Another crucial element is that human language is symbolic: the sound of words (or their shape, when written) bear no relation to what they represent.[64] In other words, their meaning is arbitrary. That words have meaning is a matter of convention

https://www.mail-archive.com/marxism-thaxis@lists.econ.utah.edu/msg06654.html

Another crucial element is that human language is symbolic: the sound of words (or their shape, when written) bear no relation to what they represent.[64] In other words, their meaning is arbitrary. That words have meaning is a matter of convention.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Culture#Biological_Anthropology:_the_Evolution_of_Culture

Linguists Charles Hockett and R. Ascher have identified thirten design-features of language, some shared by other forms of animal connunication. One feature that distinguishes human language is its tremendous productivity; in other words, competent speakers of a language are capable of producing an infinite number of original utterances. This productivity seems to be made possible by a few critical features unique to human language. One is “duality of patterning,” meaning that human language consists of the articulation of several distinct processes, each with its own set of rules: combining phonemes to produce morphemes, combining morphemes to produce words, and combining words to produce sentences. This means that a person can master a relatively limited number of signals and sets of rules, to create infinite combinations. Another crucial element is that human language is symbolic: the sound of words (or their shape, when written) bear no relation to what they represent.[64] In other words, their meaning is arbitrary. That words have meaning is a matter of convention. Since the meaning of words are arbitrary, any word may have several meanings, and any object may be referred to using a variety of words; the actual word used to describe a particular object depends on the context, the intention of the speaker, and the ability of the listener to judge these appropriately. As Tomasello notes,

Japanese bird researcher 1st in the world to prove animals use words, grammar https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20220402/p2a/00m/0sc/020000c

Charles ;There’s no displacement . Not full language . No past and future tenses . To be a word , it would have to be used when the snake is _not_ present . This is an indexical sign

http://take10charles.blogspot.com/2022/06/another-crucial-element-is-that-human.html

Gibbons have cries that are warnings of predators. But they are just emotional outbursts of fear that become indexical , not symbolic, signs to other gibbons . The bird sign is no doubt indexical like the gibbon’s , not symbolic , not a word. A fearful outburst when snake is seen becomes an indexical ( not symbolic, not a word) sign . This tesearcher hasnt studied linguis This researcher doesn’t know what words, symbiotic signs , A full word has to be usable when what it represents is not concretely sensible .

This bird sign is indexical . The emotion of fear is to the danger as smoke is to fire . A natural connect . Words are artificial connections between sign and thing signified.