COMM 380 CH 3

Accent

A distinctive pronunciation that varies depending on where someone grew up, their class status, their native language, and a whole host of factors

Argot

A specialized language that enables the members of the co-culture to develop both an identity and a sense of community

Bypassing

Missing another person's meaning while thinking you understand one another

Communication Accommodation Theory

A theory explaining that people adjust language patterns to reflect how they feel toward another person

Communication Convergence

Purposely adapting one's speech style to match another person's

Communication Divergence

Purposefully adopting a style of speaking those contrasts with the style of speaking of the person from whom one desires to distance themselves

Connotative Meaning

The subjective, contextual meaning of a term

Denotative Meaning

The dictionary meaning of a term

Dialect

A variety of the language associated with a particular region or social group and sometimes alternately referred to as a nonstandard variation of the language

Emotive Language

Language that announces one's attitude toward a subject

Equivocal Language

The use of words that can be interpreted in more than one way

Euphemism

A word that softens meaning

Extensional Orientation

The inspection and consideration of what words and labels represent

Intensional Orientation

Reacting to words and labels without inspecting or attempting to understand what the labels represent

Interpretation

The process of expressing the meaning of what was said in another language

Labels

The words we use to categorize and refer to people and things

Language

A code, a system of arbitrary symbols (verbal or nonverbal), designed to permit a group of people to communicate and share meaning

Linguistic ambiguity

Saying something that can be taken in at least two ways, which can help avoid a confrontation

Linguistic Determinism

The belief that language shapes or determines thinking

Linguistic Relativism

The belief that while language shapes thought and meaning, it is not its mirror

Muted Group Theory

A theory espousing that the group that is dominant in a social hierarchy uses language to shape societal perceptions

Phonology

The study of a language's sounds

Polarizing Language

Words describing experience in either-or terms

Politically Correct Language

Language intended to give the least amount of offense

Pragmatics

The social and cultural appropriateness of language use in specific contexts

Purr Words

Words that register approval

Reappropriation

The linguistic phenomenon where members of a group may reclaim and redefine words that once were used to stigmatize or degrade them

Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis

A theory asserting that language defines experience, shaping the perception and world view of users

Semantics

Word meaning, both denotative and connotative

Snarl Words

Words that register disapproval

Syntactics

The conventions and rules or grammar of a language

Translation

What is being said in another language

Triangle of Meaning

A model illustrating the relationships among words, things, and thoughts

Woke Language

Language that is alert to injustice in society

Word Masks

Ambiguous word use

Word Wall

A communication barrier created by using words that block understanding