Language Use and Communication - fun facts

view of animal communication

animals have little to no deliberate intent in their communication

bees

bees communicate where food is by dancing

bees

bees only communicate about food and can only do so in a limited capacity

bees

bee communication is genetically innate

birds

birds learn their songs from other birds

monkeys

some monkeys innately know calls and some must be taught them

monkeys

East African vervet monkeys have three different calls for three different dangers → shows some cognitive ability in many different monkey species

chimpanzees

chimpanzees hoot to show location due to the dense forest → sound must travel well

language in the wild

chimpanzees and gorillas only have ways to communicate what they need to

testing non-human primates for linguistic ability

chimpanzees are physically incapable of producing many sounds humans can → tested with sign language or symbols indicative of words instead

communication and language

language is not communication

communication and language

what people think of based off what you say may not equate to what you are referring to

symbolic signs

adding/changing symbolic connects started becoming widespread to combat sexism

symbolic signs

there are new words every day

response cries

even when people are alone, they tend to speak as though they are not

response cries

talking to oneself is sometimes thought to be childish because there is no need to communicate if not exchanging information

response cries

talking to oneself is sometimes thought to be egocentric because if people are content in talking to themselves, they are not making social connections

response cries

talking to oneself is seen as akin to incest or masturbation to some → not able for others to join

response cries

sometimes talking to oneself is socially acceptable and yet is still taboo → rehearsing, praying out loud, etc.

response cries

people sometimes find it inappropriate to admit to having been talking to oneself

response cries

talking to oneself may show that someone does not care or cares very little for the people they are with → also applies if someone reacts aloud to something they are reading

response cries

talking to oneself is not seen as rude if someone is talking on the phone → why I always say characters should hold a phone to their ear while having psychic conversations; also because people are familiar with having done so themselves

response cries

if someone is talking to a pet → not weird because it is clear that the being they are speaking to is actually there

response cries

taboo to gesticulate to oneself

response cries

difficult to consolidate all of the intricacies of talking to oneself into a solitary social rule

response cries

if someone is seen to publicly do something poorly, they tend to overcompensate by performatively doing other things well (or in some other way making it clear that it is out of the norm)

response cries

if a doctor informs someone of the death of a loved one, that person may feel inclined to vocalize their thoughts, even if they are not directed at the doctor → so emotionally distressing so as to warrant that reaction; also applies to speaking alongside road rage

response cries

if someone trips and curses as a reaction, the way the curse is said will be different based on the environment, even without the subject consciously thinking about it

response cries

response cries convey information; therefore, they are communication

response cries

if someone mutters something, the person to whom they are referring may not respond

response cries

when a word is representative of something taboo, the word itself becomes taboo → goddamn→blasphemy, shit→bodily function

communication and language

clocks mimic the sun’s position in the sky

communication and language

bird communication typically only occurs in Spring, Summer, and Winter

communication and language

birds have different dialects

communication and language

bird communication takes place in the same area of the brain as human language

communication and language

when primates use sign language, they need to be prompted; they don’t do it naturally

speech and writing

mockingbirds do not use prevarication

speech and writing

speech, writing, and signing all convey slightly different meanings, even if they literally state the same thing

speech and writing

Meso-America, China, and Mesopotamia started the three languages that evolved into all written languages

speech and writing

memes are a modern form of language → one person or group of people start something that becomes widely easily recognizable

variety in contemporary english

speech and writing are not language, but mediums for language

variety in contemporary english

words themselves don’t mean anything unless you know the language

variety in contemporary english

signed languages often do not require someone to know the spoken language it is translated into in order to understand them

variety in contemporary english

no two languages distinguish singular from plural the same way

variety in contemporary english

writing was created because speech does not last very long and it can only be communicated over a short distance

variety in contemporary english

speech and writing can both be completely understood without necessarily knowing the other

variety in contemporary english

people can read out loud something that is written without necessarily understanding it

variety in contemporary english

writing things down significantly fasttracks the spread, and therefore longevity, of culture

writing and language

logograms can be understood without knowing the rest of the language

writing and language

syllabic writing is better for spoken languages with fewer syllable sounds

writing and language

in the modern day, pictograms are standardized → anyone can easily identify what they mean

writing and language

rebuses are often used for words that do not have an actual, physical counterpart → “reimburse,” “life”

writing and language

in syllabic writing, people write words that, when said in conjunction, sound like a different word

writing and language

cuneiform lasted until much into the adoption of Christianity

writing and language

there were some sounds represented in the Phoenician alphabet that Greek didn’t use, so some of those symbols came to represent different sounds

writing and language

some symbols in the Phoenician alphabet were simply dropped when the Greeks adopted it

writing and language

with pronunciation changes, many phonetic determinatives in Chinese don’t actually work anymore

writing and language

hanja is fully eliminated in North Korea

writing and language

European colonizers “taught” Cherokee an almost-Latin alphabet to communicate

writing and language

French scribes applied French language conventions to many English words

writing and language

the printing press standardized and solidified English spelling

writing and language

reforming written English would make reading existing literature more difficult

writing and language

there are too many English dialects to reform written English

writing and language

Broca’s aphasia only affects writing systems that are involved in pronunciation

speech and writing

speech is transmitted through sound waves

speech and writing

writing is physically marked in some way

speech and writing

speech is produced by articulators

speech and writing

writing requires some external tool(s)

speech and writing

writing has become even more permanent with the Internet

computer-mediate language

speech is generally more spontaneous

computer-mediate language

writing is generally more planned

computer-mediate language

speech is more often acquired naturally

computer-mediate language

writing is more often directly taught

computer-mediate language

computer-mediate language was originally called “netspeak”

computer-mediate language

netspeak was analyzed from the perspective of emails

computer-mediate language

linguists tend to care more about oral language and face-to-face communication than computer-mediate language

computer-mediate language

netspeak was difficult to categorize in regards to existing systems

computer-mediate language

linguists wanted to investigate whether or not people treated computer-mediate language differently from other means of communication

computer-mediate language

Internet communication should be analyzed separately from other forms of communication

computer-mediate language

Internet communication is not wholly just speech or writing

language and the Internet

many different dialects from around the world all coexist in tandem on the Internet, creating a new, shared language that is more universal due to its availability

language and the Internet

we “write” emails but we “chat” through group chats

language and the Internet

when people communicate digitally, a response to what they are saying is not guaranteed

language and the Internet

people begin to worry if they do not receive an immediate or fast enough response

language and the Internet

conversational turns are often difficult for neurodivergent people to understand

language and the Internet

threads are sometimes interrupted or may be confused if messages are received out of order

language and the Internet

some people have documented many smileys and emoticons and put them in their own dictionaries

language and the Internet

people often reread their messages before they send/post them, something you cannot do in spoken conversation

language and the Internet

people can still react to things that were said in a group chat after a stretch of time, so long as too many new messages have not been sent

language and the Internet

people can scroll back and read through conversations that happened while they were inactive

language and the Internet

flaming may be done by accident due to cultural differences misconstruing someone’s intended message

ethnography

some people use English purely to communicate with others and not because it is their spoken language

ethnography

generative AI leads to the spread of misinformation because it is just predicting what “sounds correct”

ethnography

issues with generative AI mean that humans need to be consulted by providing feedback

ethnography

everyone uses the same vocabulary because ChatGPT is giving everyone the same vocabulary

ethnography

language needs to be understood through the lens of the person communicating it

ethnography

ends could develop over the course of an interaction

ethnography

everyone comes into an interaction wanting different things out of it

ethnography

keys may drastically change the meaning of a statement

being polite as a variable in speech

politeness is based on the value placed in any given statement