FUNCTIONS OF LANGUAGE

The main function of human language is to communicate. Human communication, without

embargo, acts in different ways depending on the type of message we want to convey or the
type of communication that we seek to maintain with one or several interlocutors.

Within the field of Linguistics, Roman Jakobson has distinguished six uses of language.
to those classified according to the function they fulfill in the communicative act:

1. APPEALING OR CONATIVE FUNCTION

The apelative or conative function occurs when the sender issues a message from which they expect

a response, action, or reaction from its receiver. It may be a question.

or an order. We can recognize it in our daily lives, as well as in advertising or the
political propaganda.

For example:
Vote green.
Did you make the food?
Tell me.

2. REFERENTIAL, REPRESENTATIVE OR INFORMATORY FUNCTION

It is one where the sender elaborates messages related to their environment or with objects.
external to the communicative act. It is the type of function characteristic of the contexts

informative, or scientific or popular speeches, focused on transmitting

knowledge.

For example:

The phone doesn't work.

 It rains again.
Fire is the result of combustion.

3. EMOTIVE, EXPRESSIVE, OR SYMPTOMATIC FUNCTION

The emotive, expressive or symptomatic function is focused on transmitting feelings.
emotions, moods, or desires of the interlocutor.

For example:
I feel so good today!
I love you.
I am very disappointed.

4. POETIC OR AESTHETIC FUNCTION

The language in its poetic function is used for aesthetic purposes, that is, with special
attention to the care of the form itself and using rhetorical figures. It is the type of function
characteristic of literary texts. A poem, a novel, or a tongue twister are good
examples.

For example:

A popular saying: 'He who divides and distributes keeps the best part.'
A hyperbole: "The man was so tall and so thin that he always looked like a profile" (Mario Vargas)
Llosa, The War of the End of the World.
A tale: 'The burning morning of February when Beatriz Viterbo died, after a
imperious agony that did not relent for a single moment either to sentimentality or to fear, I noticed

that the iron billboards of Plaza Constitución had renewed I don't know what notice of
blonde cigarettes; the fact pained me, as I realized that the incessant and vast universe already
he was separating from her and that this change was the first of an infinite series" (Jorge Luis Borges,

The Aleph.
5. PHATIC FUNCTION OR CONTACT FUNCTION

The phatic function, also called the contact function, is the one focused on validating the channel.

communicative between two interlocutors. This function serves to initiate, maintain or end
a conversation.

For example:

I hear you, yes.

Of course.
Okay.
See you later.

6. METALINGUISTIC FUNCTION.
The metalinguistic function is the one we use to refer to the language itself.
Another way is the function of language that is activated when we use language to speak.
of the language itself. This can happen when we are explained grammar or the meaning of
a word.

For example:

The word 'function' is a feminine noun.

This is a sentence.
"Veo" is the first person singular form of the verb "ver".
"Philosophy" means 'love for knowledge.'
What do you mean by saying that you "can't"?
 WHAT IS POETIC FUNCTION?

The poetic function of language, also known as the aesthetic function, occurs when the
speech has an aesthetic purpose, so the forms of enunciation acquire a
high degree of importance. It is one of the functions of language identified by Roman
Jakobson.

This means that the center of the poetic function is in the form of the message which, more than
to discuss the content gives it greater significance and force.

The various forms of literature are characteristic of the poetic function: the novel, the short story,

poetry, fables, among many others. However, the poetic function is not only
recognizable in written literature or dedicated to the academic level.

The popular forms of discourse, framed within certain traditions

aesthetic and cultural elements also express a poetic function. We can cite the case of the
popular proverbs, popular legends, tongue twisters, riddles and games of
words.

This implies that within the poetic function, the aesthetic also includes
playful elements that promote the enjoyment of language.

In the language with poetic function, the greatest attention is paid to discursive forms, and it
they apply different rhetorical or literary figures with special emphasis and care. Among some
among them we can mention:
The metaphor.
The simile.
The hyperbole.
Metonymy.
 The hyperbaton.
The ellipsis.
The description.
Irony, among others.

EXAMPLES OF POETIC FUNCTION

As an example of the poetic function in literature, we can mention the following

fragment of a poem by Pablo Neruda, included in his book 20 love poems and a
desperate song.

POEM XX
I can write the saddest verses tonight.

The night is starry,

and they twinkle, blue, the stars, in the distance.

The night wind turns in the sky and sings.

I can write the saddest verses tonight.

I loved her, and sometimes she loved me too.

On nights like this, I held her in my arms.

I kissed her so many times under the infinite sky.

She loved me, and sometimes I loved her too.

How could one not have loved his great fixed eyes.

I can write the saddest verses tonight.

Think that I don't have her. Feel that I have lost her.

Hearing the immense night, more immense without her.

And the verse falls to the soul like dew to the grass.

What does it matter that my love couldn't keep it.

The night is starry and she is not with me.

That's all. Someone sings in the distance. In the distance.

 My soul is not content with having lost her.

As if to bring her closer, my gaze searches for her.

My heart seeks her, and she is not with me.

The same night that makes the same trees turn white.
We, those from back then, are no longer the same.

I no longer want her, it's true, but how much I loved her.
My voice sought the wind to touch its ear.

It will be of another. Like before my kisses.

Her voice, her clear body. Her infinite eyes.

I don't want her anymore, it's true, but maybe I still want her.
Love is so short, and forgetting is so long.

Because on nights like this I had her in my arms,

my soul is not satisfied with having lost her.

Although this may be the last pain she causes me,

and these may be the last verses that I write to her.

WHAT IS THE EXPRESSIVE OR EMOTIVE FUNCTION?

The expressive function, also called emotive or symptomatic function, is a type of function
of the language that is used with the purpose of communicating to a receiver the states of
mood (feelings, emotions) of the sender.

The sender, in this case, plays a dominant role in the exercise of communication.
every time it becomes a reference of the statement.

It was the linguist Roman Jakobson who coined this expression, which is also part of
the six main functions of language, among which is also the function
appealing, the referential function, the phatic function, the poetic function and the function

metalinguistic.

The expressive function or emotive function is usually manifested or verbalized through the use
from the first person singular, although not exclusively. As an example of this
Let's look at the sentence: "How beautiful is the sky!"

Likewise, it frequently resorts to the use of verbs in the subjunctive mood, to interjections
and the exclamatory sentences.

Thus, through the expressive function, the subject expresses their emotions and their inner world.
what includes feelings, desires, prejudices, sensations, and preferences.

The expressive function contains representative or referential elements within it; without
embargo, deprives them of the expression of emotion.

Among some examples of the expressive, emotive, or symptomatic function, we can cite the
following sentences:

I wish our relationship had worked out.

I don't feel comfortable with this situation.

Finally! It was about time you arrived.

My stomach hurts!
Today I feel happy!
I miss you!
What a shame that the team lost! I hope we have another chance.
Ouch! I bit my tongue.
Congratulations on your new promotion!
I like to walk on the beach.