Homer's epics, The Iliad and
The Odyssey, were imparted orally for several hundred years before written language was developed. Which property of language allows for the communication about events and objects from another time and place?

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Displacement is the property of language that allows us to communicate about things that are not present in the immediate environment, including events and objects from another time and place. This property of language would have allowed the oral transmission of Homer's epics across generations and locations. The other properties of language listed (phonology, infinite creativity, and semanticity) are important for language communication, but they do not specifically relate to communication across time and space.

Homer's Epics, The Iliad and