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Language (The Nature of Language (Language is Rule Governed (Pragmatic…

- - - - English includes dozens of dialects.
  - - - These representations/symbols are the way we experience the world.
  - - - The meaning people associate with words (connotative) have far more significance than do their denotative meanings.
    - - "The spoken word belongs half to the one who spoke it and half to the one who hears."
  - - - "The words champagne, double, and occasion are spelled identically in French and English, but are all pronounced differently."
    - - "Correct English syntax requires that every word contain at least one vowel and prohibits sentences such as "Have you the cookies bought?," which is a perfectly acceptable word order in German."
    - - "Are two people kidding around or being serious?"
      - "Are they complimenting each other or trading insults?"
      - Reappropriation - the process by which members of a marginalized group reframe the meaning of a term that has historically been used in a derogatory way
        
        "queer"
        
        "the n-word"
- - - - Names shape the way others think of us, the way we view ourselves, and the way we act.
        
        I find my name (Birdy) to be sort of cutesy and innocent, so I sometimes adopt a more brighter, talkative, jumpy personality.
    - - The style of speech (and the credibility associated with it) influences perception.
    - - Several factors combine to create positive or negative impressions of status.
        
        Accent
        
        Choice of words
        
        Speech Rate
        
        Age
    - - Linguistic Relativism - the notion that language influences the way we experience the world
    - - Gender-orientated language can influence how we perceive entire groups of people.
        
        "Children exposed to words such as fireman and businessman are typically less likely than other children to think that women can pursue those occupations."
      - Language has been used throughout history to stigmatize groups that other people disapproved of.
        
        Nazi Germany - Jewish people became vermin
        
        United States - African Americans became "niggers" and chattel
        
        Vietnam War - Vietnamese became "gooks"
  - - - The amount of "power" a speaker uses in language can reflect others' perceptions of them.
        
        "Powerless" speech is uncertain, hesitant, intensely emotional, deferential, or nonassertive.
        
        "Powerful" speech is clear, assertive, direct.
    - - Language can be a way of demonstrating solidarity or difference with others.
        
        Convergence - accommodating one's speaking style to another person, usually a person who is desirable or has higher status
        
        Employees who seek advancement tend to speak more like their supervisors
        
        Divergence - a linguistic strategy in which speakers emphasize differences between their communicative style and that of others to create distance
        
        A physician or attorney might use professional jargon to establish credibility
        
        Linguistic Intergroup Bias - the tendency to label people and behaviors in terms that reflect their in-group or out-group status
        
        In-group: "John cheated in the game."
        
        Out-group: "John is a cheater."
    - - The language people use can suggest a degree of interest and attraction towards a person/object/idea.
        
        Demonstrative Pronoun Choice
        
        "[These] people need our help." (positive)
        
        "[Those] people need our help." (less positive)
        
        Negation
        
        "It's [good]." (positive)
        
        "It's [not bad]." (less positive)
        
        Sequential Placement
        
        "Dick and Jane" (Dick is more important)
        
        "Jane and Dick" (Jane is more important)
    - - Language can reveal a speaker's willingness to accept responsibility for a message.
        
        "It" VS. "I" statements
        
        "[It's] not finished." (less responsible)
        
        "[I] didn't finish it." (more responsible)
        
        "You" VS. "I" statements
        
        "Sometimes [you] make me angry" (less responsible)
        
        "Sometimes [I] get angry when you do that" (more responsible)
        
        "But" statements
        
        "It's a good idea, [but] it won't work." (but cancels previous statement)
        
        Questions versus statements
        
        "Do [you] think we ought to do that[?]" (less responsible)
        
        "[I] don't think we ought to do that [.]" (more responsible)
- - - - Equivocal Words - words that have more than one dictionary definition
        
        "A nurse once told a patient that he 'wouldn't be needing' the materials he requested from home. He interpreted the statement to mean that he was near death, when the nurse meant he would be going home soon."
        
        Period (punctuation); Period (menstrual cycle)
    - - Relative Words - words that gain their meaning by comparison
        
        fast and slow
        
        smart and stupid
        
        short and long
        
        "I'll call you soon."
        
        There was a lot of people.
    - - Slang - language used by a group of people whose members belong to a similar coculture or other group
        
        [East End of London] "I haven't a scooby."
        
        [Texting in Thai] "555" (pronounced: 'hahaha')
      - Jargon - specialized vocabulary used as a kind of shorthand by people with common backgrounds and experience
        
        [Skateboarders/Snowboarders] "ollie, grind, shove it"
        
        [Military] "AWOL" (absent without leave)
        
        [Internet Acronyms] tl;dr
    - - Abstraction Ladder - a range of more-or-less-abstract terms describing an event or object
      - Abstract Language - language that lacks specificity or does not refer to observable behavior or other sensory data
        
        "All whites are bigots" (Stereotyping)
      - Behavioral Description - an account that refers only to observable phenomena
        
        Who is involved?
        
        In what circumstances does the behavior occur?
        
        What behaviors are involved?
  - - - Factual Statement - a statement that can be verified as being true or false
        
        It rains more in Seattle than in Portland.
      - Opinion Statement - a statement based on the speaker's beliefs
        
        The climate in Portland is better than in Seattle.
    - - Inferential Statement - a conclusion arrived from an interpretation of evidence
        
        It must be rainy all the time in Seattle.
    - - Emotive Language - language that conveys an attitude rather than simply offering an objective description
        
        Cats are lovable creatures (I'm a cat person).
  - - - Euphemisms - a mild or indirect or expression used in place of a more direct but less pleasant one
        
        Toilet --> Restroom
        
        Overweight --> Full-figured
    - - Equivocation - a deliberatively vague statement that can be interpreted in more than one way
        
        I admit to using equivocation to avoid lying or saying the direct truth when talking to some people.
- - - - What bothered you?
        
        It bothered me to read that language was a very accessible mean to stigmatize and discriminate certain groups throughout history.