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Chapter 2 - overview

Terms in this set (20)

Yule's 5 features of human language
Yule's 5 features of human language
1. Displacement /Verdrängung = ability to talk about things, can also talk about hypothetical aspects, future events and not just about now
2. Arbitrariness/Willkürlichkeit = linguistic signs have no connection with what they present, no specific reason why we call a house, house
3. duality/Zweiteilung = words themselves are meaningless, become meaningful as they are combined (CAT zum Beispiel Bedeutung, während C, T, A unbedeutend sind)
4. Productivity (with help of rules new ways to combine, can create a new word, can change the meaning of an existing word, mail --> e-mail)
5. cultural transmission /Übermittlung (passed through social/cultural contact)
Does language shape the way we see the world?
-differences between languages affects the way we see the world --> linguistic relativity

Sapir-Whorf-Hypothesis (two different versions of this hypothesis
--> strong version = thoughts determined/bestimmt by structure of language
--> weak version = languages merely/bloß influences thought and perception

linguistic determinism (strong version) has long been abandoned/aufgelassen (strong version has been abandonend)
--> language and culture are closely intertwined

language as a filter of perception/Erkenntnis, memory and attention
definition of social constructionism
=reality is created to a significant extent/Ausmaß --> looks different for everyone
--> each apply their own filter based on their education/interest/motivation

language never offers a full reflection but rather more versions of the world constructed by their users
verbal communication
uses 3 sets fo symbols (speak, write, gesture)
difference between speech and writing
spoken communication
-product of nature + stimulus
-synchronous (contributions in real time)
-cannot revise contributions/Aussage ändern --> can contain false starts/repetitions (spontaneous)
-contracted form, incomplete sentences

written communication
-product of culture (finch)
-asychnchronous (time-lag)
-revision of contributions is possible
-more formality (complex language)
Definition of hybrid forms/Mischformen of the linguistic mode
=written texts that are "written to be spoken"
--> share characteristics of both modes
--> contracted forms in an e-mail (won't/will not) --> Textspeak
-->non-standard capitalisation + punctuation
--> emojis
--> abbreviations (Kürzel)
--> messages still need to be intelligible/ verständlich
Definition: Text
=is a process of making meaning in context in any medium
- is produced whenever we speak or write

e.g. for text: a telephone conversation, coursebook, speech, contract of sale, YouTube video

seperate texts = repetition/quotation/Wiederholung --> Intertextuality/ Zusammenhänge --> Relationships between texts (minutes of a meeting quoted in a report) = chains of text (e.g. movie shrek: show how crossreferences work cause it refers to other fairy tales

visual example for intertextuality (refers to the real painting/based on similarities you can make connections, mona lisa)

intertextuality in the world of business --> report --> use for a presentation --> use for news --> cross-references = Chains of text

text vs. talk
--> text --> writen
--> talk --> spoken language use
what is discourse
=authentic language in use, embedded/ eingebettet in and analyzed togheter with its social context
= a way of talking/writing that is distinctive/unverkennbar a particular social domain (e.g. communicative rules - lawyers talking identically)
- Discourse convention = members shared preferences for words/ phrases
-secondly as a countable noun
- specific communicative habits

discourse =way of talking in specific groups
Principles of spoken interaction
in asking a question I have certain expectations about the response

all participants have to respect certain principles
Grice's Cooperative Principle (1975)
these principle is about how interlocutors/Gesprächspartner work together to achieve effective communication with 4 conversational maxims:
1.Quantity = give as much detail as necessary but no more
2. Quality = be truthful and do not provide false information
3. Relation = be relevant, only share pertinent/relevante information
4. Manner = be brief and orderly and avoid ambiguity/Doppeldeutigkeit
conversational implicature
=the process of filling gaps in the surface of a conversational text in order to interpret ist
-awareness/Bewusstsein of the four maxims is important for successful communication
-we automatically fill in the gaps in order to interpret a conversational text

requirement/Anforderung: interlocutors/Gesprächspartner need a shared repertoire of knowledge and experience

scripts = shared knowledge of the standard sequence of events (tells us what to do, when and how)
preferred responses vs. dispreffered responses and feedback
preferred responses:
= replies/Antworten that conform/entsprechen to expectations (accepting an invitation, answering a question) --> adjacency pairs (=Paar von aufeinanderfolgenden Gesprächsschritten, wobei ein Sprechwechsel erfolgt)

dispreferred responses:
=do not conform to expectations, usually longer (politeness, explanation)
turn taking
=the moment when one speaker stops and another starts

-stretch between speaker changes
-spoken genre detemines the nature of the turn-taking system
-formal meetings have a chairperson responsible for controlling turn-taking
-speakers use both verbal and non verbal signals to indicate that they want to talk
topic shift
= moving smoothly and eficiently to the next topic

-requires joint effort/ erffordert gemeinsamen Einsatz in regular conversations

preferred vs. dispreferred
--> preferred = accept topic shift
-->dispreferred = reject topic shift --> privilege of more powerful person to determine/bestimmen the topic of an interaction
five features of human language (Yule)
1. Displacement
2. Arbitrariness
3. Duality
4. Productivity
5. cultural transmission
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