THE 6 MOST IMPORTANT ELEMENTS OF HUMAN LANGUAGE - CULTURE VOCABULARY - 2025

The elements of human language make communication possible. They are the elements that all languages ​​have in common; this allows human language to be spoken.

It differs from the communication systems used by other species, such as bees or apes, which are closed systems. The latter consist of a fixed number of things that can be communicated.

Human language is based on a dual code, in which an infinite number of nonsense elements (sounds, letters or gestures) can be combined to form units of meaning (words and sentences).

Language can be defined as the form of communication between several people. Language is arbitrary (in terms of individual words), generative (in terms of the placement of words), and is constantly evolving.

The 6 main elements of human language

1- Alphabet

The alphabet or ABC is a set of letters that are used to write in one or more languages. The basic principle of the alphabet is that each letter represents a phoneme.

2- Phonemes

Phonemes are the sounds that make up the spoken word. They are the minimum articulation of short and long sounds that make up vowels and consonants.

3- Morphemes

A morpheme is a short segment of language or minimal unit that has meaning.

The morpheme has three main characteristics. The first is that it can be a word or part of a word.

The second is that it cannot be divided into smaller meaningful segments without changing its meaning or leaving a meaningless remainder.

Lastly, it has a relatively stable meaning in different verbal settings.

Examples

- Arch, suffix added to nouns to indicate form of government: monarchy, anarchy.

- Ísimo, is added to adjectives and indicates superlative: great, very high.

- Or, indicates the male gender.

- Self, prefix that means «of oneself»: ​​self-taught, self-critical, self-destructive.

4- Words

The words are arbitrary. They don't look, sound, or feel like what they represent. But as the meaning of it is known by the sender and receiver, they can communicate.

The arbitrariness of the word is demonstrated in the existence of the different languages. Each language names an object, action, or quality with a different word.

5- Semantics

Semantics is the branch of linguistics that studies the meaning of words and the relationships between words to build meaning.

Semantics is the meaning and interpretation of words, signs, and sentence structure.

Determines message understanding, understanding of others, and interpretation based on context. Also study how that meaning changes over time.

Semantics distinguish between literal and figurative meaning. The literal meaning is associated with the concepts that have the value of what they express; for example, "autumn began with the change in the color of the leaves."

The figurative meaning is applied to metaphors or comparisons that give a more powerful meaning. For example: "I'm hungry as a bear."

6-

Grammar is made up of the rules that organize the order in which words appear.

Different languages ​​have different grammar rules; that is, different ways of combining words so that what you want to express makes sense.

References

1. Willingham, DT (2007). Cognition: The thinking animal (3rd ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson / Allyn4 Bacon.
2. Notes on Communication. Appendix 2: Some Thoughts About Language. wanterfall.com
3. Angela Gentry. (2016) Definition of Semantics. 11/29/2017. Study. study.com
4. Editor (2014) What are Morphemes? 11/29/2017. Rochester Institute of Technology. ntid.rit.edu
5. Editor (2016) Language: Definition, Characteristics & Change. 02/12/2017. Encyclopedia Britannica. britannica.com