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ferent aspects of language that enable commu- this chain of communication can
nication. Body language, sign language and be sustained over time and space.
animal language are all examples of the same. And through interactions, lan-
Languages are developed by humans and used guage also develops. Over time,
as a tool for communication. Here we will dis- meanings change, and the way
cuss the features of human languages: arbitrari- words, phrases, and signs are
ness, reflexivity, displacement and creativity. used evolve significantly. Reflex-
ivity allows human language to
1�1�5 Features of Human Language develop and change over time.

f Human language is creative. f Language allows us to talk about
The utterances and combinations the past, present and future. It
possible in human language are can be used beyond time. We
infinite. Animal communication, talk about imaginary things that
in comparison, is far limited. are non-existent. This feature of
The combinations of sounds and human language that allows it to
movements that they can produce evoke events and objects that are
is fewer. They are also limited removed in time or space is called
to communicating information displacement.
about basic necessities like food,
shelter, and warnings of immi-
nent danger. 1�1�6 Origin of Language
f Another unique quality of human
language is its arbitrariness� Our everyday activities depend on language.
There appears to be no logical cor- Edward Sapir says “language is a purely human
relation between a word and the and non-instinctive method of communicating
object or thought or feeling that ideas, emotions and desires by means of vol-
word conveys. For example, the untarily produced symbols,” Sapir has left a
word tree and the concept of tree vagueness in this definition using the terms
has no relation each other. When “ideas, emotions and desires.” These terms do
you hear the word tree, the image not convey what is communicated by all lan-
of a tree comes to your mind. But guages.
the same image can be conveyed
using a word in another language, It is also impossible to know exactly how
like Malayalam or Hindi. There humans arrived at the idea of language. Some
is no relation between the object philosophers, like Yuval Noah Harari, spec-
and its linguistic form. The ex- ulate that language developed because of a
ception is, as we have discussed very human need to gossip. Gossip was a way
earlier, the onomatopoeic words in which primitive humans managed to form
which has close resemblance be- social bonds with their fellow beings. Espe-
tween the sound and the word. cially when the herd size increased beyond
f Human communication is also the point where each member could interact
unique in its reflexivity. When a with every other member, they relied on gossip
message is sent, the receiver pro- to know whom to trust, whom to avoid, and
cesses it and responds to it, and whom to cooperate with. Let us now exam-

8 SGOU - FYUGP - SLM - English for Communication