Jakobson's

functions of
language

The six factors of an effective verbal

communication. To each one corresponds a
communication function (not displayed in this
picture).[1]
Roman Jakobson defined six functions
of language (or communication
functions), according to which an
effective act of verbal communication
can be described.[2] Each of the functions
has an associated factor. For this work,
Jakobson was influenced by Karl Bühler's
organon model, to which he added the
poetic, phatic and metalingual functions.

The six functions of

language
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." Similarly, the referential function
is associated with an element whose
true value is under questioning
especially when the truth value is
identical in both the real and
assumptive universe.[3]
The poetic function: focuses on "the
message for its own sake"[4] (the code
itself, and how it is used) and is the
operative function in poetry as well as
slogans.
The emotive (alternatively called
"expressive" or "affective") function:
relates to the Addresser (sender) 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 (receiver) directly and is
best illustrated by vocatives and
imperatives, e.g. "Tom! Come inside
and eat!"
The phatic function: is language for the
sake of interaction and is therefore
associated with the Contact/Channel
factor. The Phatic Function can be
 observed in greetings and casual
discussions of the weather, particularly
with strangers. It also provides the
keys to open, maintain, verify or close
the communication channel: "Hello?",
"Ok?", "Hummm", "Bye"...
The metalingual (alternatively called
"metalinguistic" or "reflexive") function:
is the use of language (what Jakobson
calls "Code") to discuss or describe
itself.

References
1. Middleton, Richard (April 1, 1990).
Studying Popular Music . Philadelphia,
UK: McGraw-Hill Education. p. 241.
ISBN 0-335-15275-9.
2. Waugh, Linda R. (1980). "The Poetic
Function in the Theory of Roman
Jakobson" . Poetics Today. Duke
University Press. 2 (1): 57–82.
doi:10.2307/1772352 .
3. "The Real Functions of Language" .
Paper Written. January 16, 2017.
Retrieved August 18, 2017.
4. Duranti 1997.

Bibliography
Sebeok, Thomas Albert (1960).
"Closing statements: Linguistics and
Poetics" (PDF). In Jakobson, Roman.
Style in language . New-York: M.I.T.
p. 470.
 Hébert, Louis (2011). "The Functions
of Language" . Signo. Rimouski,
Quebec: Université du Québec à
Rimouski.

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