Phatic Function Example

The phatic function Language is the function that allows us to exchange, start or end a conversation, as well as capture or request the attention of those who listen or read us.

Language fulfills six basic functions, which can be found united in the same sentence: moods, emotions and physical sensations through the emotional or expressive function; we give orders, requests or requests through the conative function; If we wish to express ourselves in an elegant language or better than common speech, we use the poetic function; the referential function tells us about the world around us unadorned, expressing it as it is. The metalinguistic function is when we use language to talk about the form, limits, and definitions of specific word expressions.

The phatic function is the signals to start, continue to finish, and exchange ideas during a conversation.

Expressions with phatic function can be considered according to the functions they fulfill:

Introductory: These are the expressions with which we request attention or start a conversation:

Ladies and Gentlemen…
And now to begin ...

Granting the floor: With which we give the floor to our listeners or ask them to express an opinion:

What do you think?
Your turn.

Returning or requesting the floor: With this expression we request the floor or we resume the conversation:

If you allow me ...
Well in my opinion ...

Ending the conversation: are the expressions we use to end a conversation.

… And so we end the topic.
…Thanks for your attention.

In written language, the phatic function is expressed through punctuation marks and discursive connectives:

Commas: indicates the pauses that we will use in the conversation.
Two points: Indicates the introduction to give an explanation, make an appointment or grant the floor.
New paragraph: Indicates the end of a paragraph.
Scripts: They indicate, among other things, the dialogue between the characters or protagonists.
Start connectives: To begin, First.
Consequent connectives: Therefore, accordingly.
Ordinal connectives: First, second, then.
Closing connectors: Finally, to finish, in conclusion.

Example of speech with phatic function expressions:

(Examples in bold)

Nice to meet you young people.

We started this exposition on epistemology in classical philosophy.

The word epistemology is formed by the Greek roots episteme, which means knowledge and logos, study. So epistemology means "Study of knowledge."

This part of philosophy studies the process by which we obtain knowledge and the factors that influence to consider that a knowledge is valid or not, or if the method to obtain the knowledge is valid or not.

The name of epistemology began to be used until the Renaissance, although in ancient philosophy there were already many studies on the process of acquiring knowledge, one of the most complete being that of the logic of Aristotle.

Some of the definitions that classical epistemology makes are those of criteria as truth, object, reality, judgment, reasoning and justification and the way we use them to know the truth.

The first concept that epistemology tries to explain is the knowledge of truth, and to define it, many philosophers have explained from their analysis what truth is. For example, Aristotle said that "the truth is the conformity of the idea with the thought object" Any questions?

Competitor: I have a question. Do you mean that, if I agree with the idea I had about an object, that is the truth?

Thanks for your question. Conformity, in this phrase by Aristotle, does not mean to be satisfied with the idea that one has, but conformity means that the idea conforms to the shape of the object that is thought. Let us also remember that the form of the object, in the language of Aristotle, refers not only to its physical form but to its attributes that he calls essential and accidental. The essential attributes refer to those that form the essence of the object, without which it would not be what it is, as in a chair, that its essential attributes are an object with a seat, a backrest and legs on which lean on. If it had no backing, it would be a bank; if it didn't have a seat, it would be anything but a chair. Accidental attributes are those that can vary between one object and another, without changing what it is. If we return to the case of our chair, its accidental attributes are that it can be made of wood, metal or plastic, it can be white, brown or red, it can even have three legs. But its essential object remains the same: it serves to sit on.

Going back to the Aristotle's definition, when he says that our idea must conform to the object, he means that the idea must correspond to the essential attributes of the object we are thinking about. In other words, if we have in front of us this object on which we rest our laptop, we form an idea about it: it has four legs, some drawers on the sides, it is higher than the chair, it has a flat surface on which we can support some objects. These are essential attributes of the object we are looking at, and with them we form the concept of the desktop. Thus, when we enter the next room and see a similar object, our idea of ​​a desk is consistent, that is, it corresponds to the shape of the object that we are seeing, and from there we deduce that this is a desk, since it corresponds to our idea of ​​what a desk is.

FinallyTo finish with Aristotle, I will comment that Aristotle considered that knowledge has different degrees. The most basic degree of knowledge is sensory knowledge, which is acquired through the senses, which disappears when the sensation ends, and corresponds to the lower animals. The next level of knowledge is formed by sensations, memory and imagination, which creates a more persistent knowledge and creates experience. The highest knowledge is the one that investigates the why and the cause of things, the one that combines experience with reasoning to understand the causes of things.

Thank you for your attention and we will continue tomorrow.

Learn about the other functions of language:

• Appellate function example.
• Expressive function example.
• Example of metalinguistic function.
• Poetic function example.
• Referential function example.