The Form of the Message: Language and Communication
The Form of the Message
Language is a communicative system with formal units integrated by combination processes. Sound, structure, and meaning are related but can be analyzed separately.
Phonology: The Sounds of Language
Phonetics
Phonology: The study of sound systems.
Phonetics: Description of sounds in a language.
Phonemics: Analysis of sound use to differentiate word meanings.
Human language relies on the vocal apparatus: lungs, pharynx, larynx, glottis, vocal cords, nose, mouth, tongue, teeth, and lips.
Components of the vocal apparatus are modified to produce different sound qualities.
Voiced vs. Voiceless Sounds:
Vocal cords vibrate (voiced) or remain stationary (voiceless).
Minimal Pairs: Words differing by one feature.
Examples include voiceless/voiced consonant pairs in English.
All vowels in English are voiced.
Voiceless vowels occur in languages like Japanese, Totonac, and Chatino.
In Totonac, voiceless vowels occur at the ends of words.
/kuku#/ “uncle”
/miki#/ “snow”
/snapapa#/ “white”
Oral vs. Nasal Sounds:
Oral sounds: Air expelled through the mouth.
Nasal sounds: Air passes through the nose.
m and n are nasal consonants.
French, Portuguese, Hindi, Tibetan, Yoruba, and Navajo have nasal vowels.
Articulation:
Sounds are manipulated using the vocal apparatus.
Consonants are classified by place and manner of articulation.
Place of Articulation: Where the sound is formed in the mouth (e.g., bilabial, apicoalveolar).
Manner of Articulation: How the airstream is modified (e.g., stops, fricatives).
Each difference results in unique sound quality.
The International Phonetic Alphabet provides standardized notation.
vd. = voiced, vl. = voiceless.
Vowels:
Produced with an open vocal tract.
Vocalic quality determined by tongue movement and lip rounding.
Voicing/unvoicing and oral/nasal contrasts are significant.
Tongue positions vary for different vowels, such as [iy] in “beet”, [a] in “pot”, and [uw] in “boot”.
Vowel Classification:
Dimensions: front to back, high to low, and lip-rounding.
Languages select phonetic inventories.
Languages vary in sound numbers (e.g., Hawaiian with 8 consonants to !Kung with 96).
Vowel numbers vary (some have three, many have five, English and French have more than a dozen).
Examples:
Oral stops: complete closure
Nasals: Air through the nose
Affricates: Closure followed by a narrow opening
Fricatives: Narrowing of vocal passage causing turbulence
Liquids: Less obstruction, air modification
Glides/semivowels: Little obstruction
Monophthongs vs. Diphthongs
Monophthongs: Produced in one place in the mouth.
Diphthongs: Glides, sound movement from one position to another.
Phonemic Analysis
Phoneme: Minimal sound unit differentiating word meanings.
A phoneme can have one or more phonetic representations (allophones).
Allophones: Sounds occurring in predictable linguistic environments.
English voiceless stops /p/, /t/, /k/ have aspirated and unaspirated allophones.
Aspiration occurs at the beginning of a syllable, unaspirated after /s/ in the same syllable.
Native speakers are unaware of allophonic articulations.
Rules are applied consistently and become automatic.
Liquids and glides have voiceless allophones after voiceless stops /p/, /t/, /k/.
Allophonic patterns vary by language.
Aspirated and unaspirated stops can be phonemic in some languages (e.g., Korean, Chinese).
English distinguishes between voiceless and voiced stops, but Mohawk treats them as allophones.
In Mohawk, voiceless stops occur at the ends of words or before consonants, and voiced stops precede vowels or glides.
Foreign accents arise from applying native allophonic rules to foreign languages.
Prosodic Features
Prosodic (suprasegmental) features alter speech sounds/rhythms.
Stress, pitch, and length often affect meaning.
Stress/Accent: Emphasis on syllables.
In some languages, stress rules are automatic with stress falling on predictable syllable.
In other languages, changes in stress differentiate word meanings.
Nouns are stressed on the first syllable, verbs on the second.
Pitch/Tone: Voice pitch during syllable production.
Results from vocal cord tension changes.
Occurs with vowels; some consonants can carry tone.
Many languages use pitch to distinguish word meanings (e.g., Chinese, Thai, Yoruba).
Changes in tone signal grammatical meanings (e.g., Bini).
Intonation: Pitch feature on clauses/sentences.
English declarative statements have falling pitch, questions have rising pitch.
Length: Sound continuation during production.
Some languages use length to differentiate word meanings.
Short and long vowel contrasts (e.g., Danish, Czech, Finnish, Arabic, Japanese, Korean).
Contrastive length in consonants (e.g., Turkish, Finnish, Hungarian, Luganda, Arabic).
Lengthening indicates emphasis or exaggeration.
Morphology: The Structure of Words
Morphological Analysis
Morphology: Analysis of word structure.
Words are composed of morphemes (units of sound and meaning).
A word consists of one or more morphemes.
act, active (act-ive), inactive (in-act-ive), inactivity (in-act-iv-ity)
Roots/Stems: Represent basic lexical/referential word meanings.
Affixes: Attached to roots/stems, expressing grammatical or relational meanings.
Affixes can be prefixes (un-happy), suffixes (happi-ness), or infixes.
Infixes are common in Malayo-Polynesian languages (e.g., Tagalog, Bontoc).
Morphemes can have allomorphs (variations in phonological form) in predictable environments.
The English plural suffix {-s} has three allomorphs.
{-s} → /-iz/ following sibilants
/-s/ following voiceless consonants (except sibilants)
/-z/ following voiced consonants (except sibilants); following all vowels
Irregularities or exceptions exist.
Some plurals are signaled by vowel changes in stems (e.g., mouse/mice, foot/feet, woman/women).
A set of words having foreign sources retains the original plural markers—for example, datum/data (from Latin), phenomenon/phenomena (from Greek), cherub/cherubim (from Hebrew).
Some nouns do not change (e.g., deer, sheep, caribou).
Languages limit irregularities and children overgeneralize morphological rules.
Morphological Typologies
Languages differ in morpheme combination methods.
Languages are either isolating, agglutinating, or synthetic.
Isolating Languages: Few morphemes per word, simple combination methods (e.g., English, Chinese).
Agglutinating Languages: Many morphemes per word, regular combination rules (e.g., Swahili).
Synthetic (Polysynthetic) Languages: Many morphemes per word, complex combination rules (e.g., Mohawk, Inuktitut).
Morpheme form changes during combination.
Examples:
Mandarin Chinese (Isolating): Lexical meanings are separate words; grammatical meanings conveyed by separate words, word order, or context.
Swahili (Agglutinating): Many morphemes combine; express lexical and grammatical meanings.
ni-na-pika “I hit” (I-PRES-hit)
ni-na-wa-pika “I hit them” (I-PRES-them-hit)
ni-li-wa-pika “I have hit them” (I-PERF-them-hit)
ni-taka-pik-iwa “I will be hit” (I-FUT-hit-PAS)
wu-taka-ni-pik-iz-wa “you(sg.) will cause me to be hit” (you-FUT-me-hit-cause-PAS)
Mohawk (Polysynthetic): Combines many morphemes; morpheme combination rules are complex and morphemes undergo sound changes.
tehatkahtṹnyũs “he looks all around”
te - h- at -kaht- ũ -nyũ -s
two-he-self-look-in state of-all around-doing
yakonʌ̃yohlũkwʌhákye? “she’s gathering up stones as she’s coming along”
yako-nʌ̃y-ohlũkw -ʌ̃ -hákye- ?
she-stone-gather up-in state of-all the time-in state of
Inuktitut (Polysynthetic): Complex morpheme meaning and structure.
Grammatical Concepts
Morphemes express lexical or grammatical meaning.
Grammatical meanings apply to nouns, verbs, modifiers.
Nouns: case, number, gender.
Case: Grammatical relationships between nouns or between nouns and verbs.
Inflecting languages mark case with affixes (e.g., Russian).
Number: Singular/nonsingular differences.
Some languages do not indicate singular/nonsingular distinctions (e.g. Nancowry).
Other languages distinguish between singular and plural (English).
Some languages mark singular, dual, and plural (e.g., Inuktitut).
/iglu/ “a house”
/igluk/ “two houses”
/iglut/ “three or more houses”
Gender: Noun classification into classes.
Masculine and feminine, or masculine, feminine, and neuter (e.g., Romance, Slavic, Germanic languages).
Signaled by definite articles (Romance) or case endings (Slavic).
Navajo noun classes based on shape and texture.
Swati noun classes based on various meanings denoted by prefixes.
Verbs: tense, aspect, and mode.
Also mark person, number, gender, and/or case relations by affixes.
Examples from Mohawk illustrate possibilities of mode and aspect.
Syntax: The Structure of Sentences
Syntax describes co-occurrences and orders of constituents.
Syntactic patterns express case relations.
English signals case by word order.
Russian signals case by affixes.
Isolating languages (e.g., Chinese) rely on word order.
Most languages organize subject, object, and verb in one of three patterns:
Verb + Subject + Object (VSO)
Subject + Verb + Object (SVO)
Subject + Object + Verb (SOV)
Subjects precede objects in most languages.
Cognitive prominence is reflected in linguistic structure.
Phrase Structure Rules: Describe possible units internal to sentences.
Sentence (S) is composed of a Noun Phrase (NP) and a Verb Phrase (VP).
Noun Phrases: Noun, Determiners (Det), Adjectival Phrases (ADJ), Prepositional Phrases (PP).
Verb Phrases: Verb, Noun Phrases, Adverbial Phrases (ADV), Prepositional Phrases.
Sentences may contain Auxiliaries (Aux).
Linguists represent sentences using tree diagrams (phrase markers) to depict constituents of phrases and their syntactic relations.
Generative Grammar: Describes linguistic facts so speakers can generate rules for possible sentences.
Surface Structure: Surface appearance of sentences.
Deep Structure: Underlying word order generated by phrase structure rules.
Deep structure is transformed into surface structure by transformations.
Transformations: Act on underlying components, resulting in actual speech.
Deletion: Transformational rule accounting for nonoccurrence of segments by eliminating redundancies.
Transformational grammar explains ambiguity in sentences.
Example: Flying planes can be dangerous.
Embedding: One sentence is embedded within another.
Semantics: The Analysis of Meaning
Language expresses the speaker’s meaning.
Meaning is encoded through language in segmented linear form.
Morphemes have semantic content and combine to produce further meaning.
Semantic analysis studies meaning through various inputs.
Words have referential senses, cultural meanings, situational relevance, interactional meaning, affective meaning.
Linguists attempt to discover universal principles in semantics, specifying word meanings in terms of underlying semantic components.
Semantic components that co-occur or are blocked from co-occurring are identified.
Syntactic rules alone are inadequate; restrictions are based on semantic rules.
Semantic features of nouns:
count/mass
specific/generic
potent/nonpotent
animate/inanimate
masculine/feminine
human/nonhuman
The presence of particular components can be discovered for any given noun.
Semantic features may be expressed through various linguistic forms.
Nouns in sentences fulfill semantic roles:
AGENT: performer of an action
PATIENT: entity affected by an action
SOURCE: starting point of an action
GOAL: end point of an action
EXPERIENCER: entity experiencing some action or state
INSTRUMENT: entity used to carry out an action
Verbs are semantically characterized as actions, processes, or states.
These distinctions reflect the importance of differentiating between surface grammatical subjects/objects and underlying semantic roles of agent/patient.
Manual Language
Manual language employs hand movements to convey meanings.
American Sign Language (ASL) used by Deaf people in the US is a complete language.
ASL has rules of phonology, morphology, and syntax.
Formation of Signs
ASL signs are composed of formally distinct features.
ASL employs four articulatory parameters:
Hand configuration.
Place of articulation.
Movement of hands in space.
Orientation of hands in relation to the body.
Hand Configuration: Shapes of the hands and fingers (neutral shapes: A, B, C, G, and O).
Place of Articulation: Where a sign is formed in relation to the signer’s body (signing space).
Most frequent location is on or near the face and head.
Signs can be formed with one or both hands.
Movement of Hands in Space: Complex, involving various dimensions and changes in hand position.
Direction of movement (vertical, horizontal-depth axis).
Manner of movement (straight, circular, twisting).
Orientation: Palm orientation in relation to the signer’s body.
Hands may be oriented with palms up or down, facing left or right, or directed toward or away from a signer.
Involves contact between parts of the hand and other parts of a signer’s body.
ASL Vocabulary and Grammar
ASL vocabulary consists of thousands of distinct signs.
Most signs are arbitrary, but some are iconic.
Spatial relations of hands can have iconic functions.
Words in ASL may contain a single sign or a combination of signs.
Morphological rules apply in both ASL and oral language.
Nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs are often formed through compounding.
Grammatical meanings conveyed through sign modifications.
Tense is depicted as a vertical spatial plane running along the side of a signer’s body.
Signs can be modified to transmit aspectual meanings of verbs.
ASL contains syntactic rules; most sentences follow Subject-Verb-Object (SVO) order.
ASL’s structural and functional characteristics demonstrate its complexity and adherence to standardized rules.
It is a distinct, elaborate, and meaningful linguistic system used by an estimated 250,000 to 500,000 people in the United States.
Nonverbal Communication
Nonverbal Actions
People convey meaning through gestures, facial expressions, body posture, and use of space.
Critical components of messages, not merely embellishments.
Includes kinesic and proxemic acts.
Kinesics: Gesture, facial expression, eye contact, and body posture.
Proxemics: Uses of touch and definitions of personal space.
Research reveals universal and culture-specific patterns.
Possible behavioral repertories are determined by species-wide constraints.
Meanings are culturally constructed and assigned.
Researchers emphasize biological/behaviorist features or cultural construction of nonverbal communication.
Some gestures, body postures, and facial movements may have universal significance (e.g., signals of enjoyment, distress, threat, submissiveness).
Anthropologists argue that all human behavior is culturally constructed.
Systems for notating gestures and expressions for comparative analyses have been developed (e.g., Birdwhistell’s “kinesograms,” Labanotation).
All behaviors are learned as part of socialization.
Gestures and actions are communicative, carrying meaning and understood by communities.
Hands are principal creators of communicated meaning.
Some nonverbal actions are emblems: gestures expressing specific meanings (e.g., head nods, shoulder shrugs) that vary across cultures.
Children’s earliest gestures function for pointing.
Gestural development correlates with complexity of language structure.
Frequency of gesture increases with age and linguistic development.
Adults use gestures in coordination with 80% to 90% of spoken words.
Iconic gestures depict spatial images; beat gestures emphasize spoken words or mark discourse structure.
The use of gestures correlates with language development and complexity.
Cultural diversity in interpreting nonverbal behaviors can lead to misunderstandings.
Problems arise when signals are absent or when similar behaviors have different meanings.
Misunderstanding is more common than nonunderstanding.
Discrepancies between verbal and nonverbal behaviors result in confusion.
Differences can also be a source of cultural humor.
Nonverbal behavior signals differences in status.
Dominant people use broad gestures, maintain eye contact, have unsmiling faces, and inhabit wide personal space.
Subordinates restrict gestures, avert eyes, smile frequently, and allow space encroachment.
Specific gestures (e.g., bowing) can mark politeness.
Nonverbal behaviors reflect gender inequalities.
Men tend to use markers of dominance, while women use markers of subordination.
The Meaning of Silence
Silence transmits many kinds of meaning dependent on cultural norms.
Describes silence as an absence of speech implies a particular cultural bias.
Silent behavior occurs in all societies; its message varies.
Conveys meaning from situational and interactional contexts.
Actively created by participants.
Silence is required in formalized encounters (e.g., ceremonies, legal proceedings).
Underscores status differences (e.g., employer/employee, teacher/student, adult/child).
In US society, interpersonal silence is not well tolerated, and is often given negative interpretations.
In other cultures, situational and interactional functions of silence vary.
Among the Western Apache, silence is the norm in situations of ambiguity or uncertainty.
Among the Igbo of Nigeria, silence is mandated in ritual situations and demonstrates hostilities between people.
It is important to be wary of overgeneralizing or stereotyping any society.
Discrepancies exist between ideals and actual practice.
Summary
This chapter explored verbal and nonverbal techniques people use to produce messages and transmit meaning.
Linguists analyze language structure through sounds, words, sentences, and meanings.
Nonverbal communication has unique and common behaviors.
Silence is a universal activity, with cultural rules affecting its display and contextual meaning.