COMD 2050 : COMD Midterm Study Guide
Document Summary
Language is: a means of communication, communication signals vs. informative signals, ex: chirps vs. waggle dance, composed of symbols, symbols are organized according to rules, ex: numbers, alphabet, shared among users, conventional, agreed-upon. Languages aren"t limited to situations of survival, mating, or territory. Language isn"t restricted to the present language has displacement. Bee dance refers to present location of nectar. Displacement also allows us to discuss things that don"t exist or that we"ve never seen before. Infinite number of messages (meaning) from basic elements (sounds: embedded clauses, animal communication has fixed reference, danger signals of vervet monkeys. Language is used to think and talk about the language itself (reflexivity). Symbols are arbitrary arbitrariness: some iconicity exists : onomatopoeia. Language shows relationships between symbols: ex: subject verb agreement. New symbols can be introduced into languages: ex: google, text, suv. Symbols can be broken down into smaller, meaningless parts duality.
