The Nature of Language

1. The Nature of Language Language as a Barrier and Bridge

2. Language is Symbolic • Words are arbitrary symbols that don't have any meaning in themselves • We assign meaning to words

3. Language is Subjective • The same word can be interpreted differently by different people • This interpretation is dependent on many factors • Key: Don't assume others intepret the same way you do

4. Language is Governed By Rules • Phonological Rules: Govern how sounds are combined to form words e.g. Champagne is same spelling in French and English but is governed by different phonological rules • Syntactic Rules: Govern word arrangement. • Every word must contain one vowel • Words must be arranged in order to have meaning • Children often get this wrong when they are learning language e.g. The hot is stove

5. More Rules... • Semantic Rules: Govern our use of language – governs meaning – what the words mean • Pragmatic Rules: Help us to decide the interpretation of a message • Not everyone interprets same way e.g. Humour • These rules are the social rules of language e.g. turn taking when talking

6. The Impact of Language • Naming and Identity: Research has found that more common names (Michael, John, Wendy) are related with positive ratings and less common names with negative ratings. • Women and names: Research has found characteristic differences in women who take their husband's names vs. not • Ms, Miss and Mrs.

7. (cont) • Affiliation, Attraction, Interest:: Adopting a certain style of language can demonstrate ties (choice of vocabulary, rate of talking, number and placement of pauses, level of politeness) • Matching speech style = convergence • Emphasizing differences = divergence • Power: Language can be powerful or powerless • Passive or Active

8. The Uses and Abuses of Language • Equivocal Language: consists of words that have more than one commonly accepted definition: • E.g. Family catches fire just in time • Trees can break wind • Abstraction: Language use can be highly abstract through to specific • Abstractions can be appropriate or VERY problematic

9. (cont) • Euphemisms: Pleasant terms substituted for blunt ones e.g.? • Relative Language: Words that gain their meanings by comparisons • E.g. Did you attend a large or small school (this depends on what you compare it with)

10. The Language of Responsibility • Is signals something static • It replaces ownership: It bothers me when you are late, I am bothered when you are late • But statements cancel the thoughts that precede it • You expresses a judgment to another person • We statements implies the issue is a concern to the speaker, and others • I can signal ownership and honesty