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Language (The power of language (Language and worldview (Linguistic…

- - - - Fundamentally, some research suggests that even the phonetic sound of a person's name affects the way we regard him or her, at least when we don't have other information available
      - Example: Names that were simple, easily pronounced, and rhythmic were judged more favorably than ones that lack these qualities
      - In association with academic studies: A group of 32 management professors rated material according to its complexity rather than its content
      - The unwillingness or inability of a communicator to use the standard dialect fluently can have serious consequences: , speakers of Black English, a distinctive dialect with its own accent, grammar, syntax, and semantic rules, are rated as less intelligent, professional, capable, socially acceptable, and employable by speakers of standard English
- - - - Equivocal words have more than one correct dictionary definition
      - Example: A nurse once told her patient that he "wouldn't be needing" the materials he requested from home. He interpreted the statement to mean he was near death, when the nurse meant he would be going home soon
    - - Gain their meaning by comparison
      - Example: A school can be big to some but small to some others
      - Using relative words can be bad if not interpreted or compared well
    - - Slangs: Language used by a group of people whose members belong to a similar coculture or other group
      - Jargons
        
        The specialized vocabulary that functions as a kind of shorthand for people with common backgrounds and experience
        
        Example: Skateboarders have their own language to describe maneuvers: collie," "grind," and "shove it"
    - - Most objects, events, and ideas can be described with varying degrees of specificity
      - Example: What you are reading can be a book, a textbook,..., chapter XX of book YY
      - Higher abstraction level is useful
      - Abstract language
        
        Speech that refers to events or objects only vaguely
        
        Example: Your boss is enthusiastic about a new approach to doing business that you think is a terrible idea. Telling the truth might seem too risky, but lying—saying, "I think it's a great idea"—wouldn't feel right either
  - - - Factual statements are claims that can be verified as true or false
      - < opinion statements are based on the speaker's beliefs
    - - Labeling your opinions can go a long way toward relational harmony, but developing this habit won't solve all linguistic problems
      - Example: Instead of saying, "Why are you laughing at me?" you could say, "When you laugh like that [description of behavior], I get the idea you think something I did was stupid [interpretation]. Are you laughing at me [question]?"
    - - Contains words that sound as if they're describing something when they are really announcing the speaker's attitude toward something
      - Example: An old picture that looks nice may be an antique, but if ugly would be a piece of junk
  - - - Is a pleasant term substituted for a more direct but potentially less pleasant one
      - Example: When we say "restroom" instead of "toilet" or "full-figured" instead of "overweight"
    - - A deliberately vague statement that can be interpreted in more than one way
      - Advantages: Spare the receiver from the embarrassment that might come from a completely truthful answer, and it can be easier for the sender to equivocate than to suffer the discomfort of being honest
- - - - Some gender-linked patterns remain remarkably similar
      - Example: Both men and women still talk frequently about work, movies, and television
      - Use language to build and maintain social relationships
      - Areas such as use of profanity, use of qualifiers
      - Occupation: Male day-care teachers' speech to their students resembles the language of female teachers more closely than it resembles the language of fathers at home
    - - Female friends spend more time discussing relational issues such as family, friends, and emotions. Men, on the other hand, are more likely to discuss recreational topics such as sports, technology use, and nightlife
      - Men tend to be fun, include jokes when women talk about feelings, relationships, personal problems
      - Men like same-sex conversations whereas women needed them
      - Women tend to support when men tend to advise
      - Men see conversation as a game and seek to dominate
      - Women ask more questions in mixed-sex conversations
      - Men interrupt women a lot
      - Women who are willing and able to be flexible in their approach can persuade both other women and men—as long as they are not dealing with a mixed-sex audience
  - - - More accurate to talk about the link between hormone level and behavior than to make gross generalizations based on biological sex
      - Example: Men with high testosterone levels are more competitive than those with lower levels of the hormone, and they respond more emotionally when faced with setbacks
    - - In contemporary society, power and material success have been widely regarded as measures of success and sources of prestige
      - Example: Males have been expected to serve as the providers in this regard when women have historically had less overt power and occupied more nurturing roles
    - - If you reflexively take an instrumental approach that focuses on the content of others' remarks, consider paying more attention to the unstated relational messages behind their words
      - You can improve your linguistic competence by switching and combining styles
- - - - Not all linguistic symbols are spoken or written words
      - Sign language, as "spoken" by most deaf people, is symbolic in nature and not the pantomime it might seem to nonsigners
      - Symbols are the way we experience the world
      - The naming process operates in virtually every situation
    - - As with physical symbols, the place to look for meaning in language isn't in the words themselves but rather in the way people make sense meanings people associate with words have far more significance than do their dictionary definitions
      - Problems arise when people mistakenly assume that others use words in the same way they do
      - Words don't mean; people do—and often in widely different ways
      - We do, after all, communicate with one another reasonably well most of the time. And with enough effort, we can clear up most of the misunderstandings that occur
      - The key to more accurate use of language is to avoid assuming that others interpret words the same way we do
    - - Phonological
        
        Govern how words sound when pronounced
        
        Example: The words champagne, double, and occasion are spelled identically in French and English, but all are pronounced differently
      - Syntactic rules
        
        Govern the structure of language — the way symbols can be arranged
        
        Example: Correct English syntax requires that every word contain at least one vowel and prohibits sentences such as "Have you the cookies brought?" which is a perfectly acceptable word order in German
      - Semantic rules
        
        Deal with the meaning of specific words
        
        Example: Make it possible for us to agree that "bikes" are for riding and "books" are for reading; they also help us to know whom we will and won't encounter when we open doors marked "men" or "women."
      - Pragmatic rules
        
        Govern how people use language in everyday interaction, which communication theorists have characterized as a series of speech acts
        
        Example: A male boss saying, "You look very pretty today" to a female employee. It's easy to imagine how the subordinate might be offended by a comment that her boss considered an innocent remark