The term “design features” of language was introduced by linguist Charles Hockett to identify the defining characteristics that distinguish human language from other forms of communication. Hockett outlined a set of 13 design features, which are as follows:
- Mode of Communication: Language is primarily vocal-auditory, using sound as its primary mode. While sign languages use gestures, they are still perceived visually.
- Semanticity: Language conveys meaning through specific, discrete units (words) that represent concepts.
- Arbitrariness: There is no inherent connection between the form of a linguistic sign and its meaning. The link is arbitrary and varies across languages.
- Discreteness: Language is composed of discrete units (phonemes, morphemes, words) that can be combined in various ways to create meaningful messages.
- Displacement: Language allows communication about things not present in the immediate context, including the past, future, and hypothetical situations.
- Productivity: Speakers can create and understand an infinite number of new messages by combining existing linguistic elements in novel ways.
- Cultural Transmission: Language is learned through cultural transmission, passed down from one generation to the next within a community.
- Duality of Patterning: Language has a hierarchical structure with small, meaningless elements (phonemes) combining to form meaningful elements (morphemes, words), and these meaningful elements combine to create larger, meaningful structures (sentences).
- Prevarication: Language allows speakers to convey false or misleading information intentionally.
- Reflexiveness: Language can be used to talk about language itself, enabling self-awareness and metacognition.
- Learnability: Humans have a biological predisposition to acquire language, and language is learned without formal instruction in a natural environment.
- Specialization: Language is a dedicated system for communication and is not tied to specific activities like eating or mating.
- Traditional Transmission: There is continuity and stability in the basic structure of language over time, but languages can also evolve and change.
These design features collectively capture the essential characteristics that make human language distinct. It’s worth noting that some features may have variations or exceptions across different languages and linguistic contexts.
