ROMAN JACOBSON

Roman Jakobson was a linguist who studied the structure of language

and was particularly interested in the difficulties that appear in many
languages. He was one of the pioneers in structural linguistics, which is
the theory that language is a structured system of interrelated formal
units. Structural linguistics analyzes how units such as word structure,
sentence syntax, and phonetics relate to each other.  

Jakobson was also interested in philology—the study of literary texts,

and oral and written records, as well as establishing their authenticity.
His work eventually led to creating a theory of communication in
which he established what he called the six functions of language.

n Jakobson’s theory, there are six factors that are required for
communication:

 Addresser: This is the person who delivers a message to a

specific audience.
 Addressee: This is the audience that receives the message. Must
consist of at least one person but could include many people.
 Context:
The context forms the setting or the reason for the
message that will be communicated.
 Contact:There needs to be a relational channel and connection
between the addresser and the addressee. This connection
keeps the lines of communication open. 
 Common code: The code includes the rules that combine to form
the message and correspond to the type of language used.
 Message: The message is what is sent by the addresser and
corresponds to an experience, idea, explanation, and so on.
Basically, these factors work together to enable the communication
process. They are the steps to successful communication, which looks
like this:

1. Every communication includes a sender and a receiver

(addresser and addressee).
2. The sender establishes the context of the message so it can be
understood. This includes the environment it’s given in, the
conditions, and where and when the message is given. It can
also include the potential for interference during the
communication.
3. The addressee gives feedback to the addresser during and
after the delivery of the message. This establishes the contact
that keeps the communication channel open. Feedback can be
verbal or nonverbal, such as nodding agreement or stating that
the message is understood. 
4. To make the communication clear and easier to understand, a
common code is used. For example, developers working in an
agile environment understand Scrum, iteration, and standup
meetings.
5. Emotive: Also called expressive, this function helps us to interpret
emotions, feelings, desires, and moods of the subject. The
emotive function gives us direct information about the sender’s
tone. For example: I’m excited about the new car I bought!
6. Conative: This function focuses on the receiver of the message.
The language used with this function is meant to get the
attention of or a reaction from the addressee. For example: Can
you show John where to find the paper clips?  
7. Phatic: The phatic function is used to establish a social
connection without really communicating any meaningful
 information. This type of language is used to start or stop a
conversation or to check the connection between the sender and
receiver. For example: “How are you?” “I’m fine.” “See you later.”
8. Poetic: This one is also known as the aesthetic function of
language. This function focuses on the message as well as the
way the message is communicated. This means that the message
might be embellished with rhetorical figures of speech or
“flowery” language. You will find the poetic function in
quotations and colloquial sayings. For example: “It is a far, far
better thing that I do, than I have ever done; it is a far, far better
rest that I go to than I have ever known.” 
9. Metalingual: Meta is basically defined as self-awareness. So
metalingual refers to talking about the language itself—its
features, word definitions, clarifying ambiguity, and describing
deliberate word play are metalingual functions. The metalingual
function is also relevant in translation if foreign words are used
to give special meaning or emphasis. For example: I couldn’t help
but feel a touch of Schadenfreude (a sense of pleasure or joy from
the failure of others) when the other team lost by 50 points.

Understanding how we communicate always helps us improve our

interactions with others.