Language And Communication Assignment One

ASSIGNMENT 1 (worth 15% of overall assessment) Jack Woodward
Thompson, N. (2003). Understanding communication: understanding language. In Communication and language: a handbook of theory and practice. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, pp.9-15 and 36-45.
Yule, G. (1996). The properties of language. In: The study of language. 2nd ed. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp 19-29.
Finegan, E. (2004). Languages and Linguistics. In: Language: its structure and use, 4th ed. Boston: Thomson Wadsworth, pp.1-12.
Ludlow, R. and F.Panton. (1992). The essence of effective communication. New York: Prentice Hall, pp.9-13. SECTION 1. (6 marks)
1. Basing your answer on the readings by Finegan (2004) and Yule (1996) explain what the term arbitrariness means as it is used to describe a property of human language. Give your own examples to illustrate. (2 marks) I can describe arbitrariness in regards to human language as; having no connection between the meaning of a word and the form the word takes in written language. From words such as fish or token, there can be no relationship found between the actual form of a fish or a token and the linguistic form. An example of arbitrariness and nonarbitrariness can be expressed through a car alarm going off. Hearing the alarm would tell you someone was breaking into the car and send you to investigate. The alarm you hear is nonarbitary, the sound of the alarm is what carries the message that someone is breaking in. However, if someone was to say 'someone is breaking into your car', it is highly likely that you will still go to investigate your car, but in this case you have been informed by a group of words that have no connection to their actual form, hence them being arbitrary. From this example it can be seen that the same message can be sent through either an arbitrary