Lecture 3

Language and Communication

Chapter Outline

What is language? How is language related to culture? How did language begin?

What Is Language?

A system for the communication, in symbols, of any kind of information.

Through language, people share their experiences, concerns, and beliefs and communicate these to the next generation.

The Nature of Language

There are approximately 6,000 languages.

All languages are organized in the same basic way.

Spoken languages use sounds and rules for putting the sounds together.

Sign languages use gestures rather than sounds.

 Linguistics

Linguistics is the study of all aspects of language: – Phonetics– Phonology– Morphology – Syntax – Grammar

Studying a Language

1. Isolate the phonemes, or the smallest classes of sound that make a difference in meaning.

2. Determine all groups or combinations of sounds that seem to have meaning.

3. See how morphemes are put together to form phrases or sentences.

The Biology of Human Speech

The Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis

A language is not simply an encoding process but is rather a shaping force.

Language guides thinking and behavior by predisposing people to see the world in a certain way.

There has been a recent renewal of interest in this hypothesis.

Indo-European languages

Origin of Language: One Theory Early hominines, began using gestures to

communicate intentions within a social setting. When Homo erectus moved out of the tropics,

they needed to plan and communicate to survive seasons of cold temperatures.

By the time archaic Homo sapiens appeared, finely controlled movements of the mouth and throat had given rise to spoken language.

Gesture-Call System

Inherited from our primate ancestors. Gesture component consists of body

motions used to convey messages. Call component consists of

extralinguistic noises involving various voice qualities and vocalizations.

Hidden Aspects of Communication

What do you think this coupleis communicating non-verbally?Look at them carefully.

Test your knowledge of North American/Europeanbody language.  Look at the couple walkingtogether.  What does it mean to be so closewith their arms around each other this way?

Could they be strangers? 

Proxemics____________________DISTANCE BETWEEN   TONE OF VOICE TYPE OF MESSAGEFACES

very close (3-6")   soft whisper   top secret or sensual

close (8-12")   audible whisper   very confidential

neutral (20-36")   soft voice, low volume    personal subject matter

neutral (4.5-5')   full voice   non-personal information 

across the room (8-20') loud voice   talking to a group

stretching the limits(20-24' indoors andup to 100' outdoors)  loud hailing voice   departures and arrivals

Derived from The Silent Language by Edward Hall (1959)

Japanese avoiding eye contact in a crowd

What do the clothing, hair style, makeup,and body language of the young womanin the photo communicate to you?  Now think of a middle-aged businessmanwith the same clothing, hair style, makeup,and body language.Would she fit in the office environment? 

Papua New Guinean man

wearing a penis sheath

English "punkers"in their "uniforms"

Communicating with Clothes

Lecture 3Language and CommunicationAssignments

1. Test your cross-cultural gesture literacy:http://www.kwintessential.co.uk/resources/quiz/gestures.php

2. Read article: „Dying Languages” http://www.nysun.com/opinion/dying-languages/45847

3. Read article: „Accents speak louder than words”: http://living.scotsman.com/books/Accents-speak-louder-than-words.2831938.jp

4. Read article: „Nature v nurture? Please don't ask”: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/science/article5986239.ece

Note: I would like to remind you that all assignments (including assigned readings) are compulsary and will be included in your June examination!