Concept
the six factors of verbal communication
According to Jakobson every act of verbal communication consists of six factors: addresser, addressee, message, context, contact (channel) and code. Each factor determines a different function of language.
In Jakobson’s scheme the addresser sends a message to the addressee. For the message to work, three more things are needed. The first is context: what the message speaks about, a referent the addressee can grasp and that can be put into words. The second is code: a set of signs at least partly shared by addresser and addressee, that is, language. The third is contact: the physical channel and psychological connection between addresser and addressee that lets both enter and stay in communication. Turkish sources often call this factor “channel”.
All six factors are present in every communication, but not with equal weight. Which factor the weight shifts to determines the message’s dominant function.
Example
In a phone call: addresser and addressee are the two people, the code is Turkish, contact is the line and the willingness to listen, the context is the topic, and the message is what is said.