傳達是人類最古老的活動之一，人在本質上就是一種傳達動物；在傳達的過程中，人類通過某種有意義的媒介物，傳達出某種訊息，而這個「有意義的媒介物」就是符號。用符號可以構築音樂的結構和文化模式，一切文化的傳達都離不開「符號」，而文化就因「符號」得以產生和延續。 　　音樂是傳遞文化訊息的一種符號載體，更是布農族文化的表徵，不僅是溝通上的外顯符號，在社會文化制度當中，更扮演極重要的傳遞媒介功能。可見，布農族音樂並非只是單純的「音樂元素」，其音樂所呈現的傳達功能和意涵，才是我們要了解和保存的，若捨去這一層關係，所謂的「音樂元素」只是一個毫無意義的符號。因此，對於布農族音樂之了解，除了對可觀察現象之解釋，更重要的是對其潛在意義系統的掌握。 　　有鑑於此，本研究以Roman Jakobson 的傳達模式，對布農族音樂作分析，歸納出布農族音樂傳達的指涉意涵和功能，了解布農族音樂如何在文化機制中被使用，進而藉以探討所反應的文化議題。

Communication is the oldest form of human interaction, and human beings are communicative animals by nature. During the communicative process, human beings convey messages through “meaningful media” such as symbols. Through the use of signs, various cultural and artistic forms, including musical structures, are constructed and transmitted; indeed, culture is passed on from one generation to the next through signs. Bubun aboriginal music is a specific type of sign-vehicle: it transmits the cultural meanings and symbols of Bunun culture, and as thus becomes an important communicative medium within the whole Bunum socio-cultural system. Thus we need the understand the socio-cultural meanings of the music; lacking hits, the purely “musical element” will become a meaningless sign. This study reviews the theoretical issues at stake here from the perspective of semiology: music is thus seen as a communicative activity employing a systematic structure of signs, the language that needs to be read and analyzed by an interpreter. The researcher therefore uses the communicative model created by Roman Jakobson to explore the relation between the performance and ommunicative function of Bunun music, and to elucidate the diversity or versatility of the Bunun musical mode of communication. Finally, the socio-cultural meanings of the music will be analyzed.