Characteristics of Human Language

1.5. Duality (Double Articulation)

      Human languages have two levels: minimal units - the alphabet for writing and phonemes for speech - which do not have a meaning on their own, and the level where the meaning emerges as a result of combination of the units from level one. It is emphasised by the fact that with a limited set of letters in the alphabet an unlimited number of words and expressions may be produced. At a physical primary level,  individual meaningless sounds (distinct sounds) (e.g. b, i,& n) mean nothing separately. At a secondary level, they take on distinct meanings only when they are combined together in various ways (e.g. bin/nib). Duality is one of the most economical features of human language (with a limited set of discrete sounds, we are capable of producing a very large number of sound combinations which are distinct in meaning.(e.g. words).

        However, Animals’ communicative signals lack this property and are fixed and cannot be broken down into separate parts : meow is not m + e + o + w. If so, we would expect to hear different combinations with different meanings like : oemw, mowe, or emow