What is meant by the terms creativity and arbitrariness as is used to describe a property of human language? (5 Marks)
Human language holds paramount significance in shaping our existence, facilitating communication, and driving the evolution of societies and cultures. Humans have always been curious about language, the special way we communicate. Different experts have tried to figure out different properties that make human language different from how animals communicate. They’ve come up with lists of important features. We’re going to focus only on two key features that make human language special. Let’s take a closer look at these two features arbitrariness and creativity and see why they’re important.
Properties of Human Language
Creativity
Creativity refers to the remarkable ability of human beings to generate an infinite variety of novel utterances and expressions within their language system. Unlike animal communication, which often involves a limited set of fixed signals used for specific purposes, human language allows individuals to combine words and structures in unique ways to convey new meanings. This enables humans to communicate about a wide range of topics and adapt their language to novel situations. In essence, creativity in human language means that individuals can form and understand sentences and ideas that have never been encountered before.
Arbitrariness
Arbitrariness refers to the characteristic of human language where there is no inherent or natural connection between the sound (signifier) of a word and its meaning (signified). In other words, the relationship between the way a word is pronounced and the concept it represents is not based on any intrinsic similarity or logical connection.
This property of arbitrariness is in contrast to many animal communication systems where signals often directly relate to specific meanings. For example, in human language, the word “dog” has no inherent connection to the actual animal it signifies; this term could just as easily be replaced by different words in other languages (e.g., “kutta” in Hindi, “chien” in French), and the meaning would remain the same. Ferdinand de Saussure, a Swiss linguist, introduced the concept of arbitrariness as a key feature of linguistic signs.
In summary, creativity refers to the ability of humans to generate new and diverse expressions within their language system, while arbitrariness highlights the lack of a natural connection between the sounds of words and their meanings in human language. These two properties contribute to the complexity and versatility of human communication compared to animal communication systems.
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