Language Use and Communication - masterdoc

posture

change position of body to indicate attitude passively

gesture

actively moving body

facial expressions

actively changing what the face conveys

sign

piece of communication that represents something else

signifier

the piece of communication that stands in for something else

signified

the thing being represented

meaning

what is literally being conveyed

token

any time a sign is used

semiotics

study of signs

iconic signs

signs that bear resemblance to what they represent

indexical signs

signs typically caused by what they represent

symptomatic signs

signs that indicate something internal

symbolic signs

signs that arbitrarily convey what they represent

mixed signs

if multiple signs are at play

signals

signs that demand an action from the recipient

graded signs

signs that change gradually by degree

discrete signs

signs that change by degree but not gradually

stimulus-bound

only communicating as a form of reaction

constellation

when many different means of communication are used to convey something

redundancy

different means convey the same thing

template

basics of a language that are innate

duetting

two members of a species exchange calls between them

Clever Hans controversy

horse was noticing subtle cues, not actually learning language

dressage

animal is trained to notice subtle cues

design feature

what is essential to a language system

interchangeability

all members of the species can send and receive messages

feedback

users of the system are aware of what they are transmitting

specialization

communication system serves no other function but to communicate

semanticity

system conveys meaning through a set of fixed relationships

arbitrariness

no natural or inherent connection between a token and its referent

discreteness

communication system consists of repeatable units

displacement

users of the system are able to refer to events remote in space-time

learnability

user of the system can learn other variants

reflexiveness

use the communication system to discuss the system itself