What is Communication? DEFINITION DEFINITION Communication is transferring information from one entity to another. Communication is transferring information from one entity to another. ASPECTS OF COMMUNICATION  Communication occurs at many levels within and between individual organisms. Organs in the body communicate using chemical signals.  Speech is one of the ways individual people transfer information to other people.

What Kinds of Communication Are There?  Speech: is the oral use of language to produce symbolic communication.  Paralanguage: is the pitch, tone and cadence used with language to produce speech  used along with language to produce speech  Kinesics: is the use of facial expressions and/or body language to communicate  Proxemics: is the organization and use of space to communicate

What is Speech? DEFINITION DEFINITION Speech is communication using language to transfer meaning. Speech is communication using language to transfer meaning. KEY COMPONENTS 1. Speech is concrete, not abstract. 2. Speech is one of many ways to communicate. 3. Speech is the performance of a language. 4. Speech requires the acquisition of a shared language for it to be useful as a mode of communication.

What is Language? DEFINITION DEFINITION The abstract, learned, shared rules and standards for generating and understanding speech. The abstract, learned, shared rules and standards for generating and understanding speech. ASPECTS OF LANGUAGE 1. Language is the set of abstract rules that shapes speech. 2. Language is shared so that individuals can understand the content of each others speech. 3. Language is the rules for creating and using spoken symbols. 4. Language is the competence needed for speech. 5. People agree to use a certain set of rules and symbols when they learn and use a language.

What Are Symbols and Icons? DEFINITIONS DEFINITIONS A symbol is something that arbitrarily represents something else. A symbol is something that arbitrarily represents something else. An icon represents another object with which it has a logical relationship An icon represents another object with which it has a logical relationship  Symbols represent things with which they have no logical connection, e.g. the word “cat” does not look like a real cat. Other languages represent the same animal with other arbitrary symbols: gato, in Spanish.  People have to learn symbols.  People are able to immediately see the resemblance between the icon and the thing it represents, for example, meaning eye.  People can recognize icons without having to learn their meaning ahead of time.

What Does Paralanguage Do? DEFINITION DEFINITION Paralanguage is the voice intonation that accompanies speech. It includes voice pitch, voice tone and the rhythm of speech. Paralanguage is the voice intonation that accompanies speech. It includes voice pitch, voice tone and the rhythm of speech.  Paralanguage can alter meaning. When the voice tone rises at the end of a sentence in English, it means the sentence is a question.  Paralanguage can give emotional context for the content of speech. A loud, high pitched, voice tone can express excitement, anger or fear.  Paralanguage can show membership in a linguistic subgroup. Accents are partially caused by paralanguage. The cadence or rhythm of a southern accent in the U.S. is slow and lazy sounding.

What Does Kinesics Do?  Kinesics refers to the use of facial expression and body language to communicate.  Some experts estimate that up to 80% of what is communicated comes from kinesics.  Facial expressions and body language can contradict spoken meaning.  Facial expressions and body language can emphasize spoken meaning.  Some kinesics seem to be universally interpreted in the same way cross- culturally. Research on facial expressions of emotion support this view. A smiling face is universally interpreted to mean friendliness.  Some kinesics are culture bound and must be learned to be correctly interpreted. Holding the hand up in front of the body above the level of the head with the fingers extended and the palm facing out means in the U.S., “give me your attention.” In Greece, it is a very bad insulot.

What Does Proxemics Do?  The way space is organized and used is a major part of culture-based communication.  Space is organized to promote culturally appropriate social interaction.  People communicate the type of relationship and interaction they expect to have by how they position themselves during a social interaction.  The arrangement of furniture in a classroom indicates the type of interaction desired by the instructor. Rows of desks all facing the front of the room set the interaction up as a lecture class. Tables with chairs facing in small group circles sets the interaction style as discussion and small group participation.  In U.S. culture, the interpersonal communication distance is about 3 feet apart when two people are talking. In the Mediterranean countries, polite personal distance is about half of that – about 18 inches. This feels too intimate for Americans, who interpret the Mediterranean individual as pushy or inappropriately intimate for social conversation.

How Do Anthropologists Study Language? Four of the Possible Ways Are:  Descriptive Linguistics Phonetics Phonetics Phonology Phonology Morphology Morphology Syntax Syntax Semantics Semantics  Historical Linguistics  Ethnoscience  Sociolinguistics

What is Descriptive Linguistics? DEFINITION DEFINITION The study of the structure and methods of production of language. The study of the structure and methods of production of language. COMPONENTS OF DESCRIPTIVE LINGUISTICS  Descriptive Linguistics studies the production and structure of language at five levels:  Phonetics  Phonology  Morphology  Syntax  Semantics

What is Phonetics? DEFINITION DEFINITION The study of how speech sounds are made, and which sounds are used in a given language. The study of how speech sounds are made, and which sounds are used in a given language. COMPONENTS OF PHONETICS 1. Identifying the place of articulation in the vocal tract, mouth and nose. 2. Identifying the manner of articulation, including how air is channeled and/or stopped during speech sounds. 3. Identifying which speech sounds are used in any given language, and which are not.

What is Phonology? DEFINITION DEFINITION The study of how speech sounds are combined according to linguistic rules, and how different speech sounds are treated as if they were the same in a given language. The study of how speech sounds are combined according to linguistic rules, and how different speech sounds are treated as if they were the same in a given language. ASPECTS OF PHONOLOGY  Rules for combining speech sounds are identified and recorded for each language.  Sounds that are not distinguished from one another even though they are made differently in the mouth, nose and vocal tract are grouped into categories called PHONEMES. For example, the English l and r sounds are heard as the same sound by a Chinese speaker. L and r are in the same phoneme in Chinese, but in different phonemes in English.

What is Morphology? DEFINITION DEFINITION The study of how the smallest units of meaning are constructed and used. The study of how the smallest units of meaning are constructed and used. COMPONENTS OF MORPHOLOGY 1. Units of meaning that carry the same meanings are classed together into categories called morphemes, e.g. boy and lad, in- and un- and im-. 2. Morphemes can be free morphemes, in which case the unit of meaning can stand alone, e.g walk. 3. Morphemes can be bound morphemes, in which case they must be attached to a free morpheme to be used, e.g. –ed that would be added to walk to show that the action happened in the past. 4. Bound morphemes can be attached to free morphemes in front of, behind, or in the middle, e.g. comfortable – uncomfortable, happy-happyness, etc. 5. English does not add morphemes in the middle, but other languages do.

What is Syntax? DEFINITION DEFINITION The study of how morphemes are put together to form longer strings of meanings like sentences and paragraphs. The study of how morphemes are put together to form longer strings of meanings like sentences and paragraphs. ASPECTS OF SYNTAX  Some languages count on the placement of the words in the sentence string to show who is acting and who is acted upon. English: The dog bit the boy.  Other languages add bound morphemes to each word to show what it’s role in the sentence is. Latin and German do this. This means that you can say the words in any order, and still get the same meaning. In English, this will not work.

What is Semantics? DEFINITION The study of the meanings of words. The study of the meanings of words. ASPECTS OF SEMANTICS  Documenting definitions for words  Studying how new meanings are expressed using existing words.  Tracing the origins of word meanings and how they have changed through time.

What is Historical Linguistics? DEFINITION The study of how language changes through time. The study of how language changes through time. COMPONENTS OF HISTORICAL LINGUISTICS 1. How does the production of speech sounds changeover time? 2. How does the combining of speech sounds change over time? 3. How does the production of units of meaning change through time? 4. How do word meanings change through time.

What is Sociolinguistics? DEFINITION DEFINITION The study of how language usage varies from one social situation to another. Also the ways in which language is used for social manipulation. The study of how language usage varies from one social situation to another. Also the ways in which language is used for social manipulation. ASPECTS OF SOCIOLINGUISTICS  All languages have multiple forms that carry social meaning and indicate status.  People use more or less formal language rules depending on the social situation they are in.  People create status and change their relative power over the social situation by the forms of language they use.

A Sociolinguistic Example When I was in college I had a friend who was beautiful and dated a lot. She had a sociolinguistic technique for handling guys who wouldn’t take no for an answer. When the situation got too hot and heavy for her, she would pull back and say in a very condescending voice, When I was in college I had a friend who was beautiful and dated a lot. She had a sociolinguistic technique for handling guys who wouldn’t take no for an answer. When the situation got too hot and heavy for her, she would pull back and say in a very condescending voice, “If you persist in being so contumacious, I will excoriate you with numerous vituperations, you insidious wretch!” “If you persist in being so contumacious, I will excoriate you with numerous vituperations, you insidious wretch!” The guys she used this on were always so turned off that they just took her home. It worked every time. Many of her friends tried her technique, and it always worked for them as well! The guys she used this on were always so turned off that they just took her home. It worked every time. Many of her friends tried her technique, and it always worked for them as well!