Jakobson's theory of language function

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In contrast to genre, the concept of "LP mode" is primarily an etic distinction. Here I am inspired by the work of the great linguistic and literary theorist Roman Jakobson, who analyzed the functions of language corresponding to terms of a standard model of verbal communication (adapted from the mathematical theory of communications). In this model, an addresser sends a message to an addressee. The message refers to a particular context, or referent. In order to be operative, the message must employ a verbal code at least partially common to the addresser and addressee, and at the moment of performance there must be a contact between them: a physical channel and psychological connection. Corresponding to these six components, Jakobson discerns six language functions, each oriented toward a particular component. But he wisely notes that verbal messages cannot be classified according to a single function, since nearly all messages will display multiple functions. Rather, verbal messages differ in their relative distribution of these functions, and the verbal structure (at the syntactic, morphologic, and phonemic levels) of a message may depend on its predominant function.

The functions corresponding to each component of the model are as follows:

  • Context: The referential, denotative, or cognitive function, by which a message communicates information about a context.
  • Addresser: The emotive function, by which a message communicates the speaker’s attitude and emotion, whether real or feigned.
  • Addressee: The conative function; an imperative or vocative directed to the addressee; such a message cannot be given a truth-value.
  • Contact: The phatic function (the term is Malinowski’s), by which communication is established, checked, confirmed, or discontinued.
  • Code: The metalingual function, in which language is made to refer to language itself for the purpose of checking up on the code employed.
  • Message: The poetic function, an orientation toward the message–its sounds and signs–for its own sake. This is the primary function in “verbal art”, but it is not restricted to language which is overtly creative or artistic. Jakobson points out that while the poetic function is dominant in poetry, poetic genres can perhaps be differentiated based on the presence of a secondary function. Thus the secondary function in epic poetry is the referential; that of lyric poetry is the emotive; that of exhortative and supplicatory poetry is the conative. (Jakobson 1987:66-71)

I will differentiate three language functions in LP, calling these “modes”. Like Jakobson’s attitude toward his functions, I stress that LP will ordinarily evince more than one mode, but that one may often speak of a dominant mode in any particular situation. The modes depend on the effects of LP, and where they occur.