Jakobson's Six Functions of Language

**سناء احمد** · 03-12-2010, 08:42 PM

Jakobson's Six Functions of Language
Roman Jakobson, expanding on the work of Karl Bühler, described six "constitutive factors" of a speech event, each of which represents the privileging of a corresponding function, and only one of which is the referential (which corresponds to the context of the speech event). The six constitutive factors and their corresponding functions are diagrammed below.
[COLOR="SandyBrown"]The Six Constitutive Factors of a Speech Event[
/COLOR
]1-Context
2-Message
3-Addresser---------------------4-Addressee
5-Contact
6-Code
The Six Functions of Language
1-Referential DESCRIBTIVE
2-Poetic
3-Emotive-----------------------
-4-Conative
5-Phatic
6-Metalingual
• The Referential Function
corresponds to the factor of Context and describes a situation, object or mental state. The descriptive statements of the referential function can consist of both definite descriptions and deictic words, e.g. "
• The autumn leaves have all fallen now."
• The Expressive
(alternatively called "emotive" or "affective") Function relates to the Addresser and is best exemplified by interjections and other sound changes that do not alter the denotative meaning of an utterance but do add information about the Addresser's (speaker's) internal state, e.g. "Wow, what a view!"
• The Conative Function
engages the Addressee directly and is best illustrated by vocatives and imperatives, e.g.
• "Tom! Come inside and eat!"
• The Poetic Function
focuses on "the message for its own sake" [5] and is the operative function in poetry as well as slogans.
• The Phatic Function
is language for the sake of interaction and is therefore associated with the Contact factor. The Phatic Function can be observed in
•
• greetings and casual discussions of the weather, particularly with strangers.
• The Metalingual
(alternatively called "metalinguistic" or "reflexive") Function is the use of language (what Jakobson calls "Code") to discuss or describe itself.
•