Another important concept-differentiation utilised by the pragmatics of human communication is the distinction between analogous and digital symbols.

Analogous symbols are those which have a sort of "natural" relationship with the meaning they want to express; such a relationship is not fixed, it has to be interpreted, and that is why analogous symbols can be understood in different ways. The expression of the face, the intonation of the voice, an icon, the onomatopoeic word, etc. are analogous symbols.

In the digital symbolisation, the relationship between the symbol and the meaning has been fixed. Like the digit "3" with respect to its meaning. Digital symbols are military terms, road signals, etc. If both the sender and the receiver know the code, what is decoded is exactly what has been coded.

In the process of communication, both symbols are used. The advantage of analogous communication (i.e. the communication which uses analogous symbols) is the freedom of codification and of interpretation. This freedom reveals important potentialities.

Different cultures and different languages decide in a different manner what to make "digital" and what "analogous". For instance, in Indian languages, grammar fixes the length of the vowels and leaves the accents free. You, in India, have short or long vowels; and if you change them you refer to different concepts; but the meaning of the word doesn’t change according to where you put the stress of the accent. For example: Raama and Ramaa- are grammatically different: the former word is masculine and the latter is feminine. But if you say, Ràmaa or Ramàà- both mean the same, because what decides the gender here is the length of the vowel and not the accent. So, Indian grammar uses the digital code for the length of the vowel and leaves the accent free. This allows you to decide where to put the accent according to the mood you want to express. (like anger, sweetness, etc.) Digital freedom allows analogous codification.

The grammar of the Italian language does the opposite: it fixes the position of the accent and leaves the length of the vowels free. For instance- if you say "Stefàno" instead of "Stèfano", you’ve made a mistake, because you’ve changed the accent. Instead, if you say, "Stefaano" or "Steefano", both are valid, because the length of the vowel is free and you can use this freedom to express the mood (like Stefaano sounds more severe and Steefano more intimate).