions of Language

When we refer to the functions of language,

we are actually talking about the properties
of language, and the purposes it is used
for by individuals.
 Language Functions

Michael Halliday's Functions of Language

For Halliday, there are three macro-

functions that provide the basic functions on
learning a foreign language.
They are:
1. Ideational
2. Interpersonal
3. Textual
 Language Functions

Michael Halliday's Functions of Language

Ideational
Ideational meanings represent our
experience of phenomena in the world
framed by different processes and
circumstances which are set in time by means
of tense and logical meanings.
 Language Functions

Michael Halliday's Functions of Language

Interpersonal
Interpersonal meanings are shaped by
the resources of modality and mood to
negotiate the proposals between interactants
in terms of probability, obligation or
inclination, and secondly, to establish and
maintain an ongoing exchange of information
by means of grammar through declaratives,
questions, and commands.
 Language Functions

Michael Halliday's Functions of Language

Textual
Textual meanings are concerned with the
information as textin context at a
lexicogrammatical level. Phonology is
related arbitrarily to this function as its
abstract wordings includes intonation,
rhythm and syllabic and phonemic
articulation.
 Language Functions

Michael Halliday's Functions of Language

Halliday identified seven types of

function that language serves for children
in the early years, as they attempt to find out
their environment, control it, interact with
other human beings, and comment on their
environment and their experience.
 Language Functions

Michael Halliday's Functions of Language

1) Instrumental
The instrumental function of language
refers to when language is used to fulfil a
need, such as requiring food, drink, or
comfort.
This is the ‘I want’ function, where a child
shows their desires and needs.
 Language Functions

Michael Halliday's Functions of Language

2) Regulatory
Or ‘Do as I tell you’ function, where a child
is exercising control of people in their
environment, telling them what to do.
Regulatory language controls the listener's
behavior.
 Language Functions

Michael Halliday's Functions of Language

3) Interactional
Or ‘Me and you’ function, where a child
uses language to establish personal contact
and enter into social relationships.
This example of Halliday's function is how
we form relationships with others as it
encompasses the communicative use of
language.
 Language Functions

Michael Halliday's Functions of Language

4) Personal
Or ‘Here I come’ function, where the child
uses language to assert their individuality and
to express their identity and feelings.
 Language Functions

Michael Halliday's Functions of Language

In the first four functions, language is

used to enable a child to satisfy physical,
emotional and social needs.
The next two functions concern the use
of language by the child in relation to
their environment.
 Language Functions

Michael Halliday's Functions of Language

5) Heuristic
Or ‘Tell me why’ function, where the
child uses language to explore their
environment, to find out about the reality that
they inhabit.
This term refers to language associated
with discovery and explanation, usually in the
form of questions or a running commentary.
 Language Functions

Michael Halliday's Functions of Language

6) Imaginative
Or ‘let’s pretend’ function, where a child
uses language to create their own imaginary
environment or where they simply use
language playfully.
Imaginative language usually occurs in
leisure or play scenarios.
 Language Functions

Michael Halliday's Functions of Language

7) Representational
The last function is the one most readily
associated with adult language. the ‘I’ve got
something to tell you’ function, where
language is used as a means of
communicating in formation or expressing
propositions.
Language and Humans
 Non-Human Communication

Non-Human Communication
 Non-Human Communication

Non-Human Communication

Non human communication is the way

anything non human communicates without
using words, i.e., natural
communication of animals.
 Non-Human Communication

Non-Human Communication

Animals communicate using

signals, which can include visual; auditory, or
sound based chemical, involving
pheromones; or tactile, touch based, cues.
Communication behaviors can help animals
find mates, establish dominance, defend
territory, coordinate group behavior, and care
for young.
 Non-Human Communication

Pheromone

A pheromone is a secreted chemical

signal used to trigger a response in another
individual of the same species. Pheromones
are especially common among social
insects, such as ants and bees. Pheromones
may attract the opposite sex, raise an alarm,
mark a food trail, or trigger other, more
complex behaviors.
 Non-Human Communication

Pheromone
1) Ants
Ants use pheromones to communicate their
social status, or role, in the colony, and ants of
different "castes" may respond differently to
the same pheromone signals.
 Non-Human Communication

Pheromone

2) Dogs
Dogs also communicate using
pheromones. They sniff each other to
collect this chemical information, and
many of the chemicals are also released in
their urine. By peeing on a bush or post, a
dog leaves a mark of its identity that can be
read by other passing dogs and may stake
its claim to nearby territory .
 Non-Human Communication

Non-Human Communication

Auditory Signals
Auditory communication is sending
information from one member to another by
producing the sound. It is widely used in the
animal kingdom.
 Non-Human Communication

Auditory Signals

1) Birds
Chirping - They usually do this to declare
the territorials boundaries.
Matting call - The matting call is usually
done by male to attract female birds so
they can mate.
Singing - The birds singing to
communicate with an entire group of
birds.
 Non-Human Communication

Auditory Signals

2) Non-Birds species
a) Monkey - Monkeys cry out a warning
when a predator is near, giving the other
members of the troop a chance to escape.
Vervet monkeys even have different calls to
indicate different predators.
 Non-Human Communication

Auditory Signals

2) Non-Birds species
b) Bullfrogs - Bullfrogs croak to attract
female frogs as mates. In some frog species,
the sounds can be heard up to a mile away!
 Non-Human Communication

Auditory Signals

2) Non-Birds species
c) Gibbons - Gibbons use calls to mark
their territory, keeping potential competitors
away. A paired male and female, and even
their off spring, may make the calls together.
 Non-Human Communication

Auditory Signals

2) Non-Birds species
d) Dolphins - Water, like air, can carry
sound waves, and marine animals also use
sound to communicate. Dolphins produce
various noises including whistles, chirps, and
clicks and arrange them in complex patterns.
 Non-Human Communication

Non-Human Communication

Visual Signals
Visual communication involves signals
that can be seen. Examples of these signals
include:
Gestures
Facial Expressions
Body Postures
Coloration.
 Non-Human Communication

Visual Signals
Gesture and Posture
Are widely used visual signals. For instance,
chimpanzees communicate a threat by raising
their arms, slapping the ground, or staring
directly at another chimpanzee. Gestures and
postures are commonly used in matting
rituals and may place other signals such as
bright coloring on display.
 Non-Human Communication

Visual Signals
Facial Expressions
Are also used to convey information in
some species. For instance, what is known as
the fear grin shown on the face of the young
chimpanzee below signals submission.
 Non-Human Communication

Visual Signals
Coloration
Coloration is changing the color for
example, the poison dart frog. It changes its
color and acts as a do not eat warning signal to
predators.
 Non-Human Communication

Visual Signals
Tactile Signals Touch
Information transmitted in the form of
physical touch is called tactile communication.
Tactile signals are more limited in range
than the othertypes of signals. These signals
are an important part of the communication
repertoire of many species. Tactile signals
are fairly common in insects.
Language and Humans
Language and Humans

End of Presentation