## **Charles Hockett’s Design Features of Language**
### **Introduction**
Charles Hockett (an American linguist) identified a set of features that make
**human language unique** compared to **animal communication
systems**.
He called these characteristics **“Design Features of Language.”**
They explain **how human communication differs from animal sounds,
signals, or gestures.**
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### **Main Design Features**
Below are the **most important features** (originally 13, later extended to
16):
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### **1. Vocal-Auditory Channel**
* Humans use **speech sounds** to communicate — produced by the mouth
and heard by the ears.
* Example: When you say “Good morning,” you produce sound waves that
others hear.
* **Animals** may use visual or chemical signals, not primarily vocal ones.
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### **2. Broadcast Transmission and Directional Reception**
* Speech sounds travel in **all directions**, but the **listener can identify**
where the sound comes from.
* Example: You can turn your head toward the person who is calling your
name.
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### **3. Rapid Fading (Transitoriness)**
* Spoken language **disappears quickly** after it is produced.
* It doesn’t leave a permanent trace (unlike writing or footprints).
* Example: After someone says “hello,” the sound fades away immediately.
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### **4. Interchangeability**
* Speakers of a language can **both send and receive** the same messages.
* Example: You can say “I am hungry” or understand it when someone else
says it.
* Some animals cannot do both (e.g., only male birds sing mating calls).
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### **5. Total Feedback**
* Speakers **hear their own speech** and can monitor or correct it.
* Example: If you mispronounce a word, you immediately realize and fix it.
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### **6. Specialization**
* Speech sounds are **produced for communication only**, not for other
biological functions.
* Example: When you speak, the purpose is to send a message, not to
breathe or eat.
---
### **7. Semanticity**
* Words and sounds have **specific meanings**.
* Example: The word “book” refers to a particular object.
* Animal signals usually have limited meaning (e.g., alarm calls).
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### **8. Arbitrariness**
* There is **no natural connection** between a word and its meaning.
* Example: There is nothing “book-like” about the sound *book*; it’s just a
social convention.
* Different languages use different words for the same object.
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### **9. Discreteness**
* Human speech consists of **separate sounds (phonemes)** that can be
combined in various ways to create new words.
* Example: /b/, /ʊ/, and /k/ can make *book*, but changing /b/ to /l/ gives
*look*.
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### **10. Displacement**
* Humans can talk about **things not present in time or space** — past,
future, or imaginary.
* Example: “I went to Lahore last year” or “I will travel tomorrow.”
* Animals usually communicate about the *here and now* only.
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### **11. Productivity (Creativity)**
* Humans can **create new sentences** and express **new ideas** never
said before.
* Example: You can say, “The cat wearing sunglasses is dancing on the
table,” even if it never happened.
* Animal communication is fixed and repetitive.
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### **12. Traditional (Cultural) Transmission**
* Language is **learned socially** — not inherited biologically.
* Example: A baby born in Pakistan but raised in France will speak French,
not Urdu.
* Animal signals are mostly instinctive.
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### **13. Duality of Patterning**
* Language works on **two levels**:
* Level 1: Meaningless sounds (phonemes) → e.g., /p/, /e/, /n/
* Level 2: Meaningful combinations (words) → *pen*
* These small units combine to form larger meaningful structures (phrases,
sentences).
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### **14. Prevarication (Optional)**
* Humans can **lie or talk about things that aren’t true.**
* Example: “I didn’t eat the cake,” even if you did.
* Animal communication doesn’t include deliberate deception (except rare
cases).
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### **15. Reflexiveness**
* Humans can **use language to talk about language** itself.
* Example: Discussing grammar, pronunciation, or meaning of words.
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### **16. Learnability**
* Humans can **learn other languages** in addition to their native one.
* Example: A person who speaks Urdu can learn English, French, or Chinese.
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### **Summary Table**
| **Feature** | **Meaning** | **Unique to Humans?
** |
| ---------------------- | ---------------------------------------- | --------------------- |
| Vocal-Auditory Channel | Spoken communication | Mostly yes
|
| Displacement | Talk about things not present | Yes |
| Productivity | Create new messages | Yes |
| Arbitrariness | No natural link between form and meaning | Yes
|
| Cultural Transmission | Learned socially | Yes |
| Duality of Patterning | Two-level system of sound + meaning | Yes
|
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### **Conclusion**
Hockett’s Design Features show that **human language is complex, creative,
and symbolic**, unlike animal communication which is **limited and
instinctive**.
These features help linguists understand **what makes language distinctly
human**.
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