Question

Human beings can talk about their present, past and future. This property of language is called:

• A. Displacement
• B. Arbitrariness
• C. Duality
• D. Productivity

Hint:

\textbf{Displacement} is a unique feature of human language: it allows us to talk about things not bound by the immediate context (past, future, far away, or even imaginary).

Answer 1

The Correct Option is A

Step 1: Understanding the linguistic property
In linguistics, the property that allows human beings to communicate about things that are not present in the immediate time or space (past, future, or distant events) is called \emph{displacement}. Step 2: Analyzing the options
- (A) \emph{Displacement}: This is the correct term. It refers to the ability of human language to convey messages about things beyond the "here and now"—past events, future possibilities, or imaginary concepts.
- (B) \emph{Arbitrariness}: This refers to the lack of inherent connection between linguistic symbols (words) and their meanings. For example, there is nothing about the word "dog" that inherently connects it to the animal. This does not explain past/present/future reference.
- (C) \emph{Duality}: Also called "duality of patterning," this refers to language operating on two levels—meaningless sounds (phonemes) combine to form meaningful units (morphemes, words). This is not about past/future reference.
- (D) \emph{Productivity}: This refers to the infinite capacity of humans to create new sentences and meanings using finite linguistic resources. Again, this is not specifically about temporal reference.
Step 3: Conclusion
Since the question is about the ability to discuss past, present, and future, the correct property is \emph{displacement}. \[ \boxed{\text{Correct Answer: (A)}} \]