Functions of verbal behavior

Verbal behavior has various at the same time. One of the most importance functions of verbal behavior is to communicate but not all verbal behavior is communicate it has communication as its primary function.

The production of verbal art or literature can in principle serve any of a wide range of functions, including but not restricted to communication.

Here are some of the other functions which can be served by verbal behavior and which are sometimes served specifically by verbal art:
• Entertainment
• The display of skill
• Praise of a good patron, or censure of an enemy
• The promotion of cultural values and morality
• The expression of mutual experience, thus bonding together and audience
• Recording of historical events, or laws or tenets of religion
• Communication with supernatural beings
• The control of the physical world by magical means
• Healing

Any of these functions can also be served by non-verbal behaviors: for example, while communication is one of the possible of verbal behavior, it is also possible to communicate non-verbally.

Functions of verbal behavior