duality

A suggested defining property of human LANGUAGE (contrasting with the properties of other SEMIOTIC SYSTEMS), which sees languages as being STRUCTURALLY organized in terms of two abstract LEVELS; also called duality of patterning or duality of structure. At the first, higher level, language is analyzed in terms of combinations of (meaningful) UNITS (such as MORPHEMES, WORDS); at another, lower level, it is seen as a sequence of SEGMENTS which lack any MEANING in themselves, but which combine to form units of meaning. These two levels are sometimes referred to as ARTICULATIONS – a ‘primary’ and ‘secondary’ articulation respectively.