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they will not be received at all. Speech signals are probably the least
permanent of all communicative media.
• Arbitrariness: Language signals are arbitrary; they do not possess any
of the physical properties or characteristics of the things for which
they stand. Names are largely arbitrary: there is no real relationship
between the name and the individual. And yet, names are not totally
arbitrary; many names indicate the ethnic group to which an indi-
vidual belongs and usually indicate sex.

• Cultural transmission: The form of any particular human language is
culturally or traditionally transmitted. One of the consequences of
cultural transmission is that any human language can be learned by
any normal human being. All human languages are learnable.

Language as Meaning System

If it were not for the desire of one person to communicate a meaning to another
person, language would probably not exist. Of all the functions of language,
the communication of one person’s meaning to another is surely the most sig-
nificant. Consequently, meaning must be placed at the centre of any attempt to
explain language. Although a variety of types of meanings may be identified,
two general types essential to identify in communication: denotation and con-
notation. The denotation of a word is its objective definition. The connotation
of a word is its subjective or emotional meaning. In order to explain these two
types of meanings, let us take an example of the word fail. To an examiner this
word might simply mean or denote that the student did not get 50 or more
than 50. It is an objective description of a particular event. On the other hand,
to the person who failed in the examination, the word means much more than
getting 50 or more than 50. He or she recalls his or her preparation, stress
involved in understanding the concepts, losing time, pain involved in prepar-
ing again for the exam, his or her classmates being promoted to another class,
he or she remaining in the same class, and so on. To him or her it is a highly
emotional word, or a highly subjective word. These emotional or subjective or
personal reactions are the word’s connotative meaning. Denotative meanings
are relatively unchanging and static. Although definitions of all words change
through time, denotative meanings generally change very slowly. But the con-
notative meaning changes rapidly from person to person.

Speaking and Writing
Educationists have witnessed that people tend to prefer oral communication
channels to written ones. In general, talking to somebody is quicker and
more convenient than writing a memo or a letter. Furthermore, when you are
speaking or listening, you can pick up added meanings from nonverbal cues

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