Before revision: ""Teach Yourself Linguistics", by Jean Aitchison, In Roman Jakobson's work , the 'phatic' function of language concerns the channel of communication; for instance, when one says "I can't hear you, you're breaking up" in the middle of a cell-phone conversation.
After revision: ""Teach Yourself Linguistics", by Jean Aitchison, In Roman Jakobson's typology of communication functions , the 'phatic' function of language concerns the channel of communication; for instance, when one says "I can't hear you, you're breaking up" in the middle of a cell-phone conversation.