Universal Properties of Language

Front

Language Scenario:

The word “tree” does not look or sound like an actual tree.

Back

Property: Arbitrariness

There is no natural or inherent relationship between linguistic forms and meanings. Different languages use different words for the same object.

Front

Language Scenario

“The cat that chased the mouse that stole the cheese ran away.”

Back

Property: Constituency & Recursion
Language allows embedding structures inside other structures (clauses within clauses). This sentence shows recursive expansion: one clause is inserted into another.

Front

Language Scenario:
Changing “b” to “p” in “bat” → “pat” changes meaning.

Back

Property: Discreteness:

Language is built from distinct units (sounds, morphemes, words). Small changes in discrete elements can produce different meanings.

Front

Language Scenario:

You speak differently to your lecturer than to your close friends.

Back

Property: Variability

Language varies depending on social factors such as status, relationship, setting, and identity.

Front

Language Scenario:
You create a new word like “ngopi-bareng-an” or "boo-ed" and people still understand it.

Back

Property: Productivity

Speakers can generate and understand new words or expressions using existing linguistic patterns.

Front

Language Scenario:

Sounds → words → phrases → sentences.

Back

Property: Modularity

Language consists of interacting subsystems (phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics, pragmatics), organized in hierarchical layers.

Front

Language Scenario:
You say “It’s hot here” and someone opens the window or turns on the AC.

Back

Property: Reliance on Context

Meaning is interpreted through situational context and pragmatic inference, not only literal sentence meaning.