Origins of Human Language - Why Us? - Hockett's design features of human language

15 important questions on Origins of Human Language - Why Us? - Hockett's design features of human language

What is meant with the "vocal-auditory channel" design feature?

Language is produced in the vocal tract and transmitted as sound. Sound is perceived through the auditory channel.

What is meant with the "broadcast transmission and directional reception" design feature?

Language can be heard from many directions, but it is perceived as coming from one particular direction.

What is meant with the "rapid fading" design feature?

The sound produced by speech fades quickly.
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What is meant with the "interchangeability" design feature?

A user of a language can send and receive the same message

What is meant with the "total feedback" design feature?

Senders of a message can hear and internalize the message they've sent

What is meant with the "specialization" design feature?

The production of the sounds of language serves no purpose other than to communicate

What is meant with the "semanticity" design feature?

There are fixed associations between units of language and aspects of the world

What is meant with the "discreteness" design feature?

The units of language are separate and distinct from one another rather than being part of a continuous whole.

What is meant with the "displacement" design feature?

Language can be used to communicate about things that are not present in time and/or space.

What is meant with the "productivity" design feature?

Language can be used to say things that have never been said before and yet are understandable to the receiver

What is meant with the "traditional transmission" design feature?

The specific language that's adopted by the user has to be learned by exposure to other users of that language; its precise details are not available through genetic transmission

What is meant with the "duality of patterning" design feature?

Many meaning units (words) are made by combining of a small number of elements (sounds) into various sequences. For example, pat, tap and apt use the same sound elements combined in different ways to make different word units. In this way, tens of thousands of words can be created from several dozen  sounds.

What is meant with the "prevarication" design feature?

Language can deliberately be used to make false statements.

What is meant with the "reflexiveness" design feature?

Language can be used to refer to or describe itself.

What are the features that are related to the channel of communication?

vocal-auditory channel
broadcast transmission; directional reception
rapid fading
specialization

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