Forming sentences to talk to a friend or family member is an action we consistently do every day. But what do our words mean? Why do we form them in this manner? Roman Jakobson‘s Linguistics and Poetics goes on to deconstruct our way of sending verbal communications. As we naturally say what we want to say, why do we choose these words? Words are like these puzzle pieces that we must attach to one another in order to construct a complete sentence. But how do we know what pieces to choose?

 

This connects to “code”. A code consists of specific keywords that we’re able to use to talk to other people. If you send off this code to another person, will they understand that code? Do they speak the same code as you? According to Jakobson, “No doubt, for any speech community, for any speaker, there exists a unity of language, but this overall code represents a system of inter-connected subcodes; every language encompasses several concurrent patterns, each characterized by different functions”(1147). By what Jakobson means, we humans only understand certain codes (which in this case is referring to languages). Whenever it comes to me talking to my mother, I have to use one of the two codes I know (English and Spanish). If I were to talk to my mother in English, she would not grasp my code, since it makes no sense, and cannot comprehend the pattern to whatever I want to say.

The way we see our own language is nothing more. But questioning why we choose the way we speak can be a bit complex. Talking from one person to another may be a simple task, but there are questions as to what is the message really about? There are 4 functions that are used: Context(What the addresser is saying), Message(Why is the message being sent, the reason), Contact(A physical connection or psychological connection allowing them both to hear the message), and Code(The language that is being spoken and can it be understood?). These steps are always used whenever a phrase or sentence is put into action.

I’ve had no idea that there were special concepts that are used whenever we talk in our everyday lives. We just speak as it’s normal to us and does not think about how are our words forged. After reading through Jakob’s texts, deconstructing sentences can further challenge the way we see/hear important speeches or readings that influence the masses. Some may interpret a speech as it is, while others analyze the intentions of the messages (while it varies differently and gets interpreted in numerous ways).