Language, Signs, and Communication Functions

Posted on Jan 6, 2025 in Pedagogy

Language and Communication

Language is the power humans have to communicate through shared symbols and express thought. Language is a structured system of verbal and combination rules common to a community of speakers. Speech is the concrete realization of a language by speakers in a specific communicative situation. The linguistic norm is the set of rules and accepted uses by speakers of a language as exemplary ways of speaking.

Varieties of Language

Situational varieties: Due to the communicative situation, speakers express themselves in a specific manner of speaking, called a register. A register is the way an individual speaks in a situation and at a specific time. A person may use different registers depending on factors such as intention, relationship with the interlocutor, the topic of conversation, and the mode of transmission of the message.

• In a formal situation, a formal register is used.
• In informal situations, an informal register is used.

Social varieties: These depend on the social group to which the speaker belongs. Each social layer uses a specific manner of speaking, called a sociolect. The sociolect adopted by a social group sharing common characteristics is called a social factor.

Factors Influencing Language Varieties

• Biological Factors: Sex, although becoming less evident, sociolinguistic studies have shown that men and women do not speak the same way. Age also influences how people speak.
• Social Factors: Depending on the level of education, speakers are distinguished by three levels of use: the cultivated level (characterized by greater correctness), the average level (typical of the speaker’s community), and the grassroots level (furthest from the norm).
• Geographical variants: These depend on where the language is spoken. Each location uses a dialect.

The Sign and Its Types

A sign is any perceptible element that represents or replaces an idea, feeling, or reality.

Structure of a Sign

• Signifier: The sign as perceived by the recipient through their senses (e.g., a traffic signal).
• Signified: The concept or idea associated with the signifier; its semantic content.
• Referent: The external reality to which the sign refers.

Perception of Signs

• Visual: (e.g., a drawing)
• Acoustic: (e.g., a sound)
• Olfactory: (e.g., a scent)
• Gustatory: (e.g., a taste)
• Tactile: (e.g., a touch)

Relationship Between Signifier and Signified

• Signs: (Signifier and signified have a natural cause-and-effect relationship)
• Icons: (The relationship is based on similarity or likeness)
• Symbols: (Signifier and signified are associated by convention)

Functions of Language

Any communication process originates from a sender with a specific purpose. The use of language, or its function, depends on the communicative intention.

Phatic function: To check if the communication channel is open.