I

NTRODUCTION TO 

L

INGUISTICS

.

 

L

ECTURE 

2. 

 

 

Features and functions of language 

 
I. ‘Design’ features of language (Ch. F. Hockett, 1960, ‘The origin of speech’): 
 

1.  Vocal-auditory channel 
2.  Broadcast transmission and directional reception 
3.  Rapid fading (transitoriness) 
4.  Interchangeability (taking the role of both the sender and the receiver) 
5.  Total feedback 
6.  Specialisation (sounds specialised for language; communication does not serve any 

additional physiological function) 

7.  Semanticity (having meaning) 
8.  Arbitrariness (the opposite of iconicity) 
9.  Discreteness (sentences, words, sounds consist of distinguishable components) 
10. Creativity: 

a. openness 
b. recursion 

11. Duality (meaningful senses from meaningless sounds) 
12. Displacement: 

a. spatial 
b. temporal 
c. modal 

13. Cultural transmission 
14. Grammaticality 
15. Reflexiveness 

 
II. Functions of language: 
 

1.  Referential (informative, cognitive, representative): to convey information, to point to 

objects and events; 

2.  Emotive (expressive): to express feelings, describe or appeal to emotions; 
3.  Conative (imperative, pragmatic, persuasive): to persuade someone to do something, 

to achieve practical effects; 

4.  Poetic (aesthetic): to attract the attention to the formal properties of the message; 
5.  Phatic: to start, maintain and finish linguistic contact; 
6.  Performative: to perform certain acts; 
7.  Metalinguistic (metalingual): to talk about language itself. 

 
 

DOMAIN 

FUNCTION 

 

DOMINANT 

SUBORDINATE 

Journalism 

Referential 

Expressive, Conative 

Advertising 

Conative 

Referential, Poetic 

Religion 

Expressive 

Conative, Poetic 

Law 

Referential 

Metalinguistic, Conative 

Literature 

Poetic 

Expressive, Referential 

Conversation 

Phatic 

Referential, Expressive 

‘Classroom’ 

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