Unit 2 Flashcards
Language is a…
code
Digital codes
use symbols, conveying meaning symbolically, does not resemble the thing represented
Analogic codes
have a natural relationship to what they represent; pictures, photographs, drawings, nonverbal signals. Ex.) Picture of you is more representative of your than your name
Three Levels of Language
Syntactics, semantics, pragmatics
Syntactics
the study of the process by which words are combined and ordered into grammatical sequences. Meaning based on word order
Semantics
the study of meaning of language
Pragmatics
Investigate language as it is used in actual interaction. use
Syntactical meaning
the meaning of a word is partially determined by the words that preceded and follow it.
Denotation
Meaning is in words. Dictionary
Connotation
Meaning is in people. Home instead of house
Two ways we create meaning
direct experience and associations between one symbol and the next. big hairy spider.
Equivocal words
more than one dictionary definition. strategic ambiguity is a good thing sometimes
Relative Words
gain meaning by comparison. pain on a scale of 1-10
emotive words
sound as if they’re describing facts but actually conveying emotion. Extrovert vs loudmouth
euphemism
softens the impact of unpleasant information. Can make things unclear
Static Evaluation (Is or the Law of Identity)
The assumption that people are consistent and unchanging. John is mean
Fact-Inference Confusion
Not being able to distinguish between facts and inferences
Fact Opinion Confusion
Not being able to distinguish between fact and opinion
Abstract Words
Generalizing about similarities between several objects, people, ideas, or events.
Responsibility Rejection Words
These words reject speakers responsibility:
it, but, they, you. Should use I and We
Linguistic Relativism
The worldview of a culture is shaped and reflected by the language its members speak
Constitutive
rules of meaning
Regulative
rules of action
speech acts
what the speaker intends to do with the message