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Understanding Human Communication: Chapter 4 (Troublesome Language…
Understanding Human Communication:
Chapter 4
The Nature of Language
Language
: A collection of symbols, governed by rules and used to convey messages between individuals.
Dialect
: A version of the same language that includes substantially different words and meanings.
Denotative Meanings
: Formally recognized definitions for words, as in those found in the dictionary.
Example
:Chair
Connotative Meanings
: Informal, implied interpretations for words and phrases that reflect the people, culture, emotions, and situations involved.
Example
: Survivor vs. Victim
Language is Governed
Phonological Rules
: Linguistic rules governing how sounds are combined to form words.
Example
: Champagne, double, and occasion.
Syntactic Rule
s: Rules that govern the ways in which symbols can be arranged as opposed to the meanings of those symbols.
Semantic Rules
: Rules that govern the meanings of languages as opposed to its structure.
Example
: Bikes are for riding, books are for reading.
Pragmatic Rules
: Rules that govern how people use language in everyday interaction.
The Power of Language
Convergence
: Accommodating one's speaking style to another person, usually a person who is desirable o has higher status.
Divergence:
A linguistic strategy in which speakers emphasize differences between their communication style and that of others to create distance.
Linguistic Relativism
: The motion that language influences the way we experience the world.
Linguistic Intergroup Bias:
The tendency to label people and behaviors in terms that reflects their in-group or out-group status.
Troublesome Language
Jargon
: Specialized vocabulary used a kind of shorthand by people with common background and experience.
Example
: Skateboarders and snowboarders have their own language to describe maneuvers.
When I worked in a restaurant, we would refer to dirty tables as 'turning' as well as other shortened terms to describe things.This is exclusive to people in the restaurant industry.
Abstraction Ladder
: A range of more to less-abstract terms describing an event or object.
Slang
: Language used by a group of people whose members belong to a similar co-culture or other group.
Example
: Waddup
Abstract Language
: Language that lacks specificity or does not refer to observable behavior or other sensory data.
Relative Words
: Words that gain their meaning by comparison.
Behavioral Description
: An account that refers only to observable phenomena.
Equivocal Words
: Words that have more than one dictionary definition.
Disruptive Language
Opinion Statement
: A statement based on the speaker's beliefs.
Example
: Dogs are better than cats.
Inferential Statement
: A conclusion arrived at from an interpretation of evidence.
Factual Statement
: A statement that can be verified as being true or false.
Example
: It rains more in Seattle than Portland.
Emotive Language
: Language that conveys an attitude rather than offering an objective description.
Evasive Language
Equivocation:
A deliberately vague statement that can be interpreted in ore than one way.
Euphemism:
A mild or indirect term or expression used in place of a more direct but less pleasant one.
Example
: For someone who has passed away-"They're in a better place now."
Gender and Language
Although there are differences in the ways men and women speak, not all differences in language can be accounted for by the speaker's gender.
Occupation, social philosophy, and the orientation toward problem solving also influence the use of language and psychological sex role can be more of an influence than biological sex.
The relationship between gender and language is complex.