Properties of Human Language

It is certain that communication is the primary function of human language. It is also certain that all creatures communicate with each other in some ways but the difference is that they are not as advanced in communication as humans are. Like, a dog can not advise to the other dog to lower the sound of its bark. But, humans are surely able to reflex on a language and its uses that comes under the properties of Reflexivity. This Reflexivity helps to talk and think about a language which distinguishes the human languages from other creatures languages. 

 From this Reflexivity which is the general property of the human language, Linguists have successfully identified some other properties of the human language which are :

1. Displacement
2. Arbitrariness
3. Cultural Transmission
4. Productivity
5. Duality

DISPLACEMENT :-

 Human Language can not only be used for present situation but for past and future as well. But, other creatures are only able to communicate for present and right now situations. This is termed as “Displacement”. This feature of a language can only be found in human languages and other creatures are not able to communicate with eachother using this property.

If a cat is saying “meow”. This “meow” is only for immediate time and place and if we ask it that where was it last night? The cat will only say “meow” that can not distinguish its past or present. And, also for future, it will only say “meow”.

If a dog is making a sound “GRRR” for present, it can not change the intensity of the sound “GRRR” for distinguishing the present from past or future. The “GRRR” will remain the same “GRRR”.On the other end, Humans can easily define and distinguish their past, present and future.

Meanwhile, bees communication can be taken as small exeption because it has little bit displacement in it. For example, when a honeybee returns to its beehive after finding some source of nectar, a complex dance routeen is performed by it to communicate with other bees and to make them know about the source of food. But it must be the most recent food source. The food source seen a week ago, bees communication does not have any dance for it. So, although bees communication has some degree of displacement but it is only for the most recent present, neither for past nor for future.

ARBITRARINESS :-

According to linguists, there has been no “natural” connection between a linguistics form and its meaning and the connection is “arbitrary”. For example, the linguistic form “dog” has no iconic or natural connection with that four-legged barking object.  The study of characteristic of relationship between objects in the world and linguistic signs is termed as ARBITRARINESS.

However, “Onomatopoeic” words (Cuckoo, squelch, crash, whirr etc)  show less arbitrary connection.

PRODUCTIVITY :-

Humans having influence of their traitor nature have been manipulating their linguistic resources through creating new communication ways and expressions with respect to time and situations. This adds “Productivity” in the properties of human language.

The productive communicative nature humans have, is not found in communication of any other creature as others are bound to their limited signals of communication. The honeybee can only communicate with eachother in term of horizontally as they don’t have any signal for vertical locations.

For this, scientists place a food source at the top of radio tower with a hive of bees and also place some bees at the bottom of the tower. The bees on the top taste the food and reach to other the bees but fail to identify the location because of not having any signal to identify vertical places.   

This distinguishes the human communication from other creatures as humans can produce new signals or ways of communication from time to time and place to place.

CULTURAL TRANSMISSION :-

It is also an unique property of the humans language. Humans do not inherit language from their parents but culture. A baby born in West Indies but brought up in United States will have physical stature like his West Indian parents but he will speak like his sourrounding in United States. Humans learn their language from their culture and surrounding.

DUALITY :-

 Duality is also a silent feature of property of human language. Humans can produce individual sound like /n/ , /b/, /i/ and they can also produce them collectively as “bin” or “nib”.

While, other creatures have fixed forms of sounds in their communication.

(Source/Reference : The Study of Language, Fourth Edition by George Yule, Cambridge University Press).