1. Ch. 3 Verbal Comm.
Created by students for students
Fall 07

2. What is language
• Language is a collection of symbols,
letters, or words with arbitrary
meanings that are governed by rules
and used to communicate.
• When you listen to others’ verbal
communication, you decode (assign
meaning to) their words in order to
translate them into thoughts of your
own.

3. Language Has Rules
• 3 Rules:
• Semantics: the branch of language study
that is concerned with meaning.
• Syntax: a set of rules about language
that determines how words are arranged
to form phrases and sentences.
• Pragmatics: the study of language as it
is used in a social context, including its
effect on the communicators.

4. Language Has Rules
cont.
Phatic communication:
communication that is used to
establish a mood of sociability
rather than to communicate
information or ideas.

5. Language
• Sexist Language
• Racist Language
• Heterosexist Language

6. Language and Culture
Are Intertwined
• Culture: the socially transmitted
behavior patterns, beliefs, attitudes,
and values of a particular period,
class, community, or population.
• Sapir-Whorf hypothesis: A theory that
our perception of reality is
determined by our thought processes
and our thought processes are
limited by our language and,
therefore, that language shapes our
reality.

7. Language is Arbitrary
• Words have no inherent meanings;
they have only the meanings people
give them.
• Denotative Meaning: The agreedupon meaning or dictionary meaning
of a word.
• Connotative Meaning: An
individualized or personalized
meaning of a word, which may be
emotionally laden.

8. Language is Abstract
• Words are abstractions, or
simplifications of what they
stand for.
• Words stand for ideas and
things, but they are not the
same as those ideas and things.

9. Colloquialisms and
Clichés
• Colloquialisms: Words and phrases
that are used informally.
• Ex. “Have a good day,” “Good to see
you”
• Clichés: An expression that has lost
originality and force through
overuse.
• Ex. “No pain, no gain,” “Beauty is only
skin deep”

10. Euphemisms and Slang
• Euphemism: A polite, more pleasant
expression used instead of a socially
unacceptable form.
• “see a man about a dog”
• Slang: A specialized language of a
group of people who share a
common interest or belong to a
similar co-culture.

11. Profanity and Jargon
• Profanity: Language that is
disrespectful of things sacred,
commonly known as
“swearing.”
• Jargon: the technical language
developed by a professional
group.

12. Regionalisms and
Indexing
• Regionalisms: Words and
phrases that are specific to a
particular region or part of the
country
• Indexing: Identifying the
uniqueness of objects, events,
and people.

13. Operational Definitions
• Definitions that identify
something by revealing how it
works, how it is made, or what
it consists of.

14. Cultural Competence
• Cultural Competence: The ability of
individuals and systems to respond
respectfully and effectively to people
of all cultures, classes, races, ethnic
backgrounds, and religions in a
manner that recognizes, affirms, and
values the worth of individuals,
families, and communities and
protects and preserves the dignity of
each.

15. Metatalk
• When your talking about the
communication itself. (how your
communicating)
• Talk in which meaning is not
literal.
• Chatting, small talk, “break a leg”