That sounds like poetry!

This is how language works according to Roman Jakobson

According to Jakobson, a linguistic contribution can focus on one of six language functions in a specific context.

• Any of the six Functions play a role in any utterance because communication is impossible if one or more of the functions is ignored. Mostly, however, one of the six functions is the focus.
• "I have no idea what you are referring to." If you say the same, your contribution is primarily referential. In this case you concentrate on the context or the content page of language. In the example mentioned, the referentiality of the utterance even becomes the subject of the statement itself.
• "Ouch, that hurts!" Such an utterance, unlike the first sentence, focuses on the speaker's personal expression. Jakobson would call your statement emotive in this case.
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• On the other hand, if you ask a listener not to hurt you, your statement will focus on the conative language function. You formulate your sentence primarily to send a message to the interlocutor.


Communication model - examples

Language is at the same time the greatest enrichment and greatest burden on people. So ...

• An utterance that focuses on the metalingual function of language, on the other hand, would be a formulation that thematizes language as such. Jakobson sometimes speaks of the self-referentiality of language in this case.
• In turn, he understands the phatic function to mean all utterances that receive the communication channel. An example of this would be formulas like: "Can you even hear me?". The task of such is little more than maintaining communication.
• Finally, according to Jakobson, a statement can focus on the message itself. In this case the linguist sometimes speaks of the poetic function of language.

But what does that mean exactly?

Poetry through "language in itself"

For Jakobson, it is the linguistic material, hence the sound form, that defines poetry.

• The speaker's concentration on the message itself is, for him, the inherent effect of language. What is that supposed to mean again? Quite simply: the meaning of an utterance takes a back seat to the formal language. Sound combinations and structures gain in value. It is about language as language in itself - about its external form.
• Jakobson uses this theory to explain the relevance of stylistic devices for poetry. According to his remarks, the intrinsic value of linguistic form sounds poetic. In his opinion, a sound, for example, has poetic value and meaning even when it stands on its own. With this theory Jakobson makes an important contribution to literary studies.
• An example: When it comes to stylistic devices such as alliteration, the writer is not interested in the content of words. It's about the effect of the sounds themselves. The language form in the sense of the sound shape and combination has an auto-functional effect. She stands for herself.
• According to Jakobson, practical language can be clearly distinguished from poetic language. She primarily wants to convey the meaning and content of words and word combinations. Everyday speaking is not about language as language, but about the speaker and his needs.
• Ambiguities are, for example, reluctant to see in practical language, while they are indispensable in poetic language. The content of the poetic text does not want to be clearly understood because, as already explained, it is not even about its content.

"The lecture alone makes the speaker happy. I feel good, but I'm far behind. "So what, according to Jakobson, turns this Goethe sentence into poetry? It's the rhyme, the meter, the form. Art as the beauty of words in themselves.