Nonverbal Communication Linguistic Anthropology Body Language Learned in

Nonverbal Communication Linguistic Anthropology

Body Language • • • Learned in cultural groups Interpreted unconsciously Often overrides verbal language ~60% of communication? Beware of guidebooks.

Smell, Taste, and Touch • Smell – And ethnicity, culture – Cigars, perfumes and status • Taste – And group membership • Spicy foods. . • Touch – And gender and power • Relation to proxemics….

Proxemics • Edward Hall, 1950 s • How people perceive and use space • Cowboy proxemics • Getting to theatre seats.

Gender, Status, & Space • Entering into someone’s ‘space’ • Getting the ‘best’ office – Or the biggest bedroom • Having one’s own ‘space’ – “Man caves”

Culture and Space • Different arrangements – US grids & French circles – German doors: closed vs open • Different uses – Where to eat in the Comoros • Depends on gender too

Kinesics • Ray Birdwhistell, 1950 s • Body movements – Shrugs, nods. Arm & leg-crossing • Facial expressions – Smiles, frowns, winks • Gestures – Palm up / palm down – Thumbs up!

Gesture Systems • Where verbal communication is difficult • Topics and contexts are limited – Simple alternative systems • Little or no syntax – Sawmills, baseball games, sailboat racing – Complex alternative systems • Syntax based on spoken language: – Australian women mourners – Some monastic orders • Syntax independent of any spoken language – Native American Plains sign language » Signs used in varying order

Sign Language • Used by deaf people – ‘Language performed in three-dimensional space’ • Topics and contexts are unlimited – Syntax is complex, unique to specific language • American Sign Language (ASL; Ameslan) vs British – Mutually unintelligible; not based on English syntax • Signs = concepts, not words (‘right’ vs ‘right’) • Syntax = one sign can stand for several words – E. g. , “I-ask-her” is one sign » vs Signed English (SEE 1 & 2) which follows English syntax.

Paralanguage • Sounds that “accompany” speech – But aren’t words themselves • George Trager (1950 s) – voice qualities • Loudness, tone of voice • Pitch, speed, rhythm • Vocal modifications: – whispering, cooing, breathy voice, rising intonation – Vocal segregates (or vocal gestures) • Stand on their own – uh-huh, mhmm, shhhh, throat-clearing – Ideophones? • Bam, pow, slurp!

Speech Substitutes • Sound signals substitute for spoken words – Or parts of words • Useful for communicating over distances • Examples: – Drum languages • based on tones (Nigeria) – Whistle languages • based on tones (Mazateco) • based on vowels (La Gomera) – different whistled pitches = different vowels

So, is it Semantics and Pragmatics? or Semantics versus Pragmatics?

Semantics: the study of meaning that can be determined from a sentence, phrase or word. Pragmatics: the study of meaning, as it depends on context (speaker, situation, dialogue history)

Problems • Some phenomena are clearly semantic – when one word affects what other words can occur • Some phenomena are clearly pragmatic – when something is implied

Reductionism • Reductionism – The distinction should be abolished • Semantic reductionism: pragmatics should be reduced to semantics • Pragmatic reductionism: semantics should be reduced to pragmatics

Complementarism • The distinction between semantics and pragmatics is important and should be retained • Radical semantics – most of the study of meaning should be attributed to semantics • Radical pragmatics – as much as possible of the study of meaning belongs in pragmatics

Role of Context • Semantics – the context is the other words in sentence; other sentences in text • Pragmatics – at least part of the focus of context is on what is not being said