Chapter 6: Language

Semantic Rules

reflects the ways in which users of a language assign meaning to a particular linguistic symbol, usually a word

Equivocal Language

ambiguous language that has two or more equally plausible meanings

Relative words

words that gain their meaning by comparison

Static Evaluation

the tendency to view people or relationships as unchanging

Abstract language

language that is vague in nature

Behavioral language

specific things that people say or do

Abstraction ladder

a range of more to less abstract terms describing an event or object

Syntactic rules

rules that govern the ways symbols can be arranged; govern the grammar

Pragmatic Rules

rules that decide how to interpret messages in a given context

Divergence

speaking in a way that emphasizes their difference from others

Powerless speech mannerisms

ways of speaking that may reduce perceptions of a communicator’s power

Politeness

communicating in ways that save face for both sends and receivers

Emotive Language

seems to describe something but actually announces the speaker’s attitude toward it

“it” statements

replace the personal pronoun “I” with the less immediate word “it”

“I” language

clearly identifies the speaker as the source of a message

“but” statements

a statement in which the word “but” cancels out the expression preceding it

“you” language

expresses a judgement of the other person

“We” language

implies that the issue is the concern and responsibility of both the speaker and the receiver of a message

Low-context cultures

value using language to express thoughts, feelings, and ideas as directly as possible

High-context cultures

avoid direct use of language, relying instead on the context of a message to convey meaning

Linguistic relativity

the worldview of a culture is shaped and reflected the by the language its members speak

Sapir-Whorf hypothesis

theory of linguistic relativity in which language shapes a culture’s perceived reality

Convergence

the process of adapting one’s speech style to match that of others with whom the communicator wants to identify