Comm 100 Chapter 4 Vocab: Spoken Language

rule-governed symbol system that allows its users to generate meaning and, in the process, to define reality

the vehicle for the expression of language

a sign that is arbitrary and conventional

• the ability to understand and create unusual sentences
• it shows that language learning is more that a matter of trial and error

the nature of our language affects the nature of our thought

the theory that language determines thought

new words that are in the process of entering the language

when a subgroup speaking the same language using a different vocabulary, grammar, pronunciation from others who speak that language.

• no native speakers.
• simple language deliberately invented to that people new to the area can communicate with those who live in the area.

when pidgin language becomes permanent

when people from different language communities choose one language to use for trade and commerce

the special or technical words used by members of professions.

refers to words whose meanings have been changes to that outsiders cannot understand them.

words that are unacceptable in polite society

old words take new meaning

the study of the significant sound patterns of a language

the significant sounds in a language

• smallest unit of meaning
• prefixes and suffixes

• a morpheme that can stand alone as a word
• ex I, boy, girl

sentence structure

the study of how we use language in social contexts

the goal the speaker intends to accomplish though speech

provides a framework of understanding how individuals use context to assign pragmatic meaning

a sequence of communicative behaviors that exist as a unit with a beginning, middle, and end

all of the episodes that can reasonably be expected to occur between self and other, given reciprocal roles

a person's ideas about the kind of communication that matches his or her personal identity

general agreements shared by members of a particular cultural group about how to act in and respond to the world

a unit of language larger than a single sentence

most common mode of spoken communication

for talk to work, communicators must be willing to cooperate with one another by speaking in socially approved ways

four rules: quantity maxim, quality maxim, relevancy maxim, and manner maxim

talking about problems

• focuses on relational meanings
• it is most appropriate for interpersonal topics and feels most natural in intimate contexts

• focuses on context
• it is more appropriate in public situations when discussion making or opinion exchange is expected

in the course of being cited, discussed, and popularized over time, originally modest claims have been progressively represented as more and more absolute, while hypotheses have been given that status of fact

• using tag questions such as "right?" at the end of sentences
• qualifiers such as "maybe"
• disclaimers such as "don't get me wrong,"
• Women are criticized for being passive and powerless

viewing differences between ourselves and others as "social performances" rather than characteristics.

language that can be interpreted in more than one way

another term for ambiguous communication

personalized language that involves the audience.

breaking a concept down into broader terms