Chapter 5: Language Flashcards
Relative words
Gain their meaning by comparison
Static evaluation
Statements that contain or imply the word is led to the mistaken assumption
Abstract language
Vague in nature
Behavioral language
Refers to specific things that people say or do
Abstraction ladder
Illustrates how the same phenomenon can be described as there is levels of specificity and abstraction
Syntactic rules
Govern the grammar of a language
Pragmatic rules
Decide how to interpret messages in a given context
Convergence
The process of adopting one speech style to match that of others
Divergence
Speaking in a way that emphasizes their differences from others
Powerless speech mannerisms
Apologetic and uncertain speech
Emotive language
Seems to describe something that actually announces the speakers attitude toward it
“It” statements
Replace the personal pronoun i with the less immediate word it
“I” language
Clearly identifies the speaker as a source of a message
“But” statements
Explains why
“You” language
Express is a judgment of the other person
“We” language
Implies that the issue isThe concern and responsibility of both the speaker in the receiver of a message
Low context cultures
Generally value using language to express thoughts feelings and ideas as directly as possible
High context cultures
Value using language to maintain social harmony
Linguistic relativism
They worldview of a culture is shaped and reflected by the language its members speak
Sapir-whorf hypothesis
The best known declaration of linguistic relativism
Equivocal language
Statements that have more than one commonly accepted definition
